The book of job is a book in the ketuvim writings section of the hebrew bible tanakh, and. The book of job is not only the finest expression of the hebrew poetic genius. Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil man. This name might have been derived from the hebrew word for persecution, thus meaning persecuted one. Although job was unaware of the interaction between satan and god, job comes to the conclusion that god is just and good. One day, satan the adversary appears before god in heaven.
Bce commentary in which job is said to decline an offer of help from royal physicians, and which inserts religious notes lacking in the canonical book. Some of the hebrew prophets attempted to deal with this question insofar as it affected the nation as a whole, but the writer of the book of job deals with it on an individual basis. The book is not about jobs history but about jobs life and the way we relate to god as a result. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures. Study scripture verses with commentary, concordances, and use highlighting, underlining, take notes in the bible. The analysis of job examines the possibilities for dialogue between those interpretations that view suffering as a key theme in the book and those that do not. The goal is to demonstrate how tthe author of job utilized certain key themes in developing the purpose and message of the book. Communicating the book of job in the twentyfirst century. The book of job is the first document in history to. He worships god sincerely and regularly, and most importantly, is a truly righteous person in the sight of god job 1.
A perspective and analysis meriting serious consideration. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a wartorn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of gods allcontrolling will. On the contrary, god speaks directly to job, just as he does in the patriarchal age with noah, abraham, isaac, jacob, and other heads of. The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is. See the verses and verse art for all the other books of the bible jobs role in the bible.
Job and his friends wanted to analyze the suffering and look for causes and solutions. And job is presented as a mature believeralthough he had to confess sins 31. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. At the same time, it also asks the question we rarely.
Most books of the bible take place on larger stages, but the book of job goes down at a very specific and narrow point in the human life cycle. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. The loss of jobs property, and the death of his children. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine.
If we were to film this book, the whole movie would take place on a single set, probably in a single day. Job is the first old testament book of poetry the others are psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of solomon, and lamentations. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job. Job pronounced yobe means hate or persecution in hebrew. Although the book of job is best known for its story, only three of the 42 chapters are narrative. The book of job maintains great fame and popularity for obvious reasons its poetic language, its thoughtprovoking dilemmas, its drama, its outrageous plot. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a. Or perhaps this is an at least partially an afterward because i write this after i have completed half of the melding together of roger hahns online crivoice bible study and the excerpts from john c. God returns jobs health, providing him with twice as much property as before, new children, and an extremely long life. Power and responsibility in biblical interpretation.
Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him. Job showed us a great model of what we should all look like in the face of the storms and tragedies of this life. Many scholars are convinced that the prologue and epilogue are later additions to the original, the body of the tale. Job loses all of his worldly goods, his children and servants, as well as his health. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family and extensive flocks. First, it is vital to grasp the content of the whole book of job, and not to reduce job to a brief synopsis. The book is of unknown authorship and date, although many scholars assign it to a time between 600 bc and 400 bc a lament in narrative form, the subject is the problem of good and evil in the world. Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. This is why our original job description a job description god is yet. By its conclusion, the true subject of the book emerges. This post is adapted from the bible study job by eric ortlund.
Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. The word biblical commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to scripture as divine revelation. For all of his yammering throughout the book, once god starts speaking, job. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. The book, in its present form, loosely divides into five parts.
And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. As with other books of the bible, job bears the name of the narratives. An explanation of the biblical book of job the book job is composed of three parts. If you were to fit it chronologically, it should be place in the early chapters of genesis. Job was a righteous man, yet disaster came upon him in the form of his children dying, his wealth vanishing, and his health failing. A foundation for human resources management applied psychology series by sidney a. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer.
In the meaning of the book of job and other biblical studies. The angel known as the satan hebrew for the adversary, as told in the book of job, challenges god to test the devotion and piety of the righteous man job. Job is the last of the three books that explore these themes of biblical wisdom. These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan. Interpretations of the book of job are then compared to the psychology of suffering as experienced in various contexts today. Extremely well written grabbing the interest of many educated folk. Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies. Study the bible online using commentary on job and more. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The entire rest of the book he and his three friends wrestle back and forth with the why behind jobs struggle. The narrative framework of the book tells the story of job as a very rich man who lives in the land of uz. I would like to present six general strategies as guides to follow. The wisdom books and the book of job bible gateway. Where did the biblical story of creation come from.
According to biblical scholars, the book of job is the oldest book in the bible. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. The book of job is one of the most celebrated pieces of biblical literature, not only because it explores some of the most profound questions humans ask about their lives, but also because it is extremely well. Jobs final speech in his own defense is probably where the book originally ended. The book of job defends the character of a loving and righteous god in spite of earths obvious evils and injustices. List of books and articles about book of job online. Whether there was a booming echo, we cant be sure, but it sure shuts job up. The book of job opens portraying job as a wealthy and righteous nobleman. Of course, he is human and he did realize his faults at the end of the book, but his reactions to the death and suffering around him just amaze me. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight.
The skeptical character of the symposium, with its challenge to timehonored views, most likely would have kept the book of job out of the canon of old testament writings had some additions not been made to. He has a large family, many flocks of animals, many servants, a. Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one. The title of this book is one of the very few cases where the bible just says what it meansno deceptive advertising here. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. Aside from being a little heavy on the heart, job is mostly a philosophical discussion. Job commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. There are no references to the law of moses, the tabernacle, the priesthood, the judges or kings, etc. When in the nt job is praised for his patience jas. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. As with other books of the bible, job bears the name of the narratives primary character. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. Literary structure the unity of the book of job will be assumed in the analysis of its literary structure. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite.
Job is one of my absolute favorite books of the bible. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and. Further, the book never resolves job s suffering by pointing to some spiritual growth on his part. The work is grouped with proverbs and ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement, even though it contains what might be called an antiwisdom strain in that the hero protests. A comparative and critical analysis of the story of job as. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. The book of job, one of the wisdom books of the bible, deals with two issues crucial to every person. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. Read job commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. Book of job read, study bible verses online bible study tools. Book of job is accounted by most christians among the wisdom literature but not under major or minor prophets. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it.
The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that joba particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. He is blameless and upright, always careful to avoid doing evil 1. In the book of job, god shows up late in the game to say his piece about divine power. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it. To most it would seem an absurd notionbut not to job. Job spends his entire book in a position of sadness and loss.