The book of job maintains great fame and popularity for obvious reasons its poetic language, its thoughtprovoking dilemmas, its drama, its outrageous plot. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. Book of job is accounted by most christians among the wisdom literature but not under major or minor prophets. Although job was unaware of the interaction between satan and god, job comes to the conclusion that god is just and good. Book of job read, study bible verses online bible study tools. The analysis of job examines the possibilities for dialogue between those interpretations that view suffering as a key theme in the book and those that do not. The skeptical character of the symposium, with its challenge to timehonored views, most likely would have kept the book of job out of the canon of old testament writings had some additions not been made to.
Although the book of job is best known for its story, only three of the 42 chapters are narrative. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a wartorn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of gods allcontrolling will. As with other books of the bible, job bears the name of the narratives primary character. To most it would seem an absurd notionbut not to job. The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is. The narrative framework of the book tells the story of job as a very rich man who lives in the land of uz. One day, satan the adversary appears before god in heaven. If you were to fit it chronologically, it should be place in the early chapters of genesis. The book is not about jobs history but about jobs life and the way we relate to god as a result. Many scholars are convinced that the prologue and epilogue are later additions to the original, the body of the tale. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date. He has a large family, many flocks of animals, many servants, a.
Of course, he is human and he did realize his faults at the end of the book, but his reactions to the death and suffering around him just amaze me. The loss of jobs property, and the death of his children. This post is adapted from the bible study job by eric ortlund. Job spends his entire book in a position of sadness and loss. For all of his yammering throughout the book, once god starts speaking, job. He is blameless and upright, always careful to avoid doing evil 1. Study scripture verses with commentary, concordances, and use highlighting, underlining, take notes in the bible.
Job is the last of the three books that explore these themes of biblical wisdom. According to biblical scholars, the book of job is the oldest book in the bible. A comparative and critical analysis of the story of job as. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible.
A foundation for human resources management applied psychology series by sidney a. These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. The book of job, one of the wisdom books of the bible, deals with two issues crucial to every person. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The wisdom books and the book of job bible gateway. When in the nt job is praised for his patience jas. The book of job opens portraying job as a wealthy and righteous nobleman. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Or perhaps this is an at least partially an afterward because i write this after i have completed half of the melding together of roger hahns online crivoice bible study and the excerpts from john c. Power and responsibility in biblical interpretation. The book, in its present form, loosely divides into five parts.
Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer. In the meaning of the book of job and other biblical studies. Interpretations of the book of job are then compared to the psychology of suffering as experienced in various contexts today. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. Communicating the book of job in the twentyfirst century. The book of job defends the character of a loving and righteous god in spite of earths obvious evils and injustices. This is why our original job description a job description god is yet. Jobs final speech in his own defense is probably where the book originally ended. Job was a righteous man, yet disaster came upon him in the form of his children dying, his wealth vanishing, and his health failing. The book of job is one of the most celebrated pieces of biblical literature, not only because it explores some of the most profound questions humans ask about their lives, but also because it is extremely well. Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one. Job and his friends wanted to analyze the suffering and look for causes and solutions. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is.
He worships god sincerely and regularly, and most importantly, is a truly righteous person in the sight of god job 1. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. As with other books of the bible, job bears the name of the narratives. Some of the hebrew prophets attempted to deal with this question insofar as it affected the nation as a whole, but the writer of the book of job deals with it on an individual basis. I would like to present six general strategies as guides to follow. Literary structure the unity of the book of job will be assumed in the analysis of its literary structure. First, it is vital to grasp the content of the whole book of job, and not to reduce job to a brief synopsis. The title of this book is one of the very few cases where the bible just says what it meansno deceptive advertising here. Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil man. The book of job is the first document in history to. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. Bce commentary in which job is said to decline an offer of help from royal physicians, and which inserts religious notes lacking in the canonical book. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him. On the contrary, god speaks directly to job, just as he does in the patriarchal age with noah, abraham, isaac, jacob, and other heads of.
An explanation of the biblical book of job the book job is composed of three parts. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. Most books of the bible take place on larger stages, but the book of job goes down at a very specific and narrow point in the human life cycle. And job is presented as a mature believeralthough he had to confess sins 31. God returns jobs health, providing him with twice as much property as before, new children, and an extremely long life. A perspective and analysis meriting serious consideration.
Extremely well written grabbing the interest of many educated folk. Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim writings section of the hebrew bible tanakh, and. Job commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. List of books and articles about book of job online. The book is of unknown authorship and date, although many scholars assign it to a time between 600 bc and 400 bc a lament in narrative form, the subject is the problem of good and evil in the world.
Aside from being a little heavy on the heart, job is mostly a philosophical discussion. Job loses all of his worldly goods, his children and servants, as well as his health. If we were to film this book, the whole movie would take place on a single set, probably in a single day. Whether there was a booming echo, we cant be sure, but it sure shuts job up. Further, the book never resolves job s suffering by pointing to some spiritual growth on his part. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family and extensive flocks. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible.
In the book of job, god shows up late in the game to say his piece about divine power. By its conclusion, the true subject of the book emerges. The goal is to demonstrate how tthe author of job utilized certain key themes in developing the purpose and message of the book. There are no references to the law of moses, the tabernacle, the priesthood, the judges or kings, etc. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that joba particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. Study the bible online using commentary on job and more. The entire rest of the book he and his three friends wrestle back and forth with the why behind jobs struggle. Job is the first old testament book of poetry the others are psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of solomon, and lamentations. The work is grouped with proverbs and ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement, even though it contains what might be called an antiwisdom strain in that the hero protests. The word biblical commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to scripture as divine revelation. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight.
See the verses and verse art for all the other books of the bible jobs role in the bible. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a. This name might have been derived from the hebrew word for persecution, thus meaning persecuted one. The book of job is not only the finest expression of the hebrew poetic genius. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. Where did the biblical story of creation come from. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite. Job is one of my absolute favorite books of the bible. The angel known as the satan hebrew for the adversary, as told in the book of job, challenges god to test the devotion and piety of the righteous man job.
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