The book of job interpretation

If you recall, we have already looked at the first 12 verses of the book of job. In old testament times, authors sometimes referred to themselves in the third person, so jobs authorship is a strong possibility. In chapters 3842, god speaks to job and restores him. Job pronounced yobe means hate or persecution in hebrew. God knows that job has received incorrect guidance.

Sep 07, 2010 the book of job is a highly controversial book of mostly confusing information. This book disgusts me mainly because it values material possessions over sons and daughters. The book of job is the first document in history to take seriously the question of why really bad things happen to really good people. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it among the literary masterpieces of all time. Largely a dialogue between job and his friends, the book of job contains all sorts of wrong advice and.

A professor emeritus of bible studies at israels barilan. Book of job overview insight for living ministries. 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 the original book. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. One widely held view is that the climax of the book teaches. In this epic wager between god and the devil, discover how job reacts to the shocking curses inflicted upon him and what we can learn from his incredible example of remaining faithful through suffering. 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. Lo and behold, satan comes out and challenges god on job s goodness. Structure as a unit and main purpose of the book this fundamental rule of interpretation is more crucial for understanding the book of job than for any other old testament book except ecclesiastes. A quite different interpretation has been proposed by matitiahu tsevat in his essay, the meaning of the book of job. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite. 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.

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. Guidelines for understanding and proclaiming the book of job. 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. It has been widely praised for its literary qualities, with alfred lord tennyson calling it the greatest poem of ancient and modern times. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. Hes blameless and upright, and he has kids, a wife, land, and a bunch of sheep. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies. The bible story of job, from the book of job, is a powerful tale of testing the devotion and fortitude of the human will. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. The name job is mentioned only 54 times and mostly just in the. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and. The debate is about god, his attributes and how he interacts with humankind.

Job with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The use of this preexisting material very cleverly placed the problem outside of palestine, thereby excluding the possible objection of orthodox theology that such a casea perfectly righteous man persecuted by yhwh. Job and three of his friends debate the cause of jobs tremendous loss and illnesses. The traditional interpretation is that she is urging job to curse gd, that the use. The author of the book of job incorporated the folk book into his work in a manner still showing traces of the component parts. For in the end, god acts for no reason at all in job. The job of the prolog is not the job of the dialog. Job is a book that ranks as one of the most difficult books in thetanach bible, for two reasons. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author.

Metaphysical futility of trying to justify earthly. Watch our overview video on the book of job, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Job was said to be an upright righteous man blessed of god with tremendous wealth. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. Job s final speech in his own defense is probably where the book originally ended. Gerald janzen examines the text of the book of job as a literary text within the context of the history of the religion of israel and within the broader context of the universal human condition. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. 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. 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. An essential resource for the serious student or leader considering the lessons to be gained from this famous figure. The book of job defends the character of a loving and righteous god in spite of earths obvious evils and injustices. According to the sacred writer, the truly wise man should realize that the fear of the lord, that is wisdom. Job 5 niv bible call if you will, but who will answer.

Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. 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 literary genre of the book has defied classification events.

The title of this book is one of the very few cases where the bible just says what it meansno deceptive advertising here. The book of job is considered being part of the poetic books job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and song of songs in todays bible editions. Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. Unity school for religious studies unity village, mo 64065. Although job was unaware of the interaction between satan and god, job comes to the conclusion that god is just and good.

The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. The complex and delicate nature of the subject matter. The author provides an insightful and thorough look at the book of job. Up in the heavens, god brags to the divine assembly about job. Like anything in life, the reward for success reflects the amount of effort put. His approach takes into account past and current scholarship and both updates and expands our understanding of this most notable book. Schreiner begins her book with the work of gregory the great, whose 6thcentury moralia in iob became the most influential interpretation of job s story through the early and high middle ages, until aquinas wrote his expositio super iob as litteram in the th century, she said. The book of job has been widely given the theme of patience and we see this mentioned in the new testament book of james. Its incredibly complex and obscure hebrew allowing for multiple translations and meanings. This reference in james is the only time job is mentioned by name in the n. The book of job is the first document in history to take seriously the question of why really bad things happen to really. Smick modern redaction theory assumes that some parts of the book of job are less genuine than others. Approaching the character of job from such a perspective enables janzen to expound on the mystery of good and evil, the experiential suffering of humanity, and more.

Sep 09, 2010 the story of job is a story of gods blessings and satans curses. At its beginning, job seems to be a book about human suffering. The second aspect of the speech of the voice from the whirlwind is. What happened to job was certainly not part of yahwehs perfect plan for his life. If you confuse the two roles you are just going to be deceived. The book of job, in the old testament, opens with words both majestic and onceuponatimeish. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. Third, and even more importantly, we need to interpret this verse.

Job, interpretation commentary christian book distributors. This is why the book of job is considered the most theological book of the old testament. In chapters, god tests job s faithfulness through allowing satan to attack him. From chapters 437, job s friends give him plenty of bad advice, in rounds of discussion.

Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. Jobs story invites us to consider what it means that god runs. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Its subject matter is the allimportant question, why, in a world over which yahweh has jurisdiction, should innocent persons have to suffer when at the same time the wicked escape suffering and are permitted to have comfort and security. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim section of the hebrew bible, and the first poetic book in the old testament of the christian bible. The book of job is included among the wisdom writings precisely because it teaches man that pain and suffering are a mystery of divine wisdom. Satan challenges god that, if given permission to punish the man, job will turn and curse god. Bruce vawter says in his job and jonah, it is the poetic job and the poetic job alone who is of interest to the sensitive. It is in the hope of making a contribution towards having the most celebrated of the books of the bible better knownand by that i mean a deeper penetration into its real meaning and significancethat i offer a new translation which, based on an entirely revised hebrew text, will be found to differ. Greensteins new translation of the book of job is a work of erudition withas we shall seea revolutionary twist.

The book of job is, in a sense, the first biblical dramaa play in which a number of characters observe and debate the character and fate of job, an apparently blameless and upright man who seems to become a plaything in a debate between the lord and satan. God allows satan to torment job to test this bold claim, but he. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim writings section of the. A number of email responses concerning the book of job. The claim that divine justice is based on gods own principles is made worthless by the book of job s claim that its ultimate ground is divine arbitrariness and whim i.