Job 1:1-42:17
Job (Heb. Yôb ; ‘Iyyôb , “where is Father?” or “persecuted”; Amarna Letters, Ayyâb; Mari texts, ‘Ayyâbum; Gr. Iob). 1. Son of Issachar (Gen 46:13). See Jashub 1. 2. Pious believer in the true God who lived in the land of Uz;* the central character in the book of Job (Job 1:9). Ezekiel (14:14, 16, 20) and James (5:11) refer to him as an ideal example of patience and righteousness. Without a doubt, Job lived in the patriarchal age, as the social, historical, and cultural setting of the book suggests. It appears that Job was a very wealthy landowner (1:3, 4; 42:12), a leader who was honored and respected by his neighbors because of his wisdom and good advice, and someone who was practically concerned with the welfare of all those around him. they will need your help (29:7-17). He lived in a “city” and was apparently one of his elders (v 7). From a human point of view there was no reasonable explanation as to why a righteous man like Job had to suffer the terrible calamities that befell him (1:13-21). Nor did he understand why these misfortunes had happened to him; however, he maintained his trust in God (cp 23). Despite the wrong reasoning of his and Eliphaz’s wife, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu (2:9, 11; 32:2), his “integrity” was not broken. In the end God severely rebuked his friends’ mistaken philosophy: that calamities were divine retribution for his mistakes (42:7). The turning point in Job’s experience was his prayer for his friends, and Jehovah “doubled all that he had” before (v 10). Bib.: FJ-AJ i.6.4. Job, Book of. Dramatic poem of the human experience. In printed Hebrew Bibles, the book of Job is in the 3rd section (Hagiographers or Writings), and is located between Psalms and Proverbs. In the LXX, the Vulgate and modern translations it appears as the first of the Poetics. Since ancient times the book was and is held in high esteem, since inexplicable suffering and disappointments have been and always are the lot of man, and the example of Job has served him as hope, consolation and encouragement in misfortune. The book’s dramatic dialogic form and graphic imagery are fascinating, even in translation. As a literary piece it easily deserves a place among the great classics of all time. I. Author. An ancient Jewish tradition, not unanimous, attributes the book to Moses, although modern scholars have suggested Elihu, Solomon, and Ezra as possible authors. For assigning the authorship of the book to Moses 647 the following reasons are suggested. 1. Moses pilgrimage to Midian (Exo 2:15), which was perhaps near the land of Uz; it appears to have been in or near the land of Edom (Lam 4:21). Thus, during his pilgrimage through Midian, Moses would have become acquainted with Job, with his descendants or with those who knew him personally. 2. Being versed in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians” and “mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22), Moses undoubtedly possessed the literary ability to write this masterpiece of poetry. In recent years, texts in Semitic alphabetic script * from the same period as Moses have appeared in the region where he walked, destroying the critical position that writing was not known in his time. The strong Arabic flavor that saturates Job’s narrative, coupled with the allusions to Egyptian life and customs that are prominent in the book, point to an author who was personally acquainted with both cultures. 3. The concept of God as Creator, reflected in chs 38-41, harmonizes with the Genesis narrative written by Moses. 4. Furthermore, certain words found in the book of Job also appear in the Pentateuch, but very rarely in other OT books. A notable illustration is Shaddai, “the Almighty,” who appears 31 times in Job and 6 times in Genesis, and only 8 times in the entire rest of the OT. Words that occur in Job and the Pentateuch, but nowhere else are: âjû, “meadow”; tenû’âh, “opposition”, “astonishment”; nêts, an unclean bird, pâlîl, “judge”; yârat, “throw.” See Old Testament. The arguments against the Mosaic authorship of Job, on the basis of differences in style when compared to other writings of Moses, cannot be taken seriously in view of the great difference in content. The argument that Job resembles the so-called “wisdom literature” of a later period in no way precludes such writings from much earlier times. The historical data in the book, though very scant, clearly imply that Job was a real person, to whose experience has been added an inspired account of the supernatural background of the tragedy that befell him. II. Theme. Following a simple outline-historical record, the book prescribed the solution to the problem of suffering in a series of dialogues between Job and his friends; and later, between Job and God. Then a brief historical epilogue is added that reports the culmination of his experience. The key question is: “Why do the righteous suffer?” His answer: Satan is the author of suffering, as well as the theory that it is divine punishment for sin. Pain is the result of the operation of the evil genius that acts in the universe, and not necessarily of the wrong acts of the sufferer. God’s role in human suffering is limited to allowing it to exist. This does not mean a denial of the law of reward and punishment (eg, the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Assyrian armies, etc.; see Gal. 6:7-9). It is true that the persistent refusal to accept the divine will will produce misfortune (Exo 23:30-33; Deu_28; Psa_1; Jer 31:29, 30; Eze_18), but that pain is a natural result of the sin that operates in the universe , does not necessarily imply that it can be attributed to a particular sin. In a world where sin prevails, the righteous often suffer along with the guilty, while sometimes the wicked seem to prosper for a time (cf Psa 37:7; Jer 12:1). When the narrative opens, Job is at the height of prosperity: he is a man “perfect and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1). But suddenly, and for no apparent reason, it is reduced to the situation where death seems more desirable than life (1:13-21 2:9; 3:1-3, 20, 21): yet “in Job did not sin in all this, nor did he impute any wrongdoing to God” (1:22). Based on the tradition that suffering is punishment for sin, Job’s wife judges the situation hopeless (2:9), and his best friends, who presumably came to comfort him (v 11), only deepen his misery. (16:2). It seems to Job that even God no longer understands or cares about him (cp 23). Apparently abandoned, both by God and by men, and prostrated in a deep and dark abyss of discouragement, he nevertheless keeps the flame of faith burning, if flickering. He does not claim to be without sin, but protests that he knows of no rational explanation for his suffering, based on the premise that the punishment is retribution for a supposed crime. In a supreme act of faith he surrenders his way to God, even in death, confident that in his time God will have “affection to the making” of his hands (14:12-15). His faith that God is good leads him to triumph over the most overwhelming circumstances. Slowly, but surely, his faith lifts him out of the abyss into which Satan had thrown him, until finally God clears his vision so as to see the problem in his true perspective: from the 648 point of view of philosophy divine. Job’s patience and integrity, despite overwhelming tragedies, vindicates God’s justice in his dealings with men and refutes the theory that suffering is divine retribution for human misconduct. III. Sketch. The poem is made up of 3 parts: 1. Job discusses the problem with his friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (cps 3-31). 2. Job discusses it with Elihu (32:1-37:24). 3. God intervenes and explains the problem to Job (chs 38-42). The debate with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar consists of 3 cycles, each of which has 3 speeches from Job and 1 from each of his 3 friends as a response (except in the 3rd cycle, where there is no speech from Zophar) . The speeches of the 3 friends have been compared to wheels turning on the same axis, because they all try to show that misfortune is divine punishment for sin. IV. Contents. After the prose prologue (Job 1:1-2:13) -which introduces the scenario in which Job is found prostrated on a pile of ashes and surrounded by his 3 well-intentioned but misguided friends- the 1st cycle of discussion begins. (3:1-11:20). Job makes 3 speeches and, in turn, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar respond to him; in them he recounts his affliction and expresses his inability to understand why God allowed all this to happen to him. His friends claim that he must have committed some heinous sin to deserve such punishment, and they call on him to repent. In the 2nd cycle Job upholds his integrity: he is not guilty of such a sin (12:1-20:29). He then laments the unjust and unmerciful accusations of his would-be “comforters,” and affirms his belief that God will one day vindicate his cause. Again his friends respond in turn by berating him for upholding an integrity that, because of his misconception of suffering as punishment for specific sins, is gross impiety. The 3rd cycle (21:1-31:40) again presents 3 speeches of Job in which he notes that the wicked sometimes prosper, just as the righteous sometimes suffer. He appeals to God to pay attention to his case, reviews his experience and maintains his innocence. Eliphaz responds to the 1st, Job’s speech; Bildad, to the 2nd. They call him to repentance, and seek to show that he is foolish by wishing that God would justify him. Silenced, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar leave the stage. Then Eliú appears, a young man who has been observing the scene, who offers another philosophical approach to the subject (chs 32-37): he reasons that suffering is not so much divine punishment as corrective discipline. After Elihu speaks for some time, God intervenes (chs 38-41), and in 3 speeches he emphasizes his concern for the welfare of man. He directs Job’s attention to innumerable aspects of the natural world, all of which reveal God as the creator and sustainer of all things. If God cares about all of them, can he fail to care about Job in his abject misery? The climax comes in a declaration of God’s omniscience and omnipotence (41:34). Therefore, Job can have implicit trust in him. In the prose epilogue (cp 42), Job acknowledges the great power and wisdom of the Creator. Through his experience he has gained a richer and deeper appreciation of God and the ways he deals with man. Then the Lord denounces the false philosophy of Eliphaz and his companions and calls him to pray for them (42:7), but does not include Elihu in…