Grace Institute: The Writings : Job Part 1

Job Survey of the Old Testament: The Writings Fall 2006

Introduction

Name

The book is titled Job in both the original Hebrew bible and our English bible. It is named after the main character. There is no consensus over the meaning of Job's name. Some scholars consider Job to be a fictional or mythical character. However, the book presents Job as a real person.

Job is said to live in the “ land of Uz ,” (1:1). There are several people names Uz in the bible, but most likely it is referring to the descendent of Esau (Genesis 36:28), meaning Job lived in the land of Edom , which was located south east of Israel . Job is described as “the greatest of all the men of the east” (1:3b).

Date & Textual Observations

Most scholars believe Job lived during the time of the patriarchs. The few historical and family allusions in the book show connections to names and places found in the book of Israel . However, there is considerable debate as to when the book itself was actually written.

Some scholars would point to a late date for the writing of the book, with some saying it was written during the time of Solomon, and others as late as the post-exilic period. The chief evidence for a late date is the well-developed theology. Job and his “friends” are monotheistic and Job at least believes in the resurrection of the dead. Some scholars believe that these two characteristics of Judaism were not developed until late in the history of the Jewish people.

Other scholars debate that these two characteristics were late in development, and further point out that Job and his friends were not Israelites at all, but Edomites who still understood and worshipped God. This gives us significant evidence that the worship of Yahweh was in no way limited to the nation of Israel during the time of the patriarchs.

Furthermore, the language of Job is very unique in the bible. The Hebrew in Job appears to be a very ancient form of the language, with strong influences from ancient Aramaic and Arabic. Job contains numerous Hebrew words that are found nowhere else in the bible. This has presented scholars with much difficulty when translating the book, and other languages of the region must be consulted to determine the meaning of words and grammatical structures.

Furthermore, there are many discrepancies between the oldest Hebrew text (the Masoretic text), dated around AD 800, and the earlier Greek translations of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) dated around 200 BC. Most notably, some of the Septuagint manuscripts are missing large sections from the book.

While this makes the book difficult for scholars to do an accurate textual criticism of the book and provide us with a good translation, it does suggest that this is one of the oldest books written in the bible. Job, therefore, is probably among the very first books of the bible written.

Nature & Author of the Book

Job is one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces ever written. The poetry of Job is recognized by both biblical and secular scholars as among the most beautiful and elegant ever written. Unfortunately, we loose much of the brilliance of Job's poetry in our translation.

While the preface and epilogue are written in prose, the arguments throughout the book are all poetic, using Hebrew parallelism throughout. However, the parallelism is not just in subject matter, but also in cadence. Each line in the parallel contains same number of syllables in the Hebrew. This pattern is maintained throughout nearly 40 chapters of poetry. The construction of such work would take the work of a literary genius.

Unfortunately, we have no idea who this genius was. Some early Jewish scholars attribute the book to Moses, although there is no evidence whatsoever of that. We must consider the author of the book to be anonymous.

Theme

The book of Job addresses the universal question, “why do bad things happen to good people.” This question is still being asked today, and Job provides an answer which many people find uncomfortable. Bad things happen to good people because God allows it to happen. If you take issue with this, then God's response is simple (Job 39:2-4):

"Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now gird up your loins like a man
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.”

Structure

The structure of Job is laid out simply through the change in speakers throughout the book. The book begins with a prose preface that explains the circumstances that the speakers are debating. In a parallel form, the book then also ends with a prose epilogue that explains the events that follow the debate.

In between these prose book ends are a series of speeches given by Job, his three “friends” Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, a young philosopher named Elihu, and finally Yahweh himself. The first half of these speeches are made in a series of three dialogues. Each round of dialogue contains speeches by one of Job's friends followed by Job's response. The second half contain monologues, first by Job, then Elihu, and finally by Yahweh himself.

[Next:Preface]