{"id":4620,"date":"2012-02-29T01:00:39","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T09:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=4620"},"modified":"2012-02-29T11:26:11","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T19:26:11","slug":"bob-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2012\/02\/29\/bob-job\/","title":{"rendered":"BOB – Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Stephen Rodgers<\/em><\/p>\n

JOB IN\u00a010\u00a0WORDS\u00a0OR\u00a0LESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“God allows human suffering for His own purposes.”<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cpersecution,\u201d thus meaning \u201cpersecuted one,\u201d or from an Arabic word meaning \u201crepent,\u201d thus bearing the name \u201crepentant one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>AUTHOR\u00a0&\u00a0AUDIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

Assuming ad arguendo<\/em>\u00a0that the book was written during Solomon’s reign, the target audience would have been Israelites living in the united kingdom at the time.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>DATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Care must be taken to separate the date of the content <\/em>from the date of the composition<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Content-wise, Job is quite ancient, even archaic by OT standards. \u00a0Many 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. \u00a0There are a number of other elements which would seem to support this thesis. \u00a0As the MSB puts it:<\/p>\n

This conclusion is based on: 1) Job\u2019s 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\u2019s servants (Job\u00a01:17) were nomads and had not yet become city dwellers; 5) Job\u2019s wealth being measured in livestock rather than gold and silver (Job\u00a01:3; 42:12); 6) Job\u2019s priestly functions within his family (Job\u00a01:4, 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\u2019s odyssey appear to be patriarchal. Job, on the other hand, seemed to know about Adam (Job\u00a031:33) and the Noahic flood (Job\u00a012:15). These cultural\/historical features found in the book appear to place the events chronologically at a time probably after Babel (Gen. 11:1\u20139) but before or contemporaneous with Abraham (Gen. 11:27ff.).<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>BACKGROUND\u00a0&\u00a0SETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>As previously mentioned, the book of Job takes place most likely during the time of the patriarchs. \u00a0This means that the context is closer to that of Genesis 12 than it is to Jerusalem after the return of the Babylonian remnant. \u00a0However, much of the book concerns the character and nature of God, and as such is not bound to a particular time or place.<\/p>\n

HISTORICAL\u00a0&\u00a0THEOLOGICAL\u00a0THEMES<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a number of themes that are prevelant throughout the book of Job:<\/p>\n