BOB – Job

by Stephen Rodgers

JOB IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“God allows human suffering for His own purposes.”

TITLE

The title of the book is the same as that of the central character: Job. That name might have been derived from the Hebrew word for “persecution,” thus meaning “persecuted one,” or from an Arabic word meaning “repent,” thus bearing the name “repentant one.”

In either case, it is not a common Hebrew name. In fact, the only recognizably Hebrew name in the book is that of Elihu, himself a somewhat problematic character…but we’ll get to that later.

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

The authorship of Job is hotly contested, and ultimately uncertain. It is generally agreed upon that the author could not have been Job, as his lack of awareness of certain elements of the story is a key point. Early Jewish tradition suggests that the author was Moses (supported somewhat by Midian’s proximity to the traditional location of Uz), although a number of scholars favor either Solomon or another well-educated Israelite during the Solomonic period. Elihu, Isaiah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, and Ezra have also been suggested as possible authors, but with very little supporting evidence.

It is interesting to note that the author of Job frequently refers to God by His covenant name with Israel (“Yahweh”), whereas Job and his friends never refer to Him in this manner, using the more generic “God” or “the Almighty.” This suggests that author of Job did not share a chronological or cultural frame of reference with the subject of the book. Additionally, the author of Job shows a certain familiarity with other OT texts, often quoting them directly (Psalm 107:40; Isaiah 41:20).

Assuming ad arguendo that the book was written during Solomon’s reign, the target audience would have been Israelites living in the united kingdom at the time.

DATE

Care must be taken to separate the date of the content from the date of the composition.

Content-wise, Job is quite ancient, even archaic by OT standards.  Many consider the events in Job to pre-date almost all other OT records, possibly occurring as early as Genesis 12, which would have made Job contemporaneous with Abraham.  There are a number of other elements which would seem to support this thesis.  As the MSB puts it:

This conclusion is based on: 1) Job’s age (42:16); 2) his life span of nearly 200 years (Job 42:16) which fits the patriarchal period (Abraham lived 175 years; Gen. 25:7); 3) the social unit being the patriarchal family; 4) the Chaldeans who murdered Job’s servants (Job 1:17) were nomads and had not yet become city dwellers; 5) Job’s wealth being measured in livestock rather than gold and silver (Job 1:3; 42:12); 6) Job’s priestly functions within his family (Job 1:4, 5); and 7) a basic silence on matters such as the covenant of Abraham, Israel, the Exodus, and the law of Moses. The events of Job’s odyssey appear to be patriarchal. Job, on the other hand, seemed to know about Adam (Job 31:33) and the Noahic flood (Job 12:15). These cultural/historical features found in the book appear to place the events chronologically at a time probably after Babel (Gen. 11:1–9) but before or contemporaneous with Abraham (Gen. 11:27ff.).

Composition-wise however, there is less agreement, although the bulk of most scholarly opinions is that it should be located either during the period of Solomon when Hebrew wisdom-literature was at its zenith, or even later during the post-exilic period. There simply are not enough indicators within the text to place it more precisely than that.

BACKGROUND & SETTING

As previously mentioned, the book of Job takes place most likely during the time of the patriarchs.  This means that the context is closer to that of Genesis 12 than it is to Jerusalem after the return of the Babylonian remnant.  However, much of the book concerns the character and nature of God, and as such is not bound to a particular time or place.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are a number of themes that are prevelant throughout the book of Job:

  • God’s Sovereignty. Throughout the book of Job, God is shown to be in control of everything (Job 37:14-24; 42:2) even Satan (Job 1:12; 2:6). And while in the case of Job God never offers an explanation for Job’s suffering, He does offer something even greater: Himself.
  • God’s Goodness and Justice. The classic problem of evil is that God cannot be both good and powerful and yet allow evil.  Job reiterates that God is indeed good (Job 1:1-2:13; 42:7-17), while freely admitting that sometimes bad things happen to good people and vice versa.
  • Satan.  Satan is the adversary of God, and therefore the accuser of God’s people.  However, unlike the deities of other ANE literature, Satan is never portrayed as God’s equal.  Rather he is consistently shown to be subordinate in authority, power, and knowledge.
  • A Proper Response to Suffering. Job teaches us that while our pain and suffering are real, it is important to maintain humility and reverence for God in the midst of it.  We are not God’s equals any more than Satan is, and attempting to call Him to account will not end well for us.

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

There are a number of minor challenges that arise out of Job.  Notable among them are the fact that Job never fully understands the reasons for his suffering, the character of Elihu remains strangely incongruous and is never addressed in the final divine discourse, the fact that Job is both declared wrong for seeking vindication and yet ultimately vindicated (Job 42:7), and the fact that the reader must grapple with the fact that sometimes the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper.

Despite these minor issues, the central theme of Job remains the question of the so-called problem of evil: how can a good, powerful God allow suffering and evil?  The MSB summarizes it this way:

Engaging in “theodicy,” i.e., man’s attempt to defend God’s involvement in calamity and suffering, is shown to be appropriate in these circumstances, though in the end, it is apparent that God does not need nor want a human advocate. The book of Job poignantly illustrates Deut. 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God… ”

LITERARY FEATURES

The book of Job has an interesting and somewhat unique structure, being a prose framework containing a series of lengthy poetic speeches.  The speeches between Job, his friends, and ultimately the LORD Himself all take the form of a debate, with questions being posed and answered, rhetoric being bandied back and forth, and each side seeming to have the upper hand at one point.  There is even what could be construed as a darkly humorous element when the LORD appears out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1; 40:6)…exactly as Job had commented He might do (Job 9:17), which constitutes sort of a “yup…saw that coming” moment.  The ensuing “Yahweh speeches” silence all other debaters.

There are a number of other literary constructions within the framework of the book that are worth exploring, but we only have time for one: the contrast between the relationship of Job and God with the relationship (or lack thereof) of Job’s friends and God.  Much has been written of how Job’s friends make astute theological observations regarding the character of God, but comparatively little has been written regarding how only Job seems to address God directly.  While his friends have good theology, theirs seems to be a dead faith.  In contrast, while Job occasionally lets his pain get the better of him, he does so from a position of deep reliance upon God, and from within a framework of deeply personal relationship with Him.

OBJECTIONS

In terms of its canonical status, Job’s position within the Scriptures has never been seriously questioned.  What has been questioned however, is if the book is intended to be taken as historically literal, or merely as allegory. In other words, is the reader intended to understand that the events and persons that take place within the Job narrative actually happened, or is it just a sophisticated story exploring the question of theodicy in relationship with the Israelite God?

However, going solely on the internal evidence of Scripture, it seems as if Job was intended to be understood literally.  NT writers directly quote Job two times (Rom. 11:35; 1 Cor. 3:19), plus Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and James 5:11 indicate Job was a real person, listing him alongside other historical personages.

While some critics would certainly maintain that certain elements of the story seem to present as mythological or mytho-poetic, it should be noted that 1) to assume that from the outset due to an anti-supernaturalistic bias simply begs the question, and 2) the Hebrew theology and narrative differs on a number of key points from other ANE sources (such as the Babylonian theodicy, or accounts of the Hittite storm god Telepinu). In those records, invariably the problem of evil is resolved by portraying the gods as less than omnipotent; Job makes no such concession when it comes to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

  • Job 1:21
  • Job 14:1
  • Job 16:2
  • Job 38:4
  • Job 39:1 (John Kim’s favorite)
  • Job 42:4-6

DID YOU KNOW?

  • The book of Job pictures Satan coming into God’s presence (Job 1:6), which is odd to say the least.
  • Many theologians believe that Job 19:25 prefigures the work of Christ.
  • Job is widely considered by those in the know to be a “translator’s nightmare,” as it contains words, expressions, and even languages (Ugaritic) that appear nowhere else in Scripture. This suggests that the writer possessed both extraordinary literary skill, as well as access to earlier source material.

Other Works Referenced

  • Apologetics Study Bible, “Job Introduction”
  • Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Job”
  • ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Job”
  • MacArthur Study Bible, “Job”
  • NET Bible, Job
  • NIV Study Bible, Job
  • Reformation Study Bible, “Job”
  • The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Job”
  • Know Your Bible
  • Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
  • Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook