Job, Book of

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The '''Book of Job''' ('''איוב''') is one of the books of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. ''Job'' is a [[Biblical poetry|didactic poem]] set in a [[prose]] framing device.
 
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According to the ''[[Testament of Job]]'', another name for Job is Jobab. ''Genesis'' 36:33 identifies a Jobab, as a descendant of Esau, a king of Edom.
 
  
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The Book of [[Job (Biblical figure)|Job]] has been called the most difficult book of the Bible. The numerous [[Exegesis|exegeses]] of the ''Book of Job'' are classic attempts to reconcile the co-existence of evil and God and address the [[problem of evil]]. Scholars are divided as to the origin, intent, and meaning of the book.  
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The '''Book of Job''' ('''איוב''') is one of the books of the [[Hebrew Bible]], describing the trials of a righteous man whom God has caused to suffer. The bulk of the 42-chapter book is a dialogue between Job and his three friends concerning the problem of [[evil]] and the justice of God, in which Job insists on his innocence and his friends insist on God's justice.
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{{toc}}
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The Book of [[Job (Biblical figure)|Job]] has been called the most difficult book of the Bible and one of the noblest books in all of literature. [[Alfred Lord Tennyson]] called it "the greatest poem of ancient or modern times." Scholars are divided as to the origin, intent, and meaning of the book. Debates also discuss whether the current prologue and epilogue of Job were originally included, or were added later to provide an appropriate theological context for the philosophically challenging dialogue. Numerous modern commentaries on the book address the issue of [[theodicy]], or God's relationship to evil.
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[[Image:Jobs-submission.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Job's submission to God]]
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==Summary==
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===Prologue===
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Job, a man of great wealth living in the [[Land of Uz]], is described by the narrator as an exemplary person of righteousness. God Himself says there is no one like him, declaring him to be "blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (1:2) Job has seven sons and three daughters and is respected by all people on both sides of the [[Euphrates]].
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[[Image:Jobs-children-perish.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Job falls to the ground upon hearing that his children have perished.]]
  
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==Narrative==
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One day, the angels—among them [[Satan]]—present themselves to God, who boasts of Job's goodness. Satan replies that Job is only good because God blesses and protects him. "Stretch out your hand and strike everything he has," Satan declares, "and he will surely curse you to your face."
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==Prolog===
 
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Job, a man of great wealth living in the [[Land of Uz]], is described by the narrator as an exemplary person of righteousness. He was "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." (1:2) He has seven sons and three daughters and is respected by all people on both sides of the [[Euphrates]].  
 
  
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In heaven, even God is impressed with Job's standard of absolute goodness and devotion. One day, the angels—among them "the Satan"—present themselves to God, who boasts of Job's goodness to the Adversary. Satan replies that Job is only good because God blessed him. "Stretch out your hand and strike everything he has," Satan declares, "and he will surely curse you to your face." God takes Satan up on the wager permiting Satan to act as God's agent to put the virtue of Job to the test. God gives Satan power over the innocent Job's property, his slaves, and even his children. Satan then destroys all of Job's riches, his livestock, his house, his servants, and finally his children, who are slain in a series of seeminly natural disasters.
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God takes Satan up on the wager and permits him to put the virtue of Job to the test. God gives Satan power over the Job's property, his slaves, and even his children. Satan then destroys all of Job's riches, his livestock, his house, his servants, and all of his sons and daughters, who are slain in a seemingly natural disaster.
  
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Job mourns deeply at these horrible misfortunes. He rends his clothes, shaves his head, and falls down upon the ground saying. But he still refuses to blame God, saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." (1:20-22)
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Job mourns dramatically at these horrible misfortunes. He rends his clothes, shaves his head. But he refuses to criticize God, saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." (1:20-22)
  
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Satan then solicits God's permission to afflict Job's person as well, and God says, "Behold he is in your hand, but don’t touch his life." Satan smites Job with dreadful [[boils]], so that Job can do nothing but sit in his pain all day. Job becomes the picture of dejection sitting on an ashpile scraping away dead skin from his body with a shard of pottery. His wife even advises him: "curse God, and die." But the righteous Job answers, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
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Satan then solicits God's permission to afflict Job's person as well, and God says, "Behold he is in your hand, but don’t touch his life." Satan smites Job with dreadful [[boils]], so that Job can do nothing but sit in pain all day. Job becomes the picture of dejection as he sits on an ash pile, scraping away dead skin from his body with a shard of pottery. His wife even advises him: "curse God, and die." But Job answers, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (2:9-10)
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[[Image:Job-Blake.jpg|thumb|left|240px|One of [[William Blake]]'s illustrations of the Book of Job: [[Satan]] afflicts Job with boils.]]
 
  
 
===The dialog===
 
===The dialog===
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In the meantime, three of Job's friends come to visit him in his misfortune—Eliphaz the [[Temanite]], [[Bildad the Shuhite]], and Zophar the [[Naamathite]]. A fourth, the young Elihu the [[Buzite]], joins the dialogue later. The friends spend a week sitting on the ground with Job, without speaking, until Job at last breaks his silence. When he does so, his attitude has changed dramatically. "Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
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Soon, three of Job's friends come to visit him in his misfortune—Eliphaz the [[Temanite]], Bildad the [[Shuhite]], and Zophar the [[Naamathite]]. A fourth, the younger man Elihu the [[Buzite]], joins the dialogue later. The three friends spend a week sitting on the ground with Job, without speaking, until Job at last breaks his silence. When he does so, his attitude has changed dramatically. Now apparently in touch with his deeper feelings, Job no longer blesses God or pretends to accept his fate without complaint. Instead, "Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth."
  
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:Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
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:For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.
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:What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. (3:23-25)
  
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[[Image:Job-and-friends.jpg|thumb|250px|Job declares his innocence.]]
  
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Job's friends do not waver from their belief that God is right, and that anyone who has such poor fortune as Job is necessarily being punished for disobeying God's law. As the poem progresses Job's friends increasingly berate him for refusing to confess his sins, although they themselves are at a loss as to what sort of sins he has committed. The three friends continue to assume that Job was a sinner and therefore deserves all punishments. 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. They fully do not understand Job's situation.
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Job's friend Eliphaz responds to Job's expression of his anguish with pious [[proverb]]s. He harshly scolds Job for not realizing that God is merely chastising him for his sin: "Blessed is the man whom God corrects," Eliphaz reminds Job, "so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." (5:17)
  
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===Speeches of Job===
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Job, however, insists on what we have already been told: he has done no wrong, and yet, "The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me." (6:4)
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Job, convinced of his own innocence, maintains that his suffering cannot be accounted for by his few sins, and that there is no reason for God to punish him thus. However, he refuses to curse God's name.
 
  
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===Speech of Elihu===
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Bildad the Shuhite enters the argument at this point in defense of God. "Your words are a blustering wind," he chides the miserable Job. "Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?" Job is quick to agree that God is indeed all-powerful. This is one point on which all the dialog partners are unanimous. "He is the Maker of the [[Ursa Major|Bear]] and [[Orion]]," declares Job, "the [[Pleiades]] and the [[constellation]]s of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." (9:9-10)
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Elihu, whose name means ''''My God is He'''', takes a mediator's path, maintaining the sovereignty and righteousness and gracious mercy of God. 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 repentance inextricably entails renouncing any moral authority or cosmological perspective, which is God's alone.  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.  Apparently, Elihu acts in a prophetic role preparatory to the appearance of God.  At the end of the narrative, God rebukes Job's three friends but does not rebuke Elihu. Job never replies to Elihu's indictments and revelations of God's dealings with him through the ordeal.
 
  
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===God's response===
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Where Job differs from his companions is on the question of God's absolute goodness and justice. His friends claim that God always rewards the good and punishes the evil, but Job knows from his own experience that it is not that simple. "He destroys both the blameless and the wicked," Job insists. "When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent. When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?" (9:22-24)
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After several rounds of debate between Job and his friends, in a divine voice, described as coming from a "cloud" or "whirlwind," God describes, in evocative and lyrical language, what the experience of being responsible for the world is like, and asks if Job has ever had the experiences that He (God) has had.
 
  
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God's answer underscores that Job shares the world with numerous powerful and remarkable creatures, creatures with lives and needs of their own, whom God must provide for, and the young of some hunger in a way that can only be satisfied by taking the lives of others. Does Job even have any experience of the world he lives in? Does he understand what it means to be responsible for such a world? Job admits that he does not.  
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Next, Zophar the Naamathite enters the discussion. He argues that it is not God who mocks the innocent, but Job who mocks God by maintaining his own innocence. Zophar urges Job to admit his error and repent. "If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent," he counsels, "then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear." But Job refuses to admit he is guilty when he knows he is not, demanding: "I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God." (13:3)
  
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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 also that God is King over the world and is not necessarily subject to questions from his creatures, including men.  He declines to answer any of Job's questions or challenges with anything except "I am the Lord."  Job asks God for forgiveness.  
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[[Image:Job-accused.jpg|thumb|250px|Job is accused by one of his friends.]]
  
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In the epilogue, God condemns Job's friends for their insistence on speaking wrongly of God's motives and methods, commands them to make extensive animal sacrifices and instructs Job to pray for their forgiveness. Immediately thereafter God restores Job to health, giving him double the riches he before possessed (including ten new children added to the ten who predeceased him). His daughters are the most beautiful in the land, and are given inheritance while Job is still alive. Job is crowned with a holy life and with a happy death.
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The debate continues through several more rounds. Job's friends attempt to convince him that he must be wrong, for God would not punish an innocent man. Job insists on his integrity, demonstrates his good character and works, and argues that God has done him a grave injustice. Both Job and his friends express God's attributes of power and sovereignty in majestic, poetic images that rank among the greatest in all of literature. But they remain at loggerheads as to whether God has done right to cause Job to suffer.
  
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==Satan in the Book of Job==
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Despite his frequent complaint that God has treated him wrongly, Job does not entirely give up hope. "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him," he says. (13:15) Indeed, he longs for God to appear and deal with him:
  
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The term "the [[Satan]]" appears in the prose prologue of ''Job'', with his usual connotation of "the adversary," as a distinct being. He is shown as one of the celestial beings or "sons of God" before the Deity, 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). Both the question and the answer, as well as the dialogue that ensues, characterize Satan as that member of the divine council who watches over human activity, but with the evil purpose of searching out men's sins and appearing as their accuser. He is, as it were, a celestial "prosecutor," who sees only iniquity; for he persists in his evil opinion of Job even after the man of Uz has passed successfully through his first trial by surrendering to the will of God, whereupon Satan demands another test through physical suffering (''Job'' 2:3-5). Satan challenges God by saying that Job's belief is only built upon what material goods he is given, and that his faith will disappear as soon as they are taken from him. And God accepts the challenge.
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:Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated…
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:Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply.
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:How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.  
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:Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? (13:19-24)
  
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The introduction of "the adversary" occurs in the (very short) framing story alone: he is never alluded to in the (very long) central poem at all.
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Job ends his words by examining his life and finding no sin it, despite his friends arguments to the contrary: "I sign now my defense, he declares, "let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing." (31:35)
  
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While many, from a Christian perspective, believe Satan to be the Devil, in the Book of Job he is presented as a worker for God known as the "the satan" (ha-satan, 'the adversary'), not Satan as a personal name. He is the ultimate prosecutor for God.
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After this, the relatively young Elihu, who has not been previously introduced, delivers a long speech, uninterrupted, for six chapters (32-37). (Many believe Elihu's speech is a later addition, inserted between Job's final declaration and God's response, which naturally follows immediately after Job's words are finished.) Elihu becomes "very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God." But he is also angry with the three friends, "because they had found no way to refute Job." Speaking with the confidence of youth, Elihu claims for himself a [[prophet]]'s wisdom and condemns all of those who have spoken previously. In his defense of God, however, he seems to offer little new, echoing Job's other friends in declaring, "It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice." What is novel in Elihu's approach is that it underscores the idea that Job's position is flawed because Job presumes that human moral standards can be imposed upon God. In Elihu's opinion, therefore, "Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words."
  
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==Job's Wife==
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===God's response===
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Job's wife is mentioned only once in the book of Job in Chapter 2. The extra-Biblical ''Testament of Job'' adds legendary details about her being named Sitis, who, the legend goes, sold her hair to Satan in exchange for food and money. In the end, she cursed God and died.
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In the thirty-eighth chapter of the Book of Job, [[God]] finally breaks His silence. Dramatically speaking to Job from a whirlwind, [[Yahweh]] declares His absolute power and sovereignty over the the entire creation, including specifically Job. He does not directly accuse Job of sin, nor does he blame [[Satan]] for Job's ills. However, God makes certain that Job understands his place, asking: "Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his?" In almost sarcastic tones, God demands:
  
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Job is said to have had at least four wives in the course of his life (four being from the tribe of [[Peleg]]) according to The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary<ref>''The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary'', Anne Catherine Emmerich, page 334.</ref>, it is currently unknown which wife this was.
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:Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
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:Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
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:Who stretched a measuring line across it?
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:On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
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[[Image:Destruction of Leviathan.png|thumb|200px|God confronts Leviathan.]]
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:While the morning stars sang together
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:and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (38:4-7)
  
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In lieu of the Talmud's discussion of Job's being a contemporary of figures in the Book of Genesis, Genesis, Rabbinic sources  have also identified [[Dinah]] as a possibility for Job's wife.
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God describes in detail the remarkable creatures that He created along with Job, in a world filled with both majesty and violence. "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?" he asks (38:39-40). God thus assumes complete responsibility for what the philosophers call "[[natural evil]]." Even mythical monsters are His to command:
  
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==Identities of Job's Friends==
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::Can you pull in the [[Leviathan]] with a fishhook
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::or tie down his tongue with a rope?…
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::No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
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::Who then is able to stand against me?
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::Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
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::Everything under heaven belongs to me. (41:1-11)
  
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The first speaker to address Job, 'Eliphaz the Temanite', is likely identified in the Book of Genesis, chap. 36, verses eleven through twelve, in a genealogy: 'And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.'
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===Job's reply and epilogue===
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This would probably identify the Eliphaz in the Book of Job as a descendant of Teman, and therefore designated as a 'Temanite', meaning 'a relative' or 'a descendant'; 'son of', or 'of the tribe of', rather than as coming from a place called Teman, which there probably was, and also was probably named after its founder, i.e. the original Teman, the son of Eliphaz mentioned in Genesis chapter 36. This would further identify 'Eliphaz the Temanite' in the Book of Job as an Edomite, of the descendants of Esau, Jacob's older brother.
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[[Image:Jobs-prayer.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Job's prayer for his friends]]
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Whatever the merits of [[God]]'s arguments, His mere presence and authority are enough to transform Job. "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you," Job admits. "Therefore I despise (myself) and repent in dust and ashes." (42:6)
  
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==Probable Time of the Book of Job==
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Yet, surprisingly, God sides with Job and condemns his three friends because "you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." (42:7) God appoints Job as their [[priest]], commanding each of them to bring Job seven bulls and seven rams to him as a burnt offering. Soon, God restores Job completely, giving him double the riches he before possessed, including ten new children to replace those [[Satan]] had earlier murdered under God's authority. Job's daughters are the most beautiful in the land, and are given inheritance while Job is still alive. Job is crowned with a long and happy life and, 140 years after his trials, "died, old and full of years."
  
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Although it is not expressly listed in the Book of Job itself, and the timeline of the book is controversial, that is, disagreed upon by Biblical scholars, some inferences can be made about the possible time of the book. First, Job was living in the 'Land of Uz', which may at that time have been controlled by either Edom or the tribes of Israel. Was Job a guest there? Secondly, Job's chief occupation seems to have been as a herdsman, which was his primary source of wealth listed (other than his family), which probably indicates that the region was largely unsettled at this time, and not significantly developed, for instance as a 'land of vineyards or fig trees'; but this is speculation. However, I suggest that the events listed in the Book of Job actually happened during the period known as the 'time of the Judges', described in the Book of Judges in the Bible. As evidence to support this hypothesis, it is mostly inferred from the fact that no king is listed; the tribes of Israel did not have a king (other than God) until the time of [[Samuel the Seer]]. Also, the Israelites were constantly being raided during this period known as the 'time of the Judges' by bands of raiders, such as Job's family was (see the first chapter in the Book of Job, verses eleven through twenty-two); and Job himself was a judge by occupation (see the Book of Job chap. 29, verses seven through seventeen).
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==Job and the problem of Evil==
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This would put the Book of Job in chronological order right before or after the Book of Judges in the Bible, which could be useful as a reference point.
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The basic theme of the Book of Job is the question of [[theodicy]]: how does God relate to the reality of [[evil]]? While there are several ways to deal with this crucial philosophical problem, Job focuses on only two basic possibilities. Since all parties in the dialog affirm that God is all-powerful, either God must be just, or He must ''not'' be just. The book does not deal with the possibility that God does not exist or that God is not all-powerful.  
  
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==Themes==
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In the end, the basic question of God's justice is not clearly answered. God simply appears and asserts His absolute power and sovereignty, and Job repents. One would think from this outcome that Job's fiends were in the right: Job had [[sin]]ned, and only the appearance of God brings him to the admission of this. Yet God affirms quite the opposite, namely that Job has spoken "what is right concerning me," while Job's friends have spoken wrongly. Whether intentionally or not, this resolution is a brilliant literary device, for rather than answering the issue for the reader, it serves to make the book's essential [[paradox]] more intense. God is clearly all-powerful, but still righteous men suffer. Job repents when he finally confronts God, and yet Job has spoken "what is right" in questioning God's justice.
  
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Themes include:
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[[Image:Job-Blake.jpg|thumb|left|240px|One of [[William Blake]]'s portrayal of [[Satan]] afflicting Job with boils.]]
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*'What is the extent of God's power and omnipotence?,
 
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*'The futility of questioning God's actions',
 
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*'Job as a Type of Christ or Messiah' {{Fact|date=June 2007}}
 
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*'Suffering'
 
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*[[Theodicy]]: The Book of Job for the first time entertains the possibility of  questioning the morality or justice of God's actions.
 
  
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The framing story complicates the book further: in the introductory section, God allows [[Satan]] to inflict misery on the righteous Job and his family. The conclusion has God restoring Job to wealth and granting him new children, in what some critics describe as a half-chapter "fairy-tale ending" to a long theological dialogue that rivals even [[Plato]] for its length and depth. But does a parent ever forget the pain of lost children? How God could test a righteous man so unjustly remains a subject of intense debate to this day.
  
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It should also be noted that while the traditional Christian perspective affirms the prologue's character, Satan, to be the [[Devil]], he is actually presented here as "the satan" (''ha-satan,'' 'the adversary'). "Satan" thus does not seem to be a personal name. Moreover, he appears not as the adversary of God, but of man. Indeed, Satan is actually God's agent, employed by Him to test Job's faith.
  
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===Suffering===
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Job is one of the most discussed books in all of literature. Among the well-known works devoted to its exegesis are:
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==Authorship==
 
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A great diversity of opinion exists as to the authorship of this book. From internal evidence, such as the similarity of sentiment and language to those in the [[Psalms]] and [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]] (see Psalms 88 and 89), the prevalence of the idea of "wisdom," and the style and character of the composition, it is supposed by some to have been written in the time of King [[David]] and King [[Solomon]]. Some, however place it in around the time of the Babylonian exile; others have proposed various other theories, the most interesting being that Job is [[Tobias, son of Tobit|Tobias]], [[Tobit]]'s son. {{Fact|date=March 2007}} <br/>
 
  
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The [[Talmud]] (Tractate Bava Basra 15a-b) maintains that the Book of Job was written by [[Moses]], although the Sages dispute whether it was based on historical reality or intended as a [[parable]].  Although Moses' authorship is accepted as definitive {{Fact|date=March 2007}}, other opinions in the Talmud ascribe it to the period of before the [[First Temple]], the time of the patriarch Jacob, or King Ahaserus.<br/>
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*[[Carl Jung]], ''Answer to Job''—A psychological analysis affirming that the ultimate [[archetype]] of God embraces both good and evil.
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*[[C. S. Lewis]], ''The Problem of Pain''—A Catholic viewpoint affirming that human suffering is part of God's plan to enable us to more fully resemble Him
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*[[Gustavo Gutierrez]], ''On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent''—An exegesis from the standpoint of liberation theology in which the character of Job sets the pattern for honest theological reflection concerning the problem of human suffering
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*[[Harold Kushner]], ''When Bad Things Happen to Good People''—A contemporary Jewish analysis raising the possibility that God is not all-powerful after all.
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Alfred Lord Tennyson called the Book of Job "the greatest poem of ancient or modern times."
  
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Bl. [[Anne Catherine Emmerich]] relates that the Book of Job was originally much greater in length, as Job originally lived north of the Caspian Sea, was struck by his first misfortune, moved to the Caucasus and then to Egypt, and then later left Egypt. [[Moses]] abridged the book to make it more comprehensible for the Israelites, and [[Solomon]] later revised it. Rather than describing four separate misfortunes that befell Job several years apart from each other and in different locations, the final product gives the impression that Job's misfortunes all befell him on the same day and in the same place.<ref>'''The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary''', page 337.</ref>
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===The 'faith of Job'===
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Despite its theological challenge to God's justice, certain sections of the Book of Job have become extremely important to traditional religious teachings. Preachers, seeming to ignore Job's oft-repeated complaints throughout the dialog portion of the book, frequently point to Job as an exemplary man of faith, who refuses to curse God even after he has lost his wealth, his possessions, and his children.
  
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In contrast, secular examinations of the text more generally conclude that, though archaic features such as the "council in heaven" survive, and though the story of Job was familiar to Ezekiel (Chapter 14 verse 14), the present form of ''Job'' was fixed in the [[4th century B.C.E.]]. Ezekiel places Job in comparison with other righteous figures such as Noah and "Dan-el." The story of Job apparently originated in the land of [[Edom]], which has been retained as the background. Fragments of ''Job'' are found among the [[Dead Sea scrolls]], and Job remains prominent in [[Aggadah|haggadic]] legends. The later Greek ''[[Testament of Job]]'' figures among the [[apocrypha]]. Secular 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. In the prologue and epilogue, the name of God is the [[Tetragrammaton]], a name that even the Edomites use. Secular scholars agree that the central poem is from another source.
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One of Job's more hopeful declarations is also used, particularly by Christian preachers, to demonstrate Job's faith in the [[resurrection]] of the dead at the [[second coming]] of [[Christ]].
  
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===Possible Sumerian source===
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::I know that my Redeemer lives,
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The [[Assyriologist]] and [[Sumerian language|Sumerologist]] [[Samuel Noah Kramer]] in his 1959 book ''History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine "Firsts" in Recorded History'' (1956), provided a translation of a Sumerian text which Professor Kramer argued evinces a parallel with the Biblical story of Job.  Professor Kramer drew an inference that the Hebrew version is in some way derived from a [[Sumer]]ian predecessor.
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::and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
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::And after my skin has been destroyed,
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::yet in my flesh I will see God. (19:25-26)
  
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===Later interpolations and additions===
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==Critical views==
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In the edited form of ''Job'' that we have, 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, along with the 3 friends, 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.
+
[[Image:Job-ch-10.jpg|thumb|Job 10:21-22: "I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness."]]
 +
The Book of Job is clearly in the category of [[Wisdom Literature]], along with [[Psalms]] and [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]]. However, it rejects the simplistic moralistic formula of most of these writings, grappling with the problem of evil and suffering in a manner more akin to the [[Book of Ecclesiastes]]. Most modern scholars place its writing around the time of the [[Babylonian exile]].
  
−
Subjects of more 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 acknowledgement of mortality faced with divinity in all its majesty and glory.
+
Traditionally, the [[Talmud]] (Tractate Bava Basra 15a-b) maintains that the Book of Job was written by [[Moses]]. However, there is a minority view among the rabbis that says Job never existed (''Midrash Genesis Rabbah'' 67; ''Talmud Bavli: Bava Batra'' 15a). In this view, Job was a literary creation by a [[prophet]] 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 rabbinical sages.
  
−
==Exegesis==
+
Whatever the story's origins, the land of [[Edom]], has been retained as the background. Some of the rabbis therefore affirm Job was one of several [[Gentile]] prophets who taught Yahweh's ways to non-Israelites.
−
[[Exegesis]] 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.
 
  
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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 gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord." 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?
+
The Sumerian text ''Ludlul Bêl Nimeqi,'' also known as the [[Babylonian Job]],<ref> [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/1700ludlul.html Ludlul Bêl Nimeqi] www.fordham.edu. Retrieved July 10, 2007.</ref> (c. 1700 B.C.E.) is thought by many scholars to have influenced the Book of Job. It is the lament of a deeply pious man troubled by the world's evil and yet unable to obtain and answer from his deities. A typical verse resonates with Job's sentiments entirely:
  
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God's response itself may be read in a variety of ways. Some see it as an attempt to humble Job. Yet Job is comforted by God's appearance, and the fact that he 'saw God and lived', suggesting that the author of the book was more concerned with whether or not God is present in people's lives, than with the question of whether or not God is just. ''Job'' chapter 28 rejects these efforts to fathom divine wisdom.  
+
::What in one's heart is contemptible, to one's God is good!
 +
::Who can understand the thoughts of the gods in heaven?
 +
::The counsel of God is full of destruction; who can understand?
 +
::Where may human beings learn the ways of God?
 +
::He who lives at evening is dead in the morning (v. 35)
  
−
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 his family. 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 faith and righteousness are rewarded.  Only after Job's friends make a sacrifice to God and are prayed for by afflicted Job - as God's appointed priest - does God restore all Job's good fortune.
+
Various additions are thought to have been made to the current text of Job. For example, the speech of Elihu (Chapters 32-37), is thought by many to be a later addition, inserted between Job's resting his case and God's answer to him.  
 +
[[Image:Job's-happy-ending.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Job's later life: a "fairy tale" ending?]] The prologue and epilogue are also thought to have been added by a later editor to provide a more acceptable context for the theologically disturbing dialog. The prologue is meant to show that Job's suffering is merely a test provoked by Satan rather than an unjust punishment from God, as the dialog suggests. The epilogue provides a happy ending in which Job lives happily ever after with his wife and a new set of children. This final chapter is seen by many literary critics as analogous to [[Walt Disney]]'s "happily ever after" solution to the originally more troubling endings of some of his [[fairy tale]]s.
  
−
Some theologians have argued that Job's thankfulness at the end of this tale is actually sarcastic, that he does not believe God's rewards make up for the suffering he had endured previously. {{Fact|date=May 2007}}
+
A debate also exists over the proper interpretation of the last line that Job speaks (42:6). Traditional translations have him say, "Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." The word "myself," however, does not appear in the Hebrew. Some argue that in the context of Job's story and character, what he despises may not be himself, but his life; and his "repentance" in dust and ashes refers to his continued mourning the day of his birth, which he has been doing quite literally throughout the dialogue. [[''Young's Literal Translation'']] gives the verse as: "Therefore do I loathe [it], And I have repented on dust and ashes."
  
−
===The Testament of Job===
+
The [[Testament of Job]], a book found in the [[Pseudepigrapha]], has a parallel account to the narrative to the Book of Job. It contains legendary details such as the fate of Job's wife, the inheritance of Job's daughters, and the ancestry of Job. In addition, Satan's hatred of Job is explained on the basis of Job's having previously destroyed an idolatrous temple, and Job is portrayed in a much more heroic and traditionally faithful vein.
−
{{main|Testament of Job}}
 
  
−
The Testament of Job, a book found in the [[Pseudepigrapha]], has a parallel account to the narrative to the book 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.
+
==Notes==
−
 
+
<references/>
−
In folktale manner in the style of Jewish [[haggada]] [http://www.library.uu.nl/digiarchief/dip/diss/2004-0205-103455/c3.pdf], 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.
 
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−
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.
 
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===Medieval views of Job===
 
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{{Unreferenced|date=December 2006}}
 
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Throughout the Middle Ages, Job was portrayed {{Specify|date=December 2006}} as someone who was a patron of music. There is a fifteenth century painting (Brussels, Belgium) where Job handed out gold coins to musicians in order for them to play music. According to a legend {{Fact|date=December 2006}}, Job took off the boils from his body, and as soon as it left his hands, it turned into gold coins, which he handed to musicians.
 
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==In Judaism==
 
−
The Talmud occasionally discusses Job. Classical [[Torah]] scholarship has not doubted Job's existence. He was seen as a real and powerful figure. Some scholars of [[Orthodox Judaism]] maintain 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. [http://www.torah.org/learning/yomtov/pesach/5755/vol1no10.html].
 
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There is a minority view among Rabbinical scholars, for instance that of [[Rabbi]] [[Simeon ben Laqish]], that says 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 [[Wise Old Man|sage]]s. Job is further mentioned in the Talmud as follows [http://www.aishdas.org/webshas/torah/bichtav/tanach/iyyov.htm]:
 
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−
*Job's resignation to his fate (in Tractate Pesachim 2b)
 
−
*When Job was prosperous, anyone who associated with him even to buy from him or sell to him, was blessed (in Tractate Pesachim 112a)
 
−
*Job's reward for being generous (in Tractate Megillah 28a)
 
−
*[[King David]], Job and [[Ezekiel]] described the Torah's length without putting a number to it (in Tractate Eruvin 21a)
 
−
 
 
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Two [[Talmud]]ic traditions hold that [[Job (Biblical figure)|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 (Job)|Elihu]], or [[Isaiah]].
 
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One midrashic view is that Job was the Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Moses. Therefore there would be a justification for why Job was punished. Because he allowed the Israelite people to suffer and enslaved them, he deserved everything that happened to him (if one has the ability to prevent suffering, he should).
 
−
 
 
−
According to the Talmud, Job was seventy years old when the book started.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Source for Jewish Law ===
 
−
 
 
−
Some of the [[Halakha|law]]s and [[Minhag|custom]]s 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|date=March 2007}}, 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. {{Fact|date=March 2007}}
 
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−
===Liturgical use===
 
−
 
 
−
The Book of Job is rarely used in Jewish liturgy. However, there are some Jews who read the book of Job on the [[Ninth of Av]] fast (a day of mourning over the destruction of the Jewish temples and other tragedies).
 
−
 
 
−
The cantillations for the book of Job, according to the [[Sephardic Judaism|Sephardic traditions]], differ from the rest of the biblical books. 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.
 
−
 
 
−
===Philosophical approach===
 
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−
[[Maimonides]], a twelfth century rabbi, discusses Job in his work [[Guide for the Perplexed]]. According to Maimonides (chs. 22-23), each of Job's friends represents famous, distinct schools of thought concerning God and divine providence.
 
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−
Bildad, for example, portrays the standard Jewish view, as well as the Islamic [[Mu'tazili]] view, that righteousness is rewarded by God (Job 8:6-8), although one may have to be patient for the reward to come. Therefore, if Job is righteous, as he claims to be, God will reward him eventually.
 
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−
Moreover, Job reflects the view of [[Aristotle]], that God destroys the innocent and the wicked together (Job 9). If Job held this point of view, then he did not believe in divine providence, even if he did believe in God's existence.
 
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−
According to Maimonides, the correct view of providence lies with [[Elihu]], who teaches Job that one must examine his/her 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/she will be rewarded or find it rewarding. In the beginning, Job was an unexamining, pious man, not a philosopher, and he didn't 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.
 
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−
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):
 
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"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).
 
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−
===Mystical approach===
 
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−
[[Nachmanides]] offers a mystical commentary on the Book of Job. 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. Another reason why Job can be viewed as a heretic is because he did not believe in reincarnation. He believes that once a person dies, it is all over for him/her, without any mention of an afterlife.
 
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According to Job, who reflected the views of [[Aristotle]], God gave the world over to astrology. This is evident in Job's lamentation, "Curse the day I was born on" (3:2) Job cursed his birthday because he believed that his birthday was bad luck, in the astrological sense.  Given the context of the passage, it is more likely that this phrase refers to Job wishing he'd never been born at all.
 
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−
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.
 
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<!--Please translate [[User:David Betesh|David Betesh]] 19:55, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 
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לדעת הרמב"ן ספר איוב מרמז לרעיון גלגול הנשמות שהוא הפיתרון האמיתי לבעיית השכר והעונש. אחרים הדגישו רמיזות לעולם הבא, אם כי הוא אינו מוזכר בשום מקום בספר בצורה מפורשת, ואיוב אף דוחה את הרעיון שיש תקווה לאדם לאחר מותו (בפרק יד, יא-יב למשל: "אָזְלוּ-מַיִם, מִנִּי-יָם; וְנָהָר, יֶחֱרַב וְיָבֵשׁ. וְאִישׁ שָׁכַב - וְלֹא-יָקוּם.")I put this in commentaries, please find the text in the Talk page for the article. Thanks. —~~~~—>
 
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==In Christianity==
 
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{{Unreferenced|section|date=May 2007}}
 
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[[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).
 
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There are several references to the Book of Job throughout the [[New Testament]], especially the [[Epistles]]. Specifically:
 
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[[The Revelation|Rev.]] 9:6 alludes to Job 3:21; compare [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians|2 Thes.]] 2:8 to Job 4:9; [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|1 Cor.]] 3:19 quotes Job 5:13; [[Epistle to the Hebrews|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; [[Epistle to the Romans|Rom.]] 9:20 alludes to Job 9:32; Rom. 11:33 parallels Job 10:7; compare [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 17:28 with Job 12:10; compare 1 Cor. 4:5 with Job 12:22; compare [[First Epistle of Peter|1 Pet.]] 1:24 with Job 14:2; compare [[Gospel of Luke|Lk.]] 19:22 with Job 15:6; Rom. 1:9 parallels Job 16:19; compare [[First Epistle of John|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 [[Book of Isaiah|Isa.]] 40:13, which parallels Job 21:22; [[Gospel of Matthew|Mt.]] 25:42 alludes to Job 22:7; Jas. 4:6 and 1 Pet. 5:5 both quote [[Book of Proverbs|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. {[fact}}
 
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[[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, [[omnipresence]], omniliberty, [[aseity]], infinite love, and supreme majesty. {[fact}} 
 
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Job's declaration, "I know that my Redeemer lives" (19:25), is considered a proto-Christian statement of belief, and is the basis of several Christian [[hymn]]s.
 
−
 
 
−
Many Christians hold that Job is a historical prototype of [[Jesus]]: the Man of Sorrows who suffered the most of all, under the providence and watchful will of God.
 
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===Liturgical use===
 
−
 
 
−
the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] reads from Job during [[Holy Week]]. 
 
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{{cquote|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"
 
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==In Islam==
 
−
In the [[Qur'an]] Job is known as '''Ayyūb''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: '''أيوب''' ) and is considered a [[Prophets of Islam|prophet]] in [[Islam]]. In the Arabic language the name ''Ayyūb'' is symbolic of the virtue of patience, though it does not mean patience in itself. He is mentioned in several passages in the Qur'an.
 
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−
In [[Palestinian]] folk tradition Ayyub's place of trial is [[Al-Joura]], a village outside the town of [[Al Majdal]] (now [[Ashkelon]]). It was there God rewarded him with a [[fountain of youth]] that removed whatever illnesses he had, and gave him back 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.
 
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In [[Turkey]], Job is known as '''Eyüp'''. It is believed <!--by whom?—> that Job and [[Elias]] were buried at Eyyup Nebi, near [[Viranşehir]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
 
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−
There is also a tomb of Job outside the city of [[Salalah]] in [[Oman]].
 
−
 
 
−
===References to Ayyub (Job) in the Qur'an===
 
−
*Job's prophecy: [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/004.qmt.html#004.163 4:163], [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/006.qmt.html#006.084 6:84]
 
−
*Trial and patience: [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/021.qmt.html#021.083 21:83], [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/021.qmt.html#0021.084 21:84],  [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/038.qmt.html#038.041 38:41]
 
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==Modern approaches to Job==
 
−
*[[Carl Jung]], "[[Answer to Job]]".<ref>"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.</ref>
 
−
*[[Harold Kushner]], "When Bad Things Happen to Good People"
 
−
*[[C. S. Lewis|C.S. Lewis]], The Problem of Pain
 
−
*[[Henry M. Morris]], "The Remarkable Record of Job"
 
−
*[[James Morrow]], "Blameless in Abaddon"
 
−
*[[Neil Simon]], ''[[God's Favorite]]''
 
−
*[[Elie Wiesel]], [[Night (book)|"Night"]]
 
−
*[[Archibald MacLeish]], [[J.B.]]
 
−
*[[Viktor Frankl]], ''[[Man's Search for Meaning]]''
 
−
*[[David Adams Richards]], ''[[Mercy Among the Children]]''
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
<references/>
+
*Eby, Lloyd. “The Problem of Evil and the Goodness of God.” in Antony J. Guerra, ed., ''Unification Theology in Comparative Perspectives.'' Unification Theological Seminary, 1988.
 +
*Farrer, Austin. ''Love Almighty and Ills Unlimited.'' Collins Press, 1962. ASIN: B000M1AUIO 
 +
*Hartshorne, Charles. ''Omnipotence and other Theological Mistakes.'' New York: The State University of New York Press, 1984. ISBN 9780873957717
 +
*Gutierrez, Gustavo. ''On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent.'' Orbis Books, 1987. ISBN 9780883445525
 +
*Jung, Carl G. ''Answer to Job.'' London, UK: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 9780415289979
 +
*Kushner, Harold. ''When Bad Things Happen to Good People.'' Anchor; Reprint edition, 2004. ISBN 9781400034727
 +
*Lewis, C. S. ''The Problem of Pain.''  HarperSanFrancisco; New Ed edition, 2001. ISBN 9780060652968
 +
*Reardon, Henry. ''The Trial of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Job.'' Conciliar Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1888212723
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
*[[Judaism|Jewish]] translations:
+
All links retrieved November 18, 2023.
−
** [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=15772 Iyov - Job (Judaica Press)] translation with [[Rashi]]'s commentary at Chabad.org
 
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*[[Christian]] translations:
 
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** [http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/hb/18_job.htm Job at The Great Books] (New Revised Standard Version)
 
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** [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible,_King_James,_Job Job at Wikisource] (Authorised King James Version)
 
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*Other translations:
 
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** [http://intermix.org/job The Trial of Job] (translation as drama with hyperlinked notes)
 
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** [http://www.jobthemusical.co.uk The Book Of Job The Musical] (translation as musical)
 
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*Jewish Cantillations
 
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** [http://www.pizmonim.org/taamim.htm ''Sephardic Cantillations for the Book of Job''] by David M. Betesh and the Sephardic Pizmonim Project
 
  
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Related articles:
+
*Judaica Press Complete Tanach: Job [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=15772 translation with Rashi's commentary] ''Chabad.org''.
−
*[http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/4801.htm ''Excerpts from "Answer to Job" by Carl Jung'']
+
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=331&letter=J ''Book of Job'']   ''www.jewishencyclopedia.com''.  
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*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=331&letter=J ''Jewish Encyclopedia'':] Job; ''Book of Job''
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*The Catholic Encyclopedia [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08413a.htm Job]. ''www.newadvent.org''.
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*[http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd.html ''Easton's Bible Dictionary,'' 1897]: Job; ''Book of Job''
 
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*[http://www.drbilllong.com/BookJob.html "Short Articles on the Book of Job"]: Bill Long
 
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*[http://www.bookofjob.org "Putting God on Trial- The Biblical Book of Job"] by Robert Sutherland A complete online commentary.
 
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*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08413a.htm Job at the Catholic Encyclopedia]
 
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*[http://www.netage.org/job.htm Biblical Job: A Vision of God]
 
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*[http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/H/HonseyJob/HonseyJob.pdf Exegetical Paper on Job 19:23-27 by Rudolph E. Honsey]
 
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*[http://www.specialtyinterests.net/jobtobias.html A Proposed Connection between Job and Tobias, Tobit's son]
 
  
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{{Books of the Bible}}
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[[Category:Bible]]
 
[[Category:philosophy and religion]]
 
[[Category:philosophy and religion]]
 
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Latest revision as of 00:11, 19 November 2023

Books of the

Hebrew Bible

The Book of Job (איוב) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, describing the trials of a righteous man whom God has caused to suffer. The bulk of the 42-chapter book is a dialogue between Job and his three friends concerning the problem of evil and the justice of God, in which Job insists on his innocence and his friends insist on God's justice.

The Book of Job has been called the most difficult book of the Bible and one of the noblest books in all of literature. Alfred Lord Tennyson called it "the greatest poem of ancient or modern times." Scholars are divided as to the origin, intent, and meaning of the book. Debates also discuss whether the current prologue and epilogue of Job were originally included, or were added later to provide an appropriate theological context for the philosophically challenging dialogue. Numerous modern commentaries on the book address the issue of theodicy, or God's relationship to evil.

Job's submission to God

Summary

Prologue

Job, a man of great wealth living in the Land of Uz, is described by the narrator as an exemplary person of righteousness. God Himself says there is no one like him, declaring him to be "blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (1:2) Job has seven sons and three daughters and is respected by all people on both sides of the Euphrates.

Job falls to the ground upon hearing that his children have perished.

One day, the angels—among them Satan—present themselves to God, who boasts of Job's goodness. Satan replies that Job is only good because God blesses and protects him. "Stretch out your hand and strike everything he has," Satan declares, "and he will surely curse you to your face."

God takes Satan up on the wager and permits him to put the virtue of Job to the test. God gives Satan power over the Job's property, his slaves, and even his children. Satan then destroys all of Job's riches, his livestock, his house, his servants, and all of his sons and daughters, who are slain in a seemingly natural disaster.

Job mourns dramatically at these horrible misfortunes. He rends his clothes, shaves his head. But he refuses to criticize God, saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." (1:20-22)

Satan then solicits God's permission to afflict Job's person as well, and God says, "Behold he is in your hand, but don’t touch his life." Satan smites Job with dreadful boils, so that Job can do nothing but sit in pain all day. Job becomes the picture of dejection as he sits on an ash pile, scraping away dead skin from his body with a shard of pottery. His wife even advises him: "curse God, and die." But Job answers, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (2:9-10)

The dialog

Soon, three of Job's friends come to visit him in his misfortune—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. A fourth, the younger man Elihu the Buzite, joins the dialogue later. The three friends spend a week sitting on the ground with Job, without speaking, until Job at last breaks his silence. When he does so, his attitude has changed dramatically. Now apparently in touch with his deeper feelings, Job no longer blesses God or pretends to accept his fate without complaint. Instead, "Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth."

Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.
What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. (3:23-25)
Job declares his innocence.

Job's friend Eliphaz responds to Job's expression of his anguish with pious proverbs. He harshly scolds Job for not realizing that God is merely chastising him for his sin: "Blessed is the man whom God corrects," Eliphaz reminds Job, "so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." (5:17)

Job, however, insists on what we have already been told: he has done no wrong, and yet, "The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me." (6:4)

Bildad the Shuhite enters the argument at this point in defense of God. "Your words are a blustering wind," he chides the miserable Job. "Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?" Job is quick to agree that God is indeed all-powerful. This is one point on which all the dialog partners are unanimous. "He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion," declares Job, "the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." (9:9-10)

Where Job differs from his companions is on the question of God's absolute goodness and justice. His friends claim that God always rewards the good and punishes the evil, but Job knows from his own experience that it is not that simple. "He destroys both the blameless and the wicked," Job insists. "When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent. When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?" (9:22-24)

Next, Zophar the Naamathite enters the discussion. He argues that it is not God who mocks the innocent, but Job who mocks God by maintaining his own innocence. Zophar urges Job to admit his error and repent. "If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent," he counsels, "then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear." But Job refuses to admit he is guilty when he knows he is not, demanding: "I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God." (13:3)

Job is accused by one of his friends.

The debate continues through several more rounds. Job's friends attempt to convince him that he must be wrong, for God would not punish an innocent man. Job insists on his integrity, demonstrates his good character and works, and argues that God has done him a grave injustice. Both Job and his friends express God's attributes of power and sovereignty in majestic, poetic images that rank among the greatest in all of literature. But they remain at loggerheads as to whether God has done right to cause Job to suffer.

Despite his frequent complaint that God has treated him wrongly, Job does not entirely give up hope. "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him," he says. (13:15) Indeed, he longs for God to appear and deal with him:

Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated…
Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply.
How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.
Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? (13:19-24)

Job ends his words by examining his life and finding no sin it, despite his friends arguments to the contrary: "I sign now my defense, he declares, "let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing." (31:35)

After this, the relatively young Elihu, who has not been previously introduced, delivers a long speech, uninterrupted, for six chapters (32-37). (Many believe Elihu's speech is a later addition, inserted between Job's final declaration and God's response, which naturally follows immediately after Job's words are finished.) Elihu becomes "very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God." But he is also angry with the three friends, "because they had found no way to refute Job." Speaking with the confidence of youth, Elihu claims for himself a prophet's wisdom and condemns all of those who have spoken previously. In his defense of God, however, he seems to offer little new, echoing Job's other friends in declaring, "It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice." What is novel in Elihu's approach is that it underscores the idea that Job's position is flawed because Job presumes that human moral standards can be imposed upon God. In Elihu's opinion, therefore, "Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words."

God's response

In the thirty-eighth chapter of the Book of Job, God finally breaks His silence. Dramatically speaking to Job from a whirlwind, Yahweh declares His absolute power and sovereignty over the the entire creation, including specifically Job. He does not directly accuse Job of sin, nor does he blame Satan for Job's ills. However, God makes certain that Job understands his place, asking: "Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his?" In almost sarcastic tones, God demands:

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
God confronts Leviathan.
While the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (38:4-7)

God describes in detail the remarkable creatures that He created along with Job, in a world filled with both majesty and violence. "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?" he asks (38:39-40). God thus assumes complete responsibility for what the philosophers call "natural evil." Even mythical monsters are His to command:

Can you pull in the Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down his tongue with a rope?…
No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
Who then is able to stand against me?
Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me. (41:1-11)

Job's reply and epilogue

Job's prayer for his friends

Whatever the merits of God's arguments, His mere presence and authority are enough to transform Job. "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you," Job admits. "Therefore I despise (myself) and repent in dust and ashes." (42:6)

Yet, surprisingly, God sides with Job and condemns his three friends because "you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." (42:7) God appoints Job as their priest, commanding each of them to bring Job seven bulls and seven rams to him as a burnt offering. Soon, God restores Job completely, giving him double the riches he before possessed, including ten new children to replace those Satan had earlier murdered under God's authority. Job's daughters are the most beautiful in the land, and are given inheritance while Job is still alive. Job is crowned with a long and happy life and, 140 years after his trials, "died, old and full of years."

Job and the problem of Evil

The basic theme of the Book of Job is the question of theodicy: how does God relate to the reality of evil? While there are several ways to deal with this crucial philosophical problem, Job focuses on only two basic possibilities. Since all parties in the dialog affirm that God is all-powerful, either God must be just, or He must not be just. The book does not deal with the possibility that God does not exist or that God is not all-powerful.

In the end, the basic question of God's justice is not clearly answered. God simply appears and asserts His absolute power and sovereignty, and Job repents. One would think from this outcome that Job's fiends were in the right: Job had sinned, and only the appearance of God brings him to the admission of this. Yet God affirms quite the opposite, namely that Job has spoken "what is right concerning me," while Job's friends have spoken wrongly. Whether intentionally or not, this resolution is a brilliant literary device, for rather than answering the issue for the reader, it serves to make the book's essential paradox more intense. God is clearly all-powerful, but still righteous men suffer. Job repents when he finally confronts God, and yet Job has spoken "what is right" in questioning God's justice.

One of William Blake's portrayal of Satan afflicting Job with boils.

The framing story complicates the book further: in the introductory section, God allows Satan to inflict misery on the righteous Job and his family. The conclusion has God restoring Job to wealth and granting him new children, in what some critics describe as a half-chapter "fairy-tale ending" to a long theological dialogue that rivals even Plato for its length and depth. But does a parent ever forget the pain of lost children? How God could test a righteous man so unjustly remains a subject of intense debate to this day.

It should also be noted that while the traditional Christian perspective affirms the prologue's character, Satan, to be the Devil, he is actually presented here as "the satan" (ha-satan, 'the adversary'). "Satan" thus does not seem to be a personal name. Moreover, he appears not as the adversary of God, but of man. Indeed, Satan is actually God's agent, employed by Him to test Job's faith.

Job is one of the most discussed books in all of literature. Among the well-known works devoted to its exegesis are:

  • Carl Jung, Answer to Job—A psychological analysis affirming that the ultimate archetype of God embraces both good and evil.
  • C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain—A Catholic viewpoint affirming that human suffering is part of God's plan to enable us to more fully resemble Him
  • Gustavo Gutierrez, On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent—An exegesis from the standpoint of liberation theology in which the character of Job sets the pattern for honest theological reflection concerning the problem of human suffering
  • Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People—A contemporary Jewish analysis raising the possibility that God is not all-powerful after all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson called the Book of Job "the greatest poem of ancient or modern times."

The 'faith of Job'

Despite its theological challenge to God's justice, certain sections of the Book of Job have become extremely important to traditional religious teachings. Preachers, seeming to ignore Job's oft-repeated complaints throughout the dialog portion of the book, frequently point to Job as an exemplary man of faith, who refuses to curse God even after he has lost his wealth, his possessions, and his children.

One of Job's more hopeful declarations is also used, particularly by Christian preachers, to demonstrate Job's faith in the resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ.

I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God. (19:25-26)

Critical views

Job 10:21-22: "I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness."

The Book of Job is clearly in the category of Wisdom Literature, along with Psalms and Proverbs. However, it rejects the simplistic moralistic formula of most of these writings, grappling with the problem of evil and suffering in a manner more akin to the Book of Ecclesiastes. Most modern scholars place its writing around the time of the Babylonian exile.

Traditionally, the Talmud (Tractate Bava Basra 15a-b) maintains that the Book of Job was written by Moses. However, there is a minority view among the rabbis that says Job never existed (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 67; Talmud Bavli: Bava Batra 15a). In this view, Job was a literary creation by a prophet 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 rabbinical sages.

Whatever the story's origins, the land of Edom, has been retained as the background. Some of the rabbis therefore affirm Job was one of several Gentile prophets who taught Yahweh's ways to non-Israelites.

The Sumerian text Ludlul Bêl Nimeqi, also known as the Babylonian Job,[1] (c. 1700 B.C.E.) is thought by many scholars to have influenced the Book of Job. It is the lament of a deeply pious man troubled by the world's evil and yet unable to obtain and answer from his deities. A typical verse resonates with Job's sentiments entirely:

What in one's heart is contemptible, to one's God is good!
Who can understand the thoughts of the gods in heaven?
The counsel of God is full of destruction; who can understand?
Where may human beings learn the ways of God?
He who lives at evening is dead in the morning (v. 35)

Various additions are thought to have been made to the current text of Job. For example, the speech of Elihu (Chapters 32-37), is thought by many to be a later addition, inserted between Job's resting his case and God's answer to him.

Job's later life: a "fairy tale" ending?

The prologue and epilogue are also thought to have been added by a later editor to provide a more acceptable context for the theologically disturbing dialog. The prologue is meant to show that Job's suffering is merely a test provoked by Satan rather than an unjust punishment from God, as the dialog suggests. The epilogue provides a happy ending in which Job lives happily ever after with his wife and a new set of children. This final chapter is seen by many literary critics as analogous to Walt Disney's "happily ever after" solution to the originally more troubling endings of some of his fairy tales.

A debate also exists over the proper interpretation of the last line that Job speaks (42:6). Traditional translations have him say, "Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." The word "myself," however, does not appear in the Hebrew. Some argue that in the context of Job's story and character, what he despises may not be himself, but his life; and his "repentance" in dust and ashes refers to his continued mourning the day of his birth, which he has been doing quite literally throughout the dialogue. ''Young's Literal Translation'' gives the verse as: "Therefore do I loathe [it], And I have repented on dust and ashes."

The Testament of Job, a book found in the Pseudepigrapha, has a parallel account to the narrative to the Book of Job. It contains legendary details such as the fate of Job's wife, the inheritance of Job's daughters, and the ancestry of Job. In addition, Satan's hatred of Job is explained on the basis of Job's having previously destroyed an idolatrous temple, and Job is portrayed in a much more heroic and traditionally faithful vein.

Notes

  1. ↑ Ludlul Bêl Nimeqi www.fordham.edu. Retrieved July 10, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Eby, Lloyd. “The Problem of Evil and the Goodness of God.” in Antony J. Guerra, ed., Unification Theology in Comparative Perspectives. Unification Theological Seminary, 1988.
  • Farrer, Austin. Love Almighty and Ills Unlimited. Collins Press, 1962. ASIN: B000M1AUIO
  • Hartshorne, Charles. Omnipotence and other Theological Mistakes. New York: The State University of New York Press, 1984. ISBN 9780873957717
  • Gutierrez, Gustavo. On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent. Orbis Books, 1987. ISBN 9780883445525
  • Jung, Carl G. Answer to Job. London, UK: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 9780415289979
  • Kushner, Harold. When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Anchor; Reprint edition, 2004. ISBN 9781400034727
  • Lewis, C. S. The Problem of Pain. HarperSanFrancisco; New Ed edition, 2001. ISBN 9780060652968
  • Reardon, Henry. The Trial of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Job. Conciliar Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1888212723

External links

All links retrieved November 18, 2023.

Books of the Christian Bible
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