Book of Job

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Book of job)
Jump to: navigation, search
Hebrew Bible
Tanach.jpg
Judaism portal
Christianity portal
v • d • e

The Book of Job (Hebrew: אִיוֹב‎ ʾ iyov) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, who was not Jewish, and in Jewish tradition is the son of Utz, who was the son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, his trials at the hands of God, his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The Book itself comprises a didactic poem set in a prose framing device and has been called "the most profound and literary work of the entire Old Testament".[1] The Book itself and its numerous exegeses are attempts to address the problem of evil.

Contents

[edit] Narrative

There was an extremely pious man named Job. He was very prosperous, and had seven sons and three daughters. Constantly fearing that his sons may have sinned and "cursed God in their hearts", he habitually offered burnt offerings as a pardon for their sins.[2]

The "sons of God" and Satan (literally "the adversary") present themselves to God. God asks Satan his opinion on Job, apparently a truly pious man. Satan answers that Job is pious only because God put a "wall around" him and "blessed" his favorite servant with prosperity. But if God touches "his possessions", then Job would curse him. God gives Satan permission to test Job's righteousness.[3]

All of Job's possessions are destroyed and a 'ruach' (wind/spirit) causes the house of the firstborn to collapse killing all of Job's offspring who were gathered for a feast.[note 1] Job does not curse God after this but instead shaves his head, tears his clothes and says, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return: Lord has given, and Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of Lord" (Simplified).[4]

As Job endures these calamities without reproaching Divine Providence, Satan solicits permission to afflict his person as well, and God says, "Behold, he is in your hand, but don't touch his life." Satan, therefore, smites him with dreadful boils, and Job, seated in ashes, scrapes his skin with broken pottery. His wife prompts him to "curse God, and die" but Job answers, "You speak as one of the foolish speaks. Moreover, shall we receive good from God and shall not receive evil?"

Three friends of Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, come to console him. And the three of Job's friends heard all this evil that came on him, and they came every man from his place — Eliphaz the Temanite (Heb: Aliphaz the Thimanite), Bildad the Shuhite (Heb: Bildad the Shuchite), and Zophar Naamathite (Heb: Zuphar the Nomathite). A fourth, Elihu the Buzite (Heb: Alieua ben Barakal the Buzite), first begins talking in chapter 32 and plays a significant role in the dialogue; however, his arrival is not described. The friends spend 7 days sitting on the ground with Job, without saying anything to him because they see that he is suffering and in much pain. Job at last breaks his silence and "curses the day he was born".

[edit] Structure

The book of Job has a fairly simple structure. Job 1 and 2 are the prologue, written in prose. Job 3:1-42:6 is poetry that consists of a cycle of speeches between Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and then the dialogue between Yahweh and Job. Job 42:7-14 is the epilogue, which is written in prose.[5]

[edit] Speech Cycles

The dialogues of chapters 3-31 are, in general, a cycle of speeches between Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar that are structured as follows:

Cycle 1
Job Chapters 3
Eliphaz 4-5
Job 6-7
Bildad 8
Job 9-10
Zophar 11

Cycle 2
Job Chapters 12-14
Eliphaz 15
Job 16-17
Bildad 18
Job 19
Zophar 20

Cycle 3
Job Chapters 21
Eliphaz 22
Job 23-24
Bildad 25:1-5
Job 26; 27-28; 29-31[6]

The third cycle, it should be noted, does not follow the pattern of the first two cycles. Zophar does not give a speech and Bildad's speech is significantly shorter than his previous speeches.[5]

[edit] Speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar

Job's friends do not waver from their belief that Job must have sinned to incite God's punishment. As the speeches progress, Job's friends increasingly berate him for refusing to confess his sins, although they themselves are at a loss as to which sin he has committed. They also assume, in their view of theology, that God always rewards good and punishes evil, with no apparent exceptions allowed. There seems to be no room in their understanding of God for divine discretion and mystery in allowing and arranging suffering for purposes other than retribution. Job's friends never use the name YHVH in the story; they refer to God as El Shaddai, Eloahh, and Elohiym.

[edit] Speeches of Job

Job, confident of his own innocence, maintains that his suffering is unjustified as he has not sinned, and that there is no reason for God to punish him thus. However, he does not curse God's name or accuse God of injustice but rather seeks an explanation or an account of his wrong doing.

[edit] Speech of Elihu

Elihu, whose name means 'My God is He',[7] takes a mediator's path — he attempts to maintain the sovereignty and righteousness and gracious mercy of God. Elihu's speech comes after the final words of Job in the third speech cycle (31:40) and goes from chapters 32-37.[5] Elihu strongly condemns the approach taken by the three friends, and argues that Job is misrepresenting God's righteousness and discrediting his loving character. Elihu says he spoke last because he is much younger than the other three friends, but says that age makes no difference when it comes to insights and wisdom. In his speech, Elihu argues for God's power, redemptive salvation, and absolute rightness in all his conduct. God is mighty, yet just, and quick to warn and to forgive. Elihu takes a distinct view of the kind of repentance required by Job. Job's three friends claim that repentance requires Job to identify and renounce the sins that gave rise to his suffering. By contrast, Elihu stresses that real repentance entails renouncing moral authority, which is God's alone.[dubious – discuss][improper synthesis?] Elihu therefore underscores the inherent arrogance in Job's desire to 'make his case' before God, which presupposes that Job possesses a superior moral standard that can be prevailed upon God. Elihu's speeches act as a narrative bridge which joins Job's summary of his case with the appearance of God.[8] His speech maintains that Job, while righteous, is not perfect. Job does not disagree with this and God does not rebuke Elihu as he does Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz.[9] After Elihu's speech ends with the last verse of Chapter 37, God appears and in the second verse of Chapter 38, God says, speaking of Job: “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"

[edit] God's response

After several rounds of debate between Job and his friends, in a divine voice, described as coming from a "cloud" or "whirlwind",[note 2] God describes, in evocative and lyrical language, what the experience of being the creator of the world is like, and rhetorically asks if Job has ever had the experiences or the authority that God has had.

God's answer underscores that Job shares the world with numerous powerful and remarkable creatures. (Also compare Job 41:18-21 with Job 15:12-13 which was possibly in response to Job 7:11-16).

God's speech also emphasizes his sovereignty in creating and maintaining the world. The thrust is not merely that God has experiences that Job does not, but that God is king over the world and is not necessarily subject to questions from his creatures, including men. The point of these speeches, and ultimately the entire book of Job, is to proclaim the absolute freedom of God over His creation. God is not in need of the approval of his creation. Notably, it is only the reader of the book who learns the backstory of God's conversations with Satan; Job himself remains unaware of the reason or source of his sufferings until the end. Finally, humbled by God's chastising, Job turns speechless, giving up and repenting his previous requests of justice.

In the epilogue, God condemns Job's friends for their ignorance and lack of understanding while commending Job for his righteous words, commands them to prepare burnt offerings and reassures them that Job will pray for their forgiveness. Job is restored to health, gaining double the riches he possessed before and having new children, 7 sons and 3 daughters (his wife did not die in this ordeal). His new daughters (Jemima, Keziah and Keren-Happuch[10]) were the most beautiful in the land, and were given inheritance along with their brothers. Job is blessed once again and lives on another 140 years after the ordeal, living to see his children to the fourth generation and dying peacefully of old age.

[edit] Satan in the Book of Job

The term "Satan" appears in the prose prologue of Job, with Satan's usual connotation of "the adversary", as a distinct being. He is shown as one of the celestial beings before the deity,[11] replying to the inquiry of God as to whence he had come with the words: "from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (Job 1:7).

The dialogue that ensues characterizes Satan as a member of the divine council who observes human activity, but with the purpose of searching out men's sins and appearing as their accuser. He is, as it were, a celestial "prosecutor"; he persists in his opinion of Job even after the man of the Land of Uz has passed through his first trial by surrendering to the will of God, whereupon the Satan demands another test through physical suffering (Job 2:3–5). Satan challenges Job's righteousness by saying that his belief is built only upon the material goods he has been given, and that his faith will disappear as soon as they are taken from him.

The introduction of "the adversary" occurs in the framing story alone: he is never clearly alluded to in the central poem at all, although Sheol is mentioned in the central poem, as well as Job's need for an adversary (although it is doubtful that he is referring to the original adversary of the story).

In Job Satan is not yet the devil's personal name, as in later Judeo-Christian works.[11]

[edit] Job's wife

Georges de La Tour,
Job Mocked by his Wife.

Job's wife is introduced in Job 2:9 when she suggests that Job curse God and die. She is not directly mentioned at any other place in the book. Throughout the ordeal, she survives and lives on with Job to bear him ten more children. There is uncertainty about her intentions when she tells Job to curse God (i.e. is it out of bitterness? or empathy for his suffering?), but it is clear that Job honors her by the way he talks about her in chapter 31.

In this regard, it is notable that the Hebrew word in the Masoretic text most often translated as "curse" is "ברך," which primarily means to "kneel" or to "bless" and only euphemistically denotes "curse." If Job's wife meant "bless God and die," her statement would correspond more both to the character of a righteous woman and to the literal practice which survives to this day of blessing the Creator with one's last words where possible. Job's critical response to her may then be interpreted as challenging the notion that, when undergoing severe suffering, one should necessarily be resigned to one's imminent demise.

[edit] Identities of Job's friends

 This section uses one or more religious texts as primary sources without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources.

The first speaker to address Job, Eliphaz, is a called a Temanite, whose ancestor Teman is identified in the Book of Genesis in a genealogy: 'And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz' (Genesis 36:11). This would probably identify the Eliphaz the Temanite in the Book of Job as a descendant of this Teman and possibly named for the original Eliphaz, since this Teman was thus an Edomite (a descendant of Esau), and since the "land of Uz" in which Job lived (Job 1:1) is described as being in Edom (Lamentations 4:21).

[edit] Behemoth and Leviathan

In a second divine speech that appears immediately after Job has conceded defeat, Yahweh provides an extensive description of two creations: Behemoth (Job 40.15-24) and Leviathan (Job 41.1¬-34). The Behemoth is thought by some Christians to be a giant long neck dinosaur and the first in the ways of God. The Leviathan is thought to be a giant fire breathing sea creature that is now extinct.[12]

In Ugaritic and Hebrew traditions, “leviathan” is used to term the chaos deity and usually depicted as a seven-headed serpent, a primeval sea-monster. The depiction of Leviathan resembles that of the Mesopotamian primeval sea goddess Tiamat. The creature Behemoth appears only once in the bible (Job 40.15-24), but appears to be another type of primeval sea-monster.[12]

In Job, both Behemoth (Job 40.15-24) and Leviathan (Job 41.1-34) are depicted as insurmountable foes to the mortal, yet it is stated that Yahweh made them just as Yahweh made Job (Job 40.15).

[edit] Origin and textual history

Most modern scholars date the extant text to the 4th century BCE, prior to Ecclesiastes in the development of Wisdom literature.[13] While "there is an intentional editorial unity with a cohesive purpose and message in the canonical form of the book," Job contains many separate elements, some of which may have had an independent existence prior to being incorporated into the present text.[14]

Scholars agree that the introductory and concluding sections of the book, the framing devices, were composed to set the central poem into a prose "folk-book", as the compilers of the Jewish Encyclopedia expressed it. The central poem is from another source.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls is the Targum of Job 11Q10. (Another example of text from the last chapter or epilogue of Job can be found in the book The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation, showing examples of how fragments of The Book of Job found among the scrolls differ from the text as now known).

[edit] The "Job Motif" in earlier literature

Further information: Ludlul bēl nēmeqi

The Assyriologist and Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer in 1954 presented a Sumerian text treating the "Job motif" of the righteous sufferer.[15] The Sumerian text is known as "A man and his god", after the incipit lu2-ulu3 nam-mah dingir-ra-na.[16]

Ludlul bēl nēmeqi is a Babylonian text, also known as the "Babylonian Job", which concerns itself with the unjust suffering of an afflicted man, named Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan.

"The Protestation of Guiltlessness," from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, is a collection of assertions of innocence which were included in ancient Egyptian burial rites, and is often compared to Job, especially chapter 31.[17]

While these and other ancient Near Eastern texts consider comparable issues, scholars have not found a direct antecedent to Job. However, the similarity between the central concerns of Job and those of certain ancient Babylonian and Egyptian texts reveals a shared interest in the question of why the innocent suffer. These texts also share an interest in challenging traditional views of the nature of divine justice.[17]

[edit] Later interpolations and additions

 This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

Various interpolations have been claimed to have been made in the text of the central poem. The most common such claims are of two kinds: the "parallel texts", which are parallel developments of the corresponding passages in the base text, and the speeches of Elihu (Chapters 32-37), which consist of a polemic against the ideas expressed elsewhere in the poem, and so are claimed to be interpretive interpolations. The speeches of Elihu (who is not mentioned in the prologue) are claimed to contradict the fundamental opinions expressed by the "friendly accusers" in the central body of the poem, according to which it is impossible that the righteous should suffer, all pain being a punishment for some sin. Elihu, however, reveals that suffering may be decreed for the righteous as a protection against greater sin, for moral betterment and warning, and to elicit greater trust and dependence on a merciful, compassionate God in the midst of adversity.

The status of Elihu's interrupting didactic sermon is brought further into question by his extremely sudden appearance and disappearance from the text; he is not mentioned in Job 2:11, in which Job's friends are introduced, nor is he mentioned at all in the epilogue, 42:7-10, in which God expresses anger at Job's friends. It is suggested that had Elihu appeared in the original source, his spirited and virtuous defence of the divine right to punish would have been rewarded by God in the conclusion, or at the very least mentioned. Additionally, Elihu's first spoken words are a confession of his youthful status, being much younger than the three canonical friends, including a claim to be speaking because he cannot bear to remain silent; it has been suggested that this interesting statement may have been symbolic of a "younger" (that is to say, later and interpolating) writer, who has written Elihu's sermon to respond to what he views as morally and theologically scandalous statements being made within the book of Job, and creating the literary device of Elihu to provide what seemed to be a much-needed faith-based response to further refute heresy and provide a satisfying counter-argument, a need partially provided by God's ambiguous and unspecific response to Job at the end of the book.

Subjects of further contention among scholars are the identity of claimed corrections and revisions of Job's speeches, which are claimed to have been made for the purpose of harmonizing them with the orthodox doctrine of retribution. A prime example of such a claim is the translation of the last line Job speaks (42:6), which is extremely problematic in the Hebrew. Traditional translations have him say, "Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." This is consonant with the central body of the poem and Job's speeches, other mortal encounters with the divine in the Bible (Isaiah in Chapter 6, for example), and the fact that there would have been no restoration without Job's humble repentant acknowledgment of mortality faced with divinity in all its majesty and glory. However, other scholarly interpretations of this verse also exist (for example)

[edit] Talmudic tradition

The Talmudic Tractate Bava Batra 15a-b maintains that Job was written by Moses, although nowhere does it name its author; other opinions in the Talmud ascribe it to the period of before the First Temple, the time of the patriarch Jacob, or King Ahaserus.

The medieval exegete Abraham ibn Ezra believed that Job was translated from another language and it is therefore unclear "like all translated books" (Ibn Ezra Job 2:11). It is set in the land of Edom, which has been retained as the background, and in the prologue and epilogue, the name of God is the Tetragrammaton, a name that even the Edomites used.

Job is prominent in haggadic legends. The later Greek Testament of Job figures among the apocrypha.

[edit] Dissenting/Speculative Wisdom

Set in the wisdom literature writings of the Hebrew bible is the book of Job. Yet, there is a strong sense that this goes against what scholars label as the conventional wisdom we find in the book of Proverbs. Michael Coogan writes in regards to both Ecclesiastes and Job that “Both take positions opposed to the mainstream of the wisdom tradition in the Bible, as exemplified in the book of Proverbs…” [18] Job, along with Ecclesiastes is part of the dissenting or speculative wisdom groupings of wisdom literature within the Old Testament.[19] In the narrative there are conversations that occur between Job and family, Job and friends, and Job and God. Conventional wisdom may be applied to the questions and advice given by Job’s friends or family, yet it is Job’s responses that make this book part of the dissenting wisdom or “anti-wisdom wisdom” [20]

[edit] Exegesis

 This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

Exegesis of Job largely concerns the question, "Is misfortune always a divine punishment for something?" Job's three friends argued in the affirmative, stating that Job's misfortunes were proof that he had committed some sins for which he was being punished. His friends also advanced the converse position that good fortune is always a divine reward, and that if Job would renounce his supposed sins, he would immediately experience the return of good fortune.

In response, Job asserted that he was a righteous man, and that his misfortune was therefore not a punishment for anything. This raised the possibility that God acts in capricious ways, and Job's wife urged him to curse God, and die. Instead, Job responded with equanimity: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21) He went even further, in verse 22, by not charging any wrong to God. The climax of the book occurs when God responds to Job, not with an explanation for Job's suffering but rather with a question: Where was Job when God created the world?

God's response itself may be read in a variety of ways. Some see it as an attempt to humble Job. The fact that he 'saw God and lived' may suggest that the author of the book was more concerned with whether or not God is present in people's lives than whether or not God is just. Job chapter 28 rejects these efforts to fathom divine wisdom.

The framing story complicates the book further: in the introductory section God, during a conversation with Satan, allows Satan to inflict misery on Job and kill his children. The appended conclusion has God restoring Job to wealth, granting him new children, and possibly restoring his health, although this is more implied than explicitly stated. This may suggest that the faith of the perfect believer is rewarded. However, God speaks directly to this question, condemns Job's friends, and says that Job is the only man who has faithfully represented the true nature of God - that all his friends were wrong to say that righteousness is always unequivocally rewarded. Only after Job's friends make a sacrifice to God and are prayed for by afflicted Job does God restore all Job's good fortune.

[edit] The Testament of Job

Main article: Testament of Job

There are many parallel accounts about Job; one such account, found in the Pseudepigrapha, is the Testament of Job. There are legendary details such as the fate of Job's wife, the inheritance of Job's daughters, and the ancestry of Job.

In folktale manner in the style of Jewish Midrash [2], it elaborates upon the Book of Job making Job a king in Egypt. Like many other Testament of ... works in the Old Testament apocrypha, it gives the narrative a framing-tale of Job's last illness, in which he calls together his sons and daughters to give them his final instructions and exhortations. The Testament of Job contains all the characters familiar in the Book of Job, with a more prominent role for Job's wife, given the name Sitidos, and many parallels to Christian beliefs that Christian readers find, such as intercession with God and forgiveness.

Unlike the Biblical Book of Job, Satan's vindictiveness towards Job is described in the Testament as being due to Job destroying a non-Jewish temple, indeed Satan is described in a far more villainous light, than simply being a prosecuting counsel. Job is equally portrayed differently; Satan is shown to directly attack Job, but fails each time due to Job's willingness to be patient, unlike the Biblical narrative where Job falls victim but retains faith.

The latter section of the work, dedicated like the Biblical text to Job's comforters, deviates even further from the Biblical narrative. Rather than complaining or challenging God, Job consistently asserts his faith despite the laments of his comforters. While one of the comforters gives up, and the others try to get him medical treatment, Job insists his faith is true, and eventually the voice of God tells the comforters to stop their behavior. When most of the comforters choose to listen to God's voice, they decide to taunt the one remaining individual who still laments Job's fate.

[edit] In Judaism

 
Books of the
Ketuvim
 
Three poetic books
Psalms
Proverbs
Job
Five Megillot
Song of Songs
Ruth
Lamentations
Ecclesiastes
Esther
Other books
Daniel
Ezra – Nehemiah
Chronicles
v • d • e

The Talmud occasionally discusses Job. Most traditional Torah scholarship has not doubted Job's existence. He was seen as a real and powerful figure. One Talmudic opinion has it that Job was in fact one of three advisors that Pharaoh consulted, prior to taking action against the increasingly multiplying "Children of Israel" mentioned in the Book of Exodus during the time of Moses' birth. The episode is mentioned in the Talmud (Tractate Sotah): Balaam gives evil advice urging Pharaoh to kill the Hebrew male new-born babies, Jethro opposes Pharaoh and tells him not to harm the Hebrews at all, and Job keeps silent and does not reveal his mind even though he was personally opposed to Pharaoh's destructive plans. It is for his silence that God subsequently punishes him with his bitter afflictions.[3].

There is a minority view among the rabbis of the Talmud, that of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, that Job never existed (Midrash Genesis Rabbah LXVII, Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra 15a). In this view, Job was a literary creation by a prophet who used this form of writing to convey a divine message or parable. On the other hand, the Talmud (in Tractate Baba Batra 15a-16b) goes to great lengths trying to ascertain when Job actually lived, citing many opinions and interpretations by the leading sages. Job is further mentioned in the Talmud as follows [4]:

Two further Talmudic traditions hold that Job either lived in the time of Abraham or of Jacob. Levi ben Laḥma held that Job lived in the time of Moses, by whom the Book of Job was written. Others argue that it was written by Job himself (see Job  19:23-24), or by Elihu, or Isaiah.

[edit] Source for Jewish Law

Some of the laws and customs of mourning in Judaism are derived from the Book of Job's depiction of Job's mourning and the behavior of his companions. For example, according to[specify], the behavior of Job's comforters, who kept silence until he spoke to them, is the source for a norm applicable to contemporary traditional Jewish practice, that visitors to a house of mourning should not speak to the mourner until they are spoken to.[21]

[edit] Liturgical use

In most traditions of Jewish liturgy, the Book of Job is not read publicly in the manner of the Pentateuch, Prophets, or megillot. However, there are some Jews, particularly the Spanish-Portuguese, who do hold public readings of the Book of Job on the Tisha B'Av fast (a day of mourning over the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies).

The cantillation signs for the large poetic section in the middle of the Book of Job differ from those of most of the biblical books, using a system shared with it only by Psalms and Proverbs. A sample of how the cantillations are chanted is found below.

Many quotes from the Book of Job are used throughout Jewish liturgy, especially at funerals and times of mourning.

[edit] Philosophical approach

Maimonides, a twelfth century rabbi, discusses Job in his work The Guide for the Perplexed. According to Maimonides (III 22–23), each of Job's friends represents famous, distinct schools of thought concerning God and divine providence.

According to Maimonides, the correct view of providence lies with Elihu, who teaches Job that one must examine his religion (Job 33). This view corresponds with the notion that "the only worthy religion in the world is an examined religion." A habit religion, such as that originally practiced by Job, is never enough. One has to look deep into the meaning of religion in order to fully appreciate it and make it a genuine part of one's life. Elihu believed in the concepts of divine providence, rewards to individuals, as well as punishments. He believed, according to Maimonides, that one has to practice religion in a rational way. The more one investigates religion, the more he will be rewarded or find it rewarding. In the beginning, Job was an unexamining, pious man, not a philosopher, and he did not have providence. He was unwise, simply grateful for what he had. God, according to Elihu, did not single out Job for punishment, but rather abandoned him and let him be dealt with by natural, unfriendly forces.

Conversely, in more recent times, Russian existentialist philosopher Lev Shestov viewed Job as the embodiment of the battle between reason (which offers general and seemingly comforting explanations for complex events) and faith in a personal god, and one man's desperate cry for him. In fact, Shestov used the story of Job as a central signifier for his core philosophy (the vast critique of the history of Western philosophy, which he saw broadly as a monumental battle between Reason and Faith, Athens and Jerusalem, secular and religious outlook):

"The whole book is one uninterrupted contest between the 'cries' of the much-afflicted Job and the 'reflections' of his rational friends. The friends, as true thinkers, look not at Job but at the 'general.' Job, however, does not wish to hear about the 'general'; he knows that the general is deaf and dumb - and that it is impossible to speak with it. 'But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God' (13:3). The friends are horrified at Job's words: they are convinced that it is not possible to speak with God and that the Almighty is concerned about the firmness of his power and the unchangeability of his laws but not about the fate of the people created by him. Perhaps they are convinced that in general God does not know any concerns but that he only rules. That is why they answer, 'You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you or the rock be removed from its place?' (18:4). And, indeed, shall rocks really be removed from their place for the sake of Job? And shall necessity renounce its sacred rights? This would truly be the summit of human audacity, this would truly be a 'mutiny,' a 'revolt' of the single human personality against the eternal laws of the all-unity of being!" (Speculation and Apocalypse).

[edit] Mystical approach

According to the mystical approach, Job is being punished because he is a heretic. One reason why Job can be seen as a heretic is because in Chapter 3, he automatically assumed and was convinced that he did not sin and God therefore has no right to punish him.

According to Nachmanides, Job's children did not die in the beginning of the story, but rather were taken captive and then return from captivity by the end of the story.


[edit] In Christianity

Christians accept the Book of Job as part of the Old Testament canon. The character of Job is also mentioned in the New Testament, as an example of perseverance in suffering (James 5:11).

There are several references to the Book of Job throughout the New Testament, especially the Epistles. Specifically:

Rev. 9:6 alludes to Job  3:21; compare 2 Thes. 2:8 to Job  4:9; 1 Cor. 3:19 quotes Job  5:13; Heb. 12:5, Jas. 1:12, and Rev. 3:19 all parallel Job  5:17 and Job  23:10; compare Jas. 4:14 to Job  7:6; compare Heb. 2:6 with Job  7:17; compare Heb. 12:26 with Job  9:6; Rom. 9:20 alludes to Job  9:32; Rom. 11:33 parallels Job  35:7; compare Acts 17:28 with Job  12:10; compare 1 Cor. 4:5 with Job  12:22; compare 1 Pet. 1:24 with Job  14:2; compare Lk. 19:22 with Job  15:6; Rom. 1:9 parallels Job  16:19; compare 1 John 3:2 with Job  19:26; Rev. 14:10, 19:15 parallel Job  21:20; both Rom. 11:34 and 1 Cor. 2:16 quote Isa. 40:13, which parallels Job  21:22; Mt. 25:42 alludes to Job  22:7; Jas. 4:6 and 1 Pet. 5:5 both quote Prov. 3:34, which parallels Job  22:29; compare Acts 1:7 with Job  24:1; Heb. 4:13 parallels Job  26:6; Mt. 16:26 alludes to Job  27:8; compare Jas. 1:5 with Job  32:8; 1 Jo. 1:9 alludes to Job  33:27-28; Jas. 5:4 alludes to Job  34:28; Rev. 16:21 alludes to Job  38:22-23; Mt. 6:26 alludes to Job  38:41; and finally, Rom. 11:35 quotes Job  41:11. (see Good News Bible special edition)

Christian themes include God's mercy (not treating sinners as they truly deserve), grace (treating unworthy sinners as they do not deserve), compassion (toleration of much discrediting, inappropriate mortal speculation impugning the divine character, and allegations of unrighteous/unfair dealings with men), restoration (where sin abounds, generosity superabounds) omnipotence, omnisapience [5], omnipresence, omniliberty, aseity and infinite love.

[edit] Messianic anticipation in the book

In chapter nine, Job recognizes the chasm that exists between him and God: “For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together.” [22] Job’s regret is that he has no arbiter to act as a go-between; that Job can not reconcile himself with God anticipates the need for the Messiah to become Incarnate.[23] In verse 33, Job wishes that there was an “umpire” (Heb. mokiah) to decide between him and God. One scholar says, “This person would have to be superior in authority to either party, ”;[24] thus the arbiter for whom Job hopes would have to himself be divine, or else he would no more be qualified to “lay his hand upon” God than is Job.

This idea of a divine arbiter is returned to at Job 16:19. Job again expresses his desire for a witness, and then declares, “my eyes pour out tears to God, that he would maintain the right of a man with God”.[25] Job addresses God, desiring that God will advocate on Job’s behalf with himself.[26] Job knows that no man such as himself, conceived in sin, can appeal to God on his behalf; so God must do it himself. The language used earlier is that of a judicial judgement , in which God is both judge of and lawyer for Job. Job “draws a distinction in God” , and this distinction anticipates the multiplicity of God’s persons.

Job’s faith in this arbiter is again brought up in chapter 19. It is commonly accepted that the “Redeemer” of 19:25 is the same person as the witness of 16:19.[27] This verse in particular is often seen as an anticipation of Christianity. Telgren notes that it has been suggested that verses 25 and 26 have a poetic structure of ABBA. If this is true it would support the notion that God is himself the Redeemer, by associating him with the living Redeemer in the parallel structure. The RSV’s “Redeemer” is a translation of the Hebrew go’el. That this go’el could refer to God is explicitly demonstrated in the Psalms and Proverbs, and elsewhere.

Job 19:25-26 is one of the most famous passages in Job, due to it being part of Handel's Messiah and due to the fact that when Job is read in the lectionary during the Easter season, the reference to "Redeemer" has been interpreted as looking towards the resurrection of Jesus. However, in Hebrew it literally translates as
"But as for me, I know that my vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.
This will happen when my flesh has been stripped off,
but from my flesh I would see God."
The "Redeemer" that has brought about so much fame is not, in fact, "Redeemer." There are no capital letters in the Hebrew language, and it is not even "redeemer." It is the word go'el. In Biblical law, a goel is a next-of-kin who is to avenge a relative who has died. When looked on with this original translation, it appears Job is asserting that after he is dead, his goel will take up his case. However, he would rather it happen before he dies. Nowehere else in Job does he express a wish for bodily resurrection, only for someone to interfere as an "umpire", a "vindicator", a "goal", on his behalf as an impartial judge between himself and God in the present.[28]

[edit] Liturgical use

The Eastern Orthodox Church reads from Job during Holy Week.

“Throughout the whole Lent the two books of the Old Testament read at Vespers were Genesis and Proverbs. With the beginning of the Holy Week they are replaced by Exodus and Job. Exodus is the story of Israel's liberation from Egyptian slavery, of their Passover. It prepares us for the understanding of Christ's exodus to his Father, of his fulfillment of the whole history of salvation. Job, the sufferer, is the Old Testament icon of Christ. This reading announces the great mystery of Christ's sufferings, obedience and sacrifice.”
—Alexander Schmemann,, "A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week"

The Roman Catholic Church traditionally reads from the Book of Job during Matins in the first two weeks of September, as well as in the Office of the Dead. In the revised Liturgy of the Hours, Job is read during the Eighth and Ninth Weeks in Ordinary Time.

In Palestinian folk tradition, Ayyub's place of trial is Al-Joura, a village outside the town of Al Majdal (Ashkelon). It was there, God rewarded him with a Fountain of Youth that removed whatever illnesses he had, and restored his youth. The town of Al-Joura was a place of annual festivities (4 days in all) when people of many faiths gathered and bathed in a natural spring.

In Turkey, Job is known as Eyüp, and he is supposed to have lived in Şanlıurfa.

There is also a tomb of Job outside the city of Salalah in Oman.

[edit] References to Ayyub (Job) in the Qur'an

In Islam, Job (ايوب) was a prophet renowned for his endurance (assumed to be of pain and suffering). One tradition holds that his tomb is located near Salalah, in the Sultanate of Oman, possibly indicating he made his wealth in the frankincense trade.

[edit] Modern approaches to Job

[edit] Essays and non-fiction

[edit] Literature

[edit] Film

[edit] In culture

[edit] References

  1. ^ John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, Simon & Schuster, 1965 p 440.
  2. ^ Job 1:1-5
  3. ^ Job 1:6-12, King James Bible
  4. ^ Job 1:15-22, King James Bible
  5. ^ a b c Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), pp.381.
  6. ^ Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), pp.381
  7. ^ The proper transliteration for the Hebrew name, אֱלִיהוּ, is 'Eliyhuw (Strong's number H453, Elihu = "He is my God"). In spite of the assonance, the name Elihu has a different origin and meaning from Elijah, in Hebrew אֵלִיָּה, whose proper transliteration is 'Eliyah (Strong's number H452, Elijah or Eliah = "my God is Jehovah" or "Yah(u) is God")
  8. ^ J. Gerald Jansen, Job, Interpretation Bible Commentary, Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1995.
  9. ^ The absence of comments by Job and by God has been explained with the hypothesis that the speeches of Elihu (chapters 32-37) are later interpolations (see section Later interpolations and additions).
  10. ^ http://niv.scripturetext.com/job/42.htm
  11. ^ a b Coogan, M., ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. (Oxford University Press: Oxford) 2001), pp. 728.
  12. ^ a b Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. (Oxford University Press: Oxford) 2009), pp.387.
  13. ^ Katherine Dell, review of Gerald H. Wilson, "Job" (New International Biblical Commentary, 2007), RBL 03/2008
  14. ^ Gerald H. Wilson, "Job" (New International Biblical Commentary; Hendrickson, 2007) p.11
  15. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah, "Man and His God: A Sumerian Variation on the 'Job' Motif", in Noth, M. and Thomas, D. W. (ed.), Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East Presented to Professor Harold Henry Rowley (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, 3) Brill: Leiden, 1955 , 170-182. Also discussed in History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine "Firsts" in Recorded History (1956)
  16. ^ A man and his god: translation at the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.
  17. ^ a b Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), p.382
  18. ^ Coogan, M. “A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. Oxford University Press, New York 2009 p.380
  19. ^ Shupak, Nili: Where can wisdom be found?: the sage’s language in the Bible and in ancient Egyptian literature University Press, Freiburg Switzerland 1993 p. 12
  20. ^ Pope, Marvin H. “Job: The Anchor Bible (p.LXXIII) Doubleday, New York 1965,1973
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ Job 9:32, RSV
  23. ^ Walter Kaiser, The Messiah in the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p. 62.
  24. ^ Marvin Pope, Job: The Anchor Bible, (New York: Doubleday, 1965), 74.
  25. ^ Job 16:20b-21a
  26. ^ James Smith, What the Bible Teaches about the Promised Messiah, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993), 213.
  27. ^ e.g., John Telgren, The Identity of Job’s Goel in Job 19:25, 1999, 4.
  28. ^ Coogan, Michael. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament. Oxford Press., 2009. Pp 385
  29. ^ "Answer to Job" in Psychology and Religion, v.11, Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Princeton. It was first published as "Antwort auf Hiob", Zürich, 1952 and translated into English in 1954, in London.
  30. ^ Illustrations of The Book of Job by William Blake

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Compare:
    Ex 12 21Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

    22And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you...

    ...29And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
  2. ^ compare:
    Ex 1916And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp tremble...

    ...EX 201And God spake all these words, saying, 2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage..

    ...18And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Book of Job
Preceded by
Proverbs		 Hebrew Bible Followed by
Song of Songs
Preceded by
Esther		 Protestant Old Testament Followed by
Psalms
Preceded by
2 Maccabees		 Roman Catholic Old Testament
Preceded by
4 Maccabees		 Eastern Orthodox Old Testament
v • d • e
Books of the Bible
Major divisions
Genesis · Exodus · Leviticus · Numbers · Deuteronomy · Joshua · Judges · Ruth · 1-2 Samuel · 1-2 Kings · 1-2 Chronicles · Ezra · Nehemiah · Esther · Job · Psalms · Proverbs · Ecclesiastes · Song · Isaiah · Jeremiah · Lamentations · Ezekiel · Daniel · Hosea · Joel · Amos · Obadiah · Jonah · Micah · Nahum · Habakkuk · Zephaniah · Haggai · Zechariah · Malachi
Catholic, Orthodox:
Orthodox:
Ethiopian Orthodox:
Matthew • Mark • Luke • John • Acts • Romans • 1 Corinthians • 2 Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians • 1 Timothy • 2 Timothy  • Titus  • Philemon • Hebrews • James • 1 Peter • 2 Peter • 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Jude • Revelation
Canon
More divisions
Manuscripts
See also
Category · Portal · WikiProject · Wikipedia book Book:Bible
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Job"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages