Job the silent is a very provocative reading that i highly recommend. Consequently it can be concluded that the book of job is a mixed genre in which its author expertly blended a variety of literary types in order to serve the function of the book. The book of job raises stark questions about the nature and meaning of innocent suffering and the relationship of the human to the divine, yet it is also one of the bibles most obscure and paradoxical books, one that defies interpretation even today. In the second temple period 500 bce 70 ce job began being transformed into. The wisdom that is found in the book of job is not communicated in the form of proverb. Historical society jobs, employment skip to job postings. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible.
These cultural and historical features found in the book appear to place the events chronologically at a time probably after babel gen. List of books and articles about book of job online. Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, i should save job. These include the way in which job is introduced, references to job in the book of ezekiel, and references to job in the book of james. Further, given that the fathers are unanimous in considering job to be a real and historical person, catholic scholars ought not. 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 named satan.
Rather, he is considered an actual, historical figure. The book of job, in my view, is widely misunderstood it is the classic book of the hebrew bible that seemingly is orthodox correct belief and theological in nature in dealing with the. Is the book of job a true story or a parableallegory. In either case, the book is an example of the inconsistent and paradoxical doctrines in the bible. Cooper installment 1 the book of job is one of the most interesting and informative portions of the word of god. Fragments of a shattered plate on which the book of job had been written. Job is a profound book on human suffering, worthy of a lifetime of study. Undoubtedly, however, the minority who were righteous in israel may well have taken solace and found comfort in the teachings of the book of job andrew e. A perusal of the pages of the book of job reveals the fact that a primitive civilization constitutes the background of this work. It would now seem that the language and theology of the book of job can be better explained by supposing it to be a portion of minean southern arabia literature obtained by moses in midian than in any other way. Here are three suggested times job might have lived by the reasoning. The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues.
The book of job chronological, historical and archaeological evidence gerard gertoux phd candidate in archaeology and history of ancient world edition. Probably premosaic, even patriarchal from the second millennium b. Is the book of job meant to be an allegoryparable or a. Hymn to marduk in babylonian cuneiform, 1st millennium bce. Nov 01, 2011 during the time of the book of job, 2,100 1,600 b. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. The book of job is dramathe greatest drama in the world.
The book contains a wide variety of literary genres narrative, poetry, visions, dialogue and others woven together into a literary masterpiece. While this is a secular book commenting on the development of job as a book of the bible, i would also argue that, if zuckermans thesis holds true, there are some very profound theological implications, as the intention of the author is taken into account. Jun 24, 2018 the book of job, in my view, is widely misunderstood it is the classic book of the hebrew bible that seemingly is orthodox correct belief and theological in nature in dealing with the. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself. Job 1 niv bible in the land of uz there lived a man whose. Job, book of webbible encyclopedia christiananswers. It is surprising that we know so little about the historical background of job. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. The question comes to us from a listener named lori. The most commonly accepted outline identifies two cycles of lament, dialogue, and revelation, sandwiched between. In fact, job is mentioned in three different verses in scripture outside the book of job, none of which lead one to believe that job is a fictional character. The book of job explores the nature of true piety and the problem of innocent suffering.
Job, possibly the strangest book in the bible, is based on legends going. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. Job does not seem to be an israelite, because he is said to be from the land of uz job 1. Job intro to job biblica the international bible society. Intro to job biblica the international bible society. Various communities throughout history have found the book of job to be a rich resource for producing visual art that seeks to soothe sufferers, spread hope, and even encourage rebels. We may be sure that the author was an israelite, since he not job or his friends frequently uses the israelite covenant name for god yahweh. 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. Where did the biblical story of creation come from. Job is lacking references to historical events and. Is the book of job meant to be an allegoryparable or a true. The date of the authorship of the book of job would be determined by the author of the book of job.
A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. Job opens with jehovah holding court among a number of divini. It takes on the problems of suffering and evil with astounding aporia. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. In the case of job, there are several good reasons to interpret the book as historical rather than allegorical. The book s theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. This has stumped scholars for centuries, but is really quite simple to locate as we shall soon see. Book of job overview insight for living ministries. While it may be that the author intended his book to be a contribution to an ongoing highlevel discussion of major theological issues in an exclusive company of learned men, it seems more likely that he intended his story to be told to godly sufferers who like job were struggling with the crisis of faith brought on by prolonged bitter suffering. The most likely candidates are job, elihu, moses and solomon. Job is not on the amazing bible timeline with world history.
The book of job is paradoxical regarding its historicity as well as its meaning. Background and outline job bible commentary theology. Literary features of the book of job gordon college. Job is not on the timeline because biblical scholars cannot agree on when he might have lived, and the bible does not give enough direct clues to place him accurately.
The book of job is the closest thing that the hebrew bible has to a work of theology. Clay this was the primary writing surface in the sumerian, assyrian and babylonian empires and is mentioned in the old testament ezekiel 4. It can be easy to think of job as a book you turn to if some unexpected tragedy happens, but can otherwise be safely ignored. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. It would not be very comforting if job were nothing more than a jack and the beanstalk story. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. Although the author was an israelite, he mentions nothing of israels history. Job, on the other hand, seemed to know about adam 31. The book of job does not specifically name its author. The book of job itself, together with three other biblical books, presents job as being an historical figure. Rather, the book of job deals with questions of wisdom in the context of a narrative dealing with jobs profound anguish and excruciating pain. 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. The third division is the historical conclusion, in prose.
But was job himself a real, historical character like john bunyan, or is job a mythic legend like paul bunyan. In rabbinical literature, job is called one of the prophets of the gentiles. Perhaps the most important reason for reading the book, however, is that job. The book of job introduction the book of job has long been praised as a masterpiece of literature. Consequently it can be concluded that the book of job is a mixed genre in which its author expertly blended a variety of literary types in. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. Jobs historical and geographic location turning now to jobs historical and geographic location, our first clue comes in chapter one, verse one where it says. There is no question about it that the book of job records true history. Apply to assistant, head of collections, sales representative and more. And does it really matter in the end which he was fact or folklore. Wikimedia commons there are several potential near eastern precursors for the book of job. Job may serve as a rebuke to the historical tradition of sin and repentance, represented by the deuteronomic historian and the surrounding wisdom traditions in ecclesiastes and proverbs. The book of job is a profound work on human suffering, worthy of a lifetime of study and reflection.
The events of jobs odyssey appear to be patriarchal. 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. Sep 29, 20 the life and times of this iconic and enduring biblical book. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date. Literary features of the book of job 215 his polyphonic workwisdom types, a genre from psalms, and a genre from the legal sphere. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite. Fourth, the book of job was a fixed document of the old testament centuries before the coming of christ in the first century. Ayyub is also considered a prophet job is presented as a good and prosperous family man who is beset by satan with gods. The book of job a widely misunderstood book jeffrey.
The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. But the fact is, job is mentioned in three different verses in scripture outside the book of job, and in all three passages he is considered a real, historical figure. Whenever it is possible, a person should seek to get the background of any portion of the word of god in order that he might understand what he reads more perfectly and accurately. Is the book of job meant to be an allegoryparable or a true history of a real person. The setting for this narrative is in patriarchal times. Historical background of job it is not surprising that such a profound book might be difficult to understand. Job may have lived during the time of the patriarch abraham, about 2000 b. The life and times of this iconic and enduring biblical book. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. Although job is clearly presented as a real, historical person he lived from 1710 to 1500 near bozra in idumea, rabbis and bishops preferred to see it as a moral tale.
These biblical references alone authenticate job as an historical person. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Sep 22, 2019 is the book of job meant to be an allegoryparable or a true history of a real person. Let us first address whether or not the content of job is historically authentic. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. Apr 29, 20 job is not on the amazing bible timeline with world history. One of our readers asked the following question about the nature of the book of job.
Here are three suggested times job might have lived by. The events described in the book of job must have occurred many centuries before they were finally written. Historical context for job by unknown the core curriculum. Many believe the book of job to be the earliest book of the bible. Please read on for more proof of job, by looking into the historical proof of.
If moses was the author, the date would be around 1440 b. 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 wet clay was formed into small tablets and wedgeshaped symbols called. Jan 02, 2020 could the book of job be nonliteral, too. Background and outline job bible commentary theology of. It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the.
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 job a particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. The first two places his name is found aside from the book of job is in ezekiel 14, verses 14 and 20. The book of job raises stark questions about the nature and meaning of innocent suffering and the relationship of the human to the divine, yet it is also one of the bibles most obscure and paradoxical books, one. Though we cannot be certain, job may have lived during the time of jacob or shortly thereafter. A few bible scholars believe that character of job of the book of job was an actual historical person described in the prologue and epilogue and who spoke all the words attributed to him in the dialogues. Jun 07, 2019 the book of job is a profound work on human suffering, worthy of a lifetime of study and reflection. Whether this reference to job speaks of the same person found in the book of job is not known.