JOB
The Introduction
Its universal problem – the problem of undeserved suffering is one that all people everywhere struggle to understand.
Its unique structure – Job is a mixture of various writing styles (prose and poetry, monologue and dialogue).
Its rich vocabulary.
Its colorful use of similes and metaphors.
Its unique structure – Job is a mixture of various writing styles (prose and poetry, monologue and dialogue).
Its rich vocabulary.
Its colorful use of similes and metaphors.
The Title
The Hebrew word translated “Job” is Iyyob and may mean one of two things – persecuted one or repentant one. Either fits the message of the book well. The Greek title is Iob; The Latin, Iob. Both yield the English title Job.
The Authorship
Unknown. However, many suggestions have been offered including: Job, Elihu (the 4th friend of Job), Moses, Solomon, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Ezra, and An Anonymous Author
“The author of Job hides nameless in the background of his work while demonstrating overwhelming sensitivity to the human plight, capacity for massive theological understanding, grasp of vast areas of culture and learning, insight into deep struggles among opinionated persons, and skill in literary craftsmanship. Rarely in the history of artistic endeavor has anyone left such a noble legacy yet so little evidence of his identity, circumstances, or motive.” (Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament)
“The author of Job hides nameless in the background of his work while demonstrating overwhelming sensitivity to the human plight, capacity for massive theological understanding, grasp of vast areas of culture and learning, insight into deep struggles among opinionated persons, and skill in literary craftsmanship. Rarely in the history of artistic endeavor has anyone left such a noble legacy yet so little evidence of his identity, circumstances, or motive.” (Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament)
The Date
Views on the time when Job lived range all the way from The Patriarchal Age (2100 – 1900 B.C.) to the 6th Century BC. Several factors point to the time of The Patriarchs...
Job lived 140 years after his calamities so he may have lived to about 210
Job’s wealth was reckoned in livestock which was also true of Abraham and Jacob (Job 1:3..."His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east." and 42:12 "The LORD blessed the latter {days} of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys." (NASB))
The Sadeans and Chaldeans were nomads in Abraham’s time (Job 1:15 "...and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." and 1:17 "While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." (NASB))
The Hebrew word qesitah translates to “piece of silver” (Job 42:11..."Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold." (NASB)) is used elsewhere only twice (Genesis 33:19 "He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money." (NASB) and Joshua 24:32 "Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph's sons." (NASB)) both times in reference to Jacob
Job lived 140 years after his calamities so he may have lived to about 210
Job’s wealth was reckoned in livestock which was also true of Abraham and Jacob (Job 1:3..."His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east." and 42:12 "The LORD blessed the latter {days} of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys." (NASB))
The Sadeans and Chaldeans were nomads in Abraham’s time (Job 1:15 "...and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." and 1:17 "While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." (NASB))
The Hebrew word qesitah translates to “piece of silver” (Job 42:11..."Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold." (NASB)) is used elsewhere only twice (Genesis 33:19 "He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money." (NASB) and Joshua 24:32 "Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph's sons." (NASB)) both times in reference to Jacob
The Text and Versions
“[The] explanation for...omissions [in]... The Book of Job has been [due to the] translation into Greek [was] before its development was complete. But because the number of omissions increases significantly in the trite third cycle and in the wordy Elihu speeches, and because many of the lines omitted are recurring lines and thoughts, a more likely explanation is that the Greek translator abridged the speeches intentionally.” (Hartley, The Book of Job, 3 - 4)
“The Targum, the Aramaic translation and paraphrase, follows the MT closely but has some of its own idiosyncrasies, e.g., interpreting some verses in the light of Israel’s history and adding theological explanations (1:6, 15; 20:26 – 28).” (Hartley, The Book of Job, 4)
“There are two mss of Targums (Aramaic translations) to the book of Job among the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Wadi Qumran: a substantial text found in Cave 11, consisting of about 20 percent of the book in 38 fragmentary cols (11QtgJob); and two small ms fragments from Cave 4, essentially comprising about a dozen fragmentary lines from two cols (4QtgJob). The ms do not overlap; the Cave 4 fragments preserve text from chaps. 3 – 5, while the Cave 11 material preserves intermittent text from 17:14 to the end of the book. Because of the lack of common text and, even more, because the Cave 4 Targum is so little preserved, it is an open question as to whether these two texts preserve the same or distinct Aramaic versions of Job. In any case, neither of these Targums appears to show any direct relationship to the standard Targum found in the Rabbinical Bible and available, for example, in the edition of Lagarde.” (Bruce Zuckerman, “Job, Targums of,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997.)
In The Peshitta: •“The Syriac Peshitta, which was translated directly from the Hebrew, offers insight into some obscure words and difficult passages. As the textual tradition of the MT becomes more fully understood, the Peshitta’s value in the textual studies will increase.” (Hartley, The Book of Job, 4)
In The Latin Vulgate: •“After having translated Job into Latin from the Greek at the end of the 4th Century A.D., Jerome decided to improve the translation by working directly from the Hebrew text. To help him with this task he engaged a rabbi of Lydda, who opened the rabbinic tradition to him. Therefore, the Vulgate offers some assistance in determining the original Hebrew text of Job.”
“The Targum, the Aramaic translation and paraphrase, follows the MT closely but has some of its own idiosyncrasies, e.g., interpreting some verses in the light of Israel’s history and adding theological explanations (1:6, 15; 20:26 – 28).” (Hartley, The Book of Job, 4)
“There are two mss of Targums (Aramaic translations) to the book of Job among the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Wadi Qumran: a substantial text found in Cave 11, consisting of about 20 percent of the book in 38 fragmentary cols (11QtgJob); and two small ms fragments from Cave 4, essentially comprising about a dozen fragmentary lines from two cols (4QtgJob). The ms do not overlap; the Cave 4 fragments preserve text from chaps. 3 – 5, while the Cave 11 material preserves intermittent text from 17:14 to the end of the book. Because of the lack of common text and, even more, because the Cave 4 Targum is so little preserved, it is an open question as to whether these two texts preserve the same or distinct Aramaic versions of Job. In any case, neither of these Targums appears to show any direct relationship to the standard Targum found in the Rabbinical Bible and available, for example, in the edition of Lagarde.” (Bruce Zuckerman, “Job, Targums of,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997.)
In The Peshitta: •“The Syriac Peshitta, which was translated directly from the Hebrew, offers insight into some obscure words and difficult passages. As the textual tradition of the MT becomes more fully understood, the Peshitta’s value in the textual studies will increase.” (Hartley, The Book of Job, 4)
In The Latin Vulgate: •“After having translated Job into Latin from the Greek at the end of the 4th Century A.D., Jerome decided to improve the translation by working directly from the Hebrew text. To help him with this task he engaged a rabbi of Lydda, who opened the rabbinic tradition to him. Therefore, the Vulgate offers some assistance in determining the original Hebrew text of Job.”
The Language
“The language of the book of Job is notable for its numerous rare words and unique examples of morphology and syntax. Many suggestions have been made to account for its singular nature. Since the story may have an Edomite setting, it has been suggested that the author was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau, Jacob’s brother (Genesis 25:23 – 24). Since Edom was famous for its wisdom (cf. Obadiah), it is possible that Job is an example of that wisdom tradition. The lack of any significant literary documents from that region prevents the testing of this hypothesis.” (Hartley, The Book of Job, 5)
“From the time of Ibn Ezra (12th Century A.D.) some scholars have thought that Job was translated into Hebrew from another language, perhaps Arabic or Aramaic. . . . While scholars frequently resort to Arabic to help explain some of the obscure words, the insights are not frequent enough and consistent enough for the book to have been composed in Arabic. In another effort to account for the peculiarity of the language of this book, Tur-Sinai posits that the MT arose from a partial translation into Hebrew of a lost Aramaic original. In his opinion, the translator left many Aramaic words and phrases untranslated because of their closeness to Hebrew. In addition, the author mistranslated various words. Tur-Sinai identifies the language as the Babylonian Aramaic of the 6th Century B.C."
“It is clear that the author wrote in a dialect distinct from the Hebrew of Jerusalem, in which much of the OT is composed. His dialect was closer to Aramaic. The author may also have been multilingual, as are many inhabitants of a region in which many related languages are spoken. He drew skillfully on his rich vocabulary and knowledge of the various dialects of Hebrew to probe the depth of his subject.”
“From the time of Ibn Ezra (12th Century A.D.) some scholars have thought that Job was translated into Hebrew from another language, perhaps Arabic or Aramaic. . . . While scholars frequently resort to Arabic to help explain some of the obscure words, the insights are not frequent enough and consistent enough for the book to have been composed in Arabic. In another effort to account for the peculiarity of the language of this book, Tur-Sinai posits that the MT arose from a partial translation into Hebrew of a lost Aramaic original. In his opinion, the translator left many Aramaic words and phrases untranslated because of their closeness to Hebrew. In addition, the author mistranslated various words. Tur-Sinai identifies the language as the Babylonian Aramaic of the 6th Century B.C."
“It is clear that the author wrote in a dialect distinct from the Hebrew of Jerusalem, in which much of the OT is composed. His dialect was closer to Aramaic. The author may also have been multilingual, as are many inhabitants of a region in which many related languages are spoken. He drew skillfully on his rich vocabulary and knowledge of the various dialects of Hebrew to probe the depth of his subject.”
The Purpose
The purpose of Job is to provide perspective and encouragement to the people of God when they suffer undeservedly: Discipline, Destruction, Deficiency,
Direction, Demonstration and Development
Direction, Demonstration and Development
The Key Themes
The universal problem of suffering undeservedly (Job 5:7..."For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward." (NASB))
God’s grace
God’s grace
The Outline (Bible Knowledge Commentary on The Old Testament - Walvoord, Zuck, Cook)
Pt 1: Prologue (Job 1 – 2)
A) Job’s Character (1:1 – 5)
B) Job’s Calamities (1:6 – 2:10)
Pt 2: Dialogue (Job 3 – 42:6)
A) Job’s Death Wish (3)
B) The 1st Round of Speeches (4 – 14)
C) The 2nd Round of Speeches (15 – 21)
D) The 3rd Round of Speeches (22 – 31)
E) Elihu’s four speeches (32 – 37)
F) God’s two speeches and Job’s replies (38 – 42:6)
Pt 3: Epilogue (Job 42:7 – 17)
A) God’s condemning of Job’s friends (42:7 – 9)
B) God’s restoring of Job’s prosperity and family (42:10 – 17)
A) Job’s Character (1:1 – 5)
B) Job’s Calamities (1:6 – 2:10)
Pt 2: Dialogue (Job 3 – 42:6)
A) Job’s Death Wish (3)
B) The 1st Round of Speeches (4 – 14)
C) The 2nd Round of Speeches (15 – 21)
D) The 3rd Round of Speeches (22 – 31)
E) Elihu’s four speeches (32 – 37)
F) God’s two speeches and Job’s replies (38 – 42:6)
Pt 3: Epilogue (Job 42:7 – 17)
A) God’s condemning of Job’s friends (42:7 – 9)
B) God’s restoring of Job’s prosperity and family (42:10 – 17)