Complete Literature on Job

The Book of Job

The book of Job is a story of a good, an innocent and a wealthy man who met total disaster in his life that at the climax of it, everybody and everything seemed to be against him. He lost all his wealth and children in sequence. His wife and friends misguided and deserted him yet God seemed to remain silent about his fate.

However, as it turned out, the disastrous life of Job was a test from Satan with God's permission to prove his commitment to God whom he worshipped and was faithful to.

At the end, God triumphed and Job was put right with him after his disaster had made him lose his faithfulness.

THE PROLOGUE

Job was a Gentile who lived in the land of Uz but who followed the Mosaic laws or traditions strictly.

He was the most faithful man in the land and someone who used to fear the Lord.

Job used to worship God even though he was not a Jew. His behavior was typically that of the Jews.

Job is presented as a good man. He hated evils and therefore, he was always careful and did everything to avoid committing sins

Job was a married man with seven sons and three daughters. He was someone who was committed to his marriage.

He was equally a very rich man in the region owning 3000 camels, 7000 sheep, 1000 head of cattle and 500 donkeys.

Job had a large number of servants who worked for him as the care takers of his numerous animals.

His sons used to organize feasts in turns and could always invite their three sisters.

Job used to offer sacrifices to the Lord everyday early in the morning purposely to purify his children whom he thought could have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.

Satan is presented as one of the heavenly beings that could appear before the Lord, but who roamed round the earth.

However, Job's fate was sealed when Satan took notice of his faithfulness and whether he could remain committed to his faith if he got nothing out of it.

Job was put to test by Satan with God's permission. Satan had to cause troubles to hi~ but to spare his life.

In his trials, Job lost his wealth and all the children within the shortest time possible at an interval.

Job also lost the companionship of his wife who wanted him to curse God so that he could die.

His friends misguided and deserted him. The friends who had gone to give him comfort ended up blaming him instead.

Job in his suffering failed to understand the nature of God and wondered why the wicked would prosper and the righteous suffer.

Job's suffering was a divine will of God for it was God himself who permitted such to happen unto him.

At the climax of his suffering, Job cursed the day he was born. This was in his monologue where he protested his suffering.

However, Job later realized his mistakes, repented and the Lord forgave him.

The Lord blessed Job at the end of his suffering he was given twice as much as he had before.

THE NATURE OF JOB'S SUFFERING

Job suffered in the following ways during his trials and temptation.

Job lost all his 500 donkeys unexpectedly when they were attacked and stolen by Sabeans.

Job lost all his camels at once when they were attacked by three bands of Chaldean raiders.

Job's ten children were killed at once as they were swept away by a storm when they were having a feast at the home of the eldest son.

Job lost the companionship of his wife. His wife misguided him to curse God and later deserted him because of his continued faithfulness to the Lord despite his suffering.

Job was tormented and disturbed that his wife wanted him to curse God against his will and yet the wife knew that he was a faithful man.

Job was attacked by a terrible skin disease which saw sores developing all over his body.

Job was forced to tear his clothes in protest of what was happening to him. He even shaved his head.

Job experienced great pain that he sat by the rubbish heap and scrapped his sores with broken piece of pottery.

Job as well lost the company of his friends who included Bildad, Eliphaz and Zophar.

Job was also disturbed that his friends blamed and accused him of being responsible for his suffering.

Job suffered the more as his friends became mourners instead of giving him comfort or words of consolation.

Job wondered why his friends chose to remain silent for seven days as if they did not know him.

Job felt that his friends had betrayed him by their claim that he had sinned against the Lord.

His friends insulted him that he was behaving like a child who did not know what he wanted.

Job was accused of being too proud and claiming self righteousness. He expected his friends to have understood him better.

Job lost his sense of humanity and he cursed the night he was conceived and the day he was born as well.

Job was forced to complain to God about his suffering yet he had promised to remain faithful to him.

Job went to the extent of wishing to have died in his mother's womb or moments after his birth.

Job questioned God's ways of doing things and His authority over the earth. He was concerned that the wicked could prosper while the righteous could suffer.

Revision Question

Examine the nature of Job's suffering

JOB'S RESPONSE TO HIS SUFFERING (TEST)

Job maintained his faith in God and acknowledged him as being the giver and the taker of everything. This was when the wife wanted him to curse God for having allowed such troubles in his life.

Job had the confidence that the Lord would set him free from the suffering he had brought to him.

Job sat by the rubbish heap and used broken pieces of pottery for scraping his sores. Job tore his cloth and shaved his head in grief. This was a sign of mourning.

Job maintained a clear conscience. This was especially at a time when his wife wanted him to curse God for having caused suffering to him and when his friends wanted him to repent.

Job advised his wife to always appreciate God's provision whether good or bad (Job 2:10).

Job ignored the ill advice of his wife who wanted him to curse God for having brought trouble unto him. He told the wife that she was speaking nonsense (Job 2: 1 0).

Job also ignored the ill advice of his friends who wanted him to repent. He told the friends that they were speaking about what they did not know.

Job accused his friends of misguiding him as they that insisted that he had to repent because he could have forgotten events in his life that could have annoyed God.

Job inquired about the mystery of life. He wondered why the righteous had to suffer as the wicked continued to prosper.

Job complained to the Lord and questioned why he was subjecting him to suffering yet he had always served him faithfully.

Job accused the Lord of over torturing and subjecting him to a lot of pain. He knew the Lord could set him free but was simply not bothered.

Job cursed the night he was conceived as he came to believe that it was that night that exposed him to his troubles.

Job also cursed the day he was born and asked the Lord to turn it into a day of darkness (Job 3: 1ff).

Job blamed his parents for having produced him for he looked at them as being responsible for his conception.

Job blamed his mother for holding him on her knees and breast feeding him when he was still young.

Job went ahead and wished he had died in his mother's womb or just moments after his birth.

Job failed to understand God's ways of doing things for wondered why the Lord as behaving towards him in that way.

Job maintained his self righteousness assuring his friends that he had not committed any evil against the Lord.

Job desired to rest from his suffering. He longed for the day he would rest like tired workers.

Job later came to realize his mistakes and was sorry that he complained to God his troubles.

Job confessed to the Lord that he had spoken foolishly about what he did not know.

Job repented and was sorrowful that he had complained to God about his troubles.

Job went ahead and prayed to God asking him to have mercy and forgive him.

Revision Questions

1. How did job respond to his trials and temptation?

2. Analyze Job's response to his suffering.

REASONS FOR JOB'S SUFFERING

God wanted to challenge the human understanding of his ways of doing things. Job himself wondered why he was faced with disaster despite his righteousness.

God wanted to taste Job's patience that he had known as a righteous man. This was proved when Job remained patient to God at the beginning of his suffering.

God intended to show human beings that even a righteous and a good person could as well suffer. Therefore, God aimed at changing the understanding of suffering among the Israelites.

God wanted to put Job's faith to test. He had proved to be the only faithful and righteous man left on earth as God and Satan observed.

God wanted to give a testimony on the holiness of His righteous man Job. This was the reason his friends believed that he had sinned against God but later came to realize that he had done nothing wrong.

God wanted to prove that he was the giver and the taker of everything as Job himself acknowledged in his response to his wife.

It was intended to show God's right over life. He allowed Satan to cause trouble to his faithful man but with the instruction that he had to spare his life.

God intended to show that every human being could be imperfect before him. Job who was a perfect man lost his patience and faithfulness and questioned God's ways of doing things.

God intended to teach the human beings about the existence of Satan in their relationship with him.

God intended to challenge the power of Satan. He restricted Satan's power to only causing troubles to Job without having to destroy his life.

God wanted to show that temptations or trials exist in human life. This was the reason he allowed the Satan to test Job and see how faithful he was to Him.

God wanted to show that suffering was part of human life. Job who had everything he needed eventually lost them all and that marked the beginning of his suffering.

God intended to prove his nature as the creator of everything. He told Job that the foundations of the earth belonged to him.

God wanted to prove that he was a powerful being with authority over everything. This was proved when he asked Job to explain how the world came into its form and whether he was strong enough to make his voice thunder.

God intended to prove the mystery of human life. Job wondered why the righteous could suffer as the wicked continued to prosper.

It was intended to show that human beings had limited and inadequate knowledge about the ways God could do His things.

God wanted to show that He was the source of blessings. He blessed Job twice as much as He had before at the end of trials.

Revision Questions

1. Account for Job's suffering

2. Justify the trials and temptations of Job

SUFFERING AS PERCEIVED BY MODERN CHRISTIANS

• The understanding of suffering by Christian

To suffer is to carry one's cross and follow Jesus Christ and live his life. It is a reflection of Christian's readiness to face which ever situation that may arise in following Jesus Christ.

It is good to suffer on behalf and for the sake of others as Jesus Christ put his life to torture and death for the sins of human beings.

Suffering brings a person to the awareness of the self. At the climax of his most painful moments, Jesus Christ knew that he was the son of God and that the time had come to fulfill the father's wish and will.

Suffering calls for tolerance and perseverance in order for one to be rewarded in the heavenly kingdom.

Suffering is a fulfillment of the scriptures as Jesus had told his followers that whoever wanted to follow him had first to deny the pleasures of the world.

Suffering prepares a person for the service of the Lord. Jesus fasted for forty days and was tempted before starting his public ministry.

Suffering puts a person right with God and with other people in the community. By his suffering, Jesus Christ reconciled human beings with each other and with God.

Suffering is a divine victory over Satan as Jesus' death on the cross defeated the power of the devil once and for all.

Suffering calls for repentance in order for a person to be put right with God and his fellow human beings.

Suffering reflects one's sinful nature meaning that one could has fallen short of God’s glory.

Suffering is a test of one's faith and commitment to God. Because of fearing suffering Peter, the apostle denied Jesus three times.

Suffering is part of human life meaning that it IS normal for someone to experience suffering.

SUFFERING AS PERCEIVED IN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL.

· It was closely related to morality

· It was taken to be a misfortune

· It was taken to be a curse from the spiritual world

· Elderly people were believed to cause suffering through curses

· Suffering was associated with disrespect of sacred places like shrines.

· It was associated with disobedience towards the customs and the norms

· Suffering was associated with breaking of taboos

· It was associated with the practice of witchcraft and magic

· Bad relationship with God and the community could cause suffering

LESSONS CHRISTIANS LEARN FROM JOB'S SUFFERING

• Christians should be ready for God's trials and temptations

• Christians should face trials and temptations with boldness

• Christians should maintain their faith in God ever when in pain

• Christians should endure the suffering they undergo

• Christians should remain righteous even in times of suffering

• Christians should give comfort to those who are suffering

• Christians should remain optimistic in times of suffering

• Christians should thank God for His provisions

• Christians should present their problems to God through prayers

• Christians should accept only good advice from their friends

• Christians should trust in God during their difficulties

• Christians should repent their sins

• Christians should seek protection from God

• Christians should humble themselves before God and fellow believers

• Christians should ask God for blessings

• Christians should accept their mistakes

JOB'S COMPLAINTS TO GOD

(His Monologue or Petitions) (3:1ff)

Job broke his silence about his troubles when the last disaster or sores breaking all over his body struck him. It was now apparent that his troubles were not coming to an end thus he openly complained to God.

Job asked God to put a curse on the day he was born for he believed that it was that day that exposed him to his troubles.

Job asked God to put a curse on the night he was conceived. Accordingly, he commanded the Lord to turn it into darkness and never for it to be remembered.

He pleaded with God to remove the night of his conception out of the year and never to let it be counted again.

Job asked God to make the night he was conceived a barren and a joyless night as that night had now exposed him to such great troubles.

Job demanded God tell the sorcerers to curse the day he was born. It had exposed him to his grief.

Job wished he had died in his mother's womb or the moment he was born. In this way, he would not have had his troubles.

Job was bitter that his mother held him to her knees and breast fed him. This meant that Job was now blaming his mother for her role in his upbringing.

Job bitterly imagined that had he died long before, he would be at rest and sleeping like kings and rulers.

Job viewed suffering as only for the living. For this reason, he wished he was among the dead.

To Job, it was useless for the righteous to go on living when even the wicked could stop their evils while in the grave and tired workers could finally find rest at last.

Job argued that even prisoners enjoy their freedom after their death. This meant that Job felt that being alive was enslaving him.

Job wondered why God could allow people to go on living in misery. They could wait for their death but never to see it come their ways.

Besides, Job wondered why God could keep the future of those in misery hidden to them. Job complained that instead of eating food, he could only mourn and groan without stop. Job complained that everything he feared in his life and was dreadful could only come true.

Revision Questions

1. Discuss Job's petition to God.

2. Analyze Job's monologue as recorded in Chapter 3

3. Under what circumstances may a Christian curse the day he or she was born?

REASONS FOR JOB'S COMPLAINTS TO GOD

Job became patient with God because of the continued and endless troubles coming his way.

Job realized that he had been in a state of misery for so long without God responding.

Job knew that he had always been faithful to God and was only wondering why he was suffering.

Besides, he felt that a righteous person like him could only be rewarded for being good but instead he was being punished while the wicked continued to prosper

Job desired rest from his pain which had over persisted. It was for this reason that he longed for the day he could either be relieved of it or die.

Job felt that God had kept quiet about his fate or future for so long. He wanted to know what God was going to do for and with him.

To Job, God was despising his own creature that he had now not caring and mindful his life.

Besides, it appeared that God- had ignored his troubles and abandoned him for dead. Therefore, he was only presenting his dilemma to God.

Job had realized that each and every day had become a burden to him as he was in no good condition at anyone moment.

Job was expressing his inability to save himself from his bad situation. Therefore, he was seeking God's intervention in his life.

Job knew that God had the power to rescue him from his troubles. It was this reason that he asked God to curse the day he was born among others.

Job wanted to show God that his life had become so meaningless that he was better off dead.

Job wanted to prove his wife wrong for having asked him to curse God in order for him to die. The wife had deserted him because of continued faithfulness despite his troubles.

Job wanted the Lord to prove to his friends that they were wrong and had accused him falsely.

Job was showing his trust in God whom he had always worshipped and had been faithful to.

Job had realized that his friends were incapable of saving him from his troubles. The friends could only helplessly weep, wail and stare at him.

Job wanted God to realize that he was an innocent person who deserved a happy life rather than the pain he was experiencing.

Job was pleading with God to pardon him even if he had done something wrong before. He showed God that even prisoners could enjoy peace and were free from shouts and harsh commands.

Revision Questions

1. Account for Job's complaints to the Lord.

2. Justify Job's complaints to God.

3. "Even my friends laugh at me now! They laugh although I am righteous and blameless” (Job 12:4) Why did Job utter this statement?

4. Account for Job's disappointment with God

5. What lessons can Christians today learn from Job's complaints?

The Role of Job's Friends into His Suffering

Job's friends who included Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar went to him after having heard he had been suffering. Their intention was to comfort Job.

However, their arrival did very little to change the painful situation in which Job was. Their words of consolation became inadequate to explain Job's situation as each talked about what they knew about suffering; a punishment from God for one's sins.

Job's friends failed to recognize him on their arrival. This only reminded Job about the terrible conditions he was in.

The friends of Job broke down and became mourners upon seeing him. They wept and wailed while tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads.

To worsen the situation, they became and remained silent for seven days and nights staring only at Job.

Eliphaz declared to Job that it was now his turn to be in trouble but that he was too scared to face it.

He asked Job to recall a single case of a righteous person meeting disaster. To him, the wicked were the ones destroyed. This meant that he was accusing Job of being evil and was now being paid for his evils.

Eliphaz asked Job to remember moments or events in his life that could have led him into sinning. To him, Job could have just forgotten his wrong doings.

He told Job that it would be foolish of him to worry himself to death with resentment for he would be a senseless person to do that.

Eliphaz condemned Job for claiming self righteousness and purity before God, the creator. Therefore, Job was only lying to himself.

He urged Job to repent his sins and put himself right with God. This only worked to annoy Job who knew there was nothing to repent for.

Eliphaz told Job that a person was only a thing from the dust. Therefore, Job was incapable of understanding his situation in his human capacity.

Eliphaz told Job that he was only condemning himself by every word he could speak. Therefore, there was need for him to again condemn him.

Job's friends told him that suffering was a means through which one could correct his or her mistakes in order to be right with God.

Job's friends blamed him for being responsible for his own suffering. They told him that he had only failed to identify his mistakes.

Job's friends blamed him for being self centered. They declared that Job was thinking too much about himself and failing to listen to them.

Bildad told Job that God was perfect and entirely good that he could never twist justice. Therefore, Job was wrong to claim that he was in troubles innocently.

He told Job that his children could have sinned against God. Therefore, their punishment by death was well deserved.

Bildad declared that he could no longer argue with someone over talking like Job. To him, Job was now taking them to be stupid like cattle.

Bildad said that Job was wrong to claim that he was being judged wrongly for an offence which he felt he did not commit.

He assured Job that God could not abandon the faithful as Job was claiming. Therefore, Job could have done something that aroused God's anger.

Bildad wondered whether the earth would be deserted because Job was angry. To him, Job was only hurting himself by being angry.

Besides, he wondered whether God would move mountains in order to satisfy Job. This probably meant that God had rightfully done what Job deserved.

To Zophar Job was speaking nonsense and talking too much that he wondered whether he could be put right by it.

He told Job that God was punishing him less than he deserved. His wickedness deserved greater punishment than what he was being given.

Zophar said that Job had failed to identify his problems with God and was now behaving like a child.

He assured Job that his mocking words would leave them speechless even when he claimed that he was being true.

Zophar challenged Job to appreciate the complexity of the universe so that he could understand the mystery of life.

Zophar urged Job to put away the sins he had committed. This meant that he was blaming Job for being sinful.

The friends of Job called him a rebellious sinner who needed and deserved to be purified. The friends of Job pointed out that God was totally just. Therefore, the suffering of any of his creatures was a punishment for the sins committed.

However, Eliphaz advised Job to turn to God and present his case to him. He showed him that they could never understand God's ways of doing things.

He asked him to humble himself and return to God so that he could be delivered from his painful situations.

Besides, he assured Job that God saves the poor from death and the needy from oppression as well.

He assured Job that God would save him from any harm. He would keep alive in tines of famine and protect him from death in times of war.

Eliphaz advised Job to make peace with God instead of treating him like an enemy. By doing this, God would bless him.

Job was told to accept the teaching of God once again and keep His words in his heart. Zophar called upon Job to put his heart right with God and reach out to Him in his troubles were to come to end.

Zophar assured Job that his life would be brighter than sunshine at noon and that his darkest hours would soon shine.

He assured Job that God would protect and give him rest. He would no longer be afraid of his enemies thus he would live a secured life full of hope.

The friends told Job that suffering was short lived. Therefore his suffering would eventually come to an end as well.

The friends assured Job that God was aware of his troubles and would soon respond to them in an appropriate way.

The friends called upon Job to cool down his temper, seek God and commit himself to Him so that his suffering could come to an end.

Revision Questions

1. Assess the contribution of job's friends to his suffering.

2. "Job's friends only worsened his situation rather than alleviate it." Discuss

HOW JOB RESPONDED TO HIS FRIENDS ADVICE

Job took his friends' advice to inadequate to help him out of his painful situation.

He told the friends that his troubles and griefs weighed more than the sands of the sea. For this reason, he urged the friends never to be surprised with wild words.

Job told his friends that they had failed to understand his situation. Therefore, he felt that they were not the right people to advise him.

He told the friends that it was the almighty God doing all that to him. He had pierced him with His arrows and lined up His terror against him.

To Job, his friend's advice lacked devotion and commitment. He compared his friends with a stream that could dry up during hot conditions.

He told the friends that he could only leap for joy if he knew when the Lord would kill him no matter how great his pain was.

He said that the friends were speaking out of context and against the Lord. Therefore, they were committing blasphemy

He told the friends that he had no strength to keep him living. It was useless for him to live with his state of hopelessness.

Job lamented that he needed loyal friends in such troublesome time whether or not he had forsaken God. However, his friends were only deceiving him.

Job bitterly asked the friends to teach him and point out his faults for him to be quiet and listen to them.

Besides, he told the friends that they were talking nonsense. He would have preferred honest words from them in order to be convinced.

Job told the friends that had heard all that his friends were telling him before. But he wondered how a human being could win a case against God.

Job came to recognize the sovereignty of God and pledged to continue trusting in him alone.

Job told the friends that he was tired of living, which he had now given up. His life was no longer making sense.

However, Job expressed optimism and believed that he would be restored to his good health in the future.

He told the friends that he had as much as they had. Therefore, he was no inferior to them.

Job told his friends that he was a righteous person and there was no way he could have sinned in any way against the Lord.

Job told his friends that he was willing to beg for mercy from God if at all he had sinned against him. In saying this Job acknowledged the Lord as being ajudge.

Job blamed God for making him to appear useless and hopeless before his friends.

Job prayed to God and asked him to set him free from the suffering he was undergoing. However, Job doubted whether God could listen to his problems anymore. He felt that he had presented enough of his problems to the Lord without any response.

Job told his friends that he was no longer caring about his troubles. Whether it continued or not, he could do nothing about it.

Job declared that his friends' words of comfort were only tormenting him the more. In saying this, Job asked his friends to keep quiet.

Job said that his attempt to smile and his effort to forget about his problems could only bring back his troubles.

Job told his friends that he had no quarrels with the mortals but he had case with God. For this reason, he commanded his friends to stay away from him.

Job bitterly told the friends that God knew about his disaster but was only doing nothing about it. This meant that Job was disappointed with God when he looked at Him as being capable of helping him out of his painful situation.

Job told his friends that he was only a thing made from the clay. By this, Job realized his human nature and his limitations before God's.

Job admitted that he was ignorant about the ways of God and blamed himself for having complained against him.

Revision Questions

1. Comment on Job's response to friend's advice

2. Examine; Job's response to his friends' advice.

3. What lessons can Christians learn from Job's response?

• Christians should remain committed to God even during troubles

• Christians should be hopeful in times of difficulties.

• Christians should present their problems to God through prayer

• Christians should seek protection from God.

• Christians should admit or accept their mistakes

• Christians should remain calm in times of difficulties

• Christians should comfort their friends in painful situations

• Christians should remain righteous even when they are suffering

• Christians should speak the truth just like Job

• Christians be ready for trials and temptations

• Christians should remain faithful when in their difficult moments

• Christians should repent their sins

GOD'S RESPONSE TO JOB'S COMPLAINTS

(Job 38 1:1 ff)

God appeared to Job out of the storm and responded to his pleas challenging him about the existence of the universe.

God wanted Job to realize and understand his human limitations in his relationship with Him.

Besides, God wondered who Job was to question His wisdom with his ignorant and empty words.

God commanded Job to stand up straight before Him so that he could answer Him back. The Lord wondered whether Job was there when He made the world and demanded him to explain if he knew so much about it.

The Lord challenged Job whether he had the power to do wonders. In particular, He asked Job if he was able to tell day to turn into darkness.

The Lord assured Job that He was a sovereign God. It was His sovereignty that made the world to come into its form. This meant that He was the creator.

The Lord wondered whether Job had power over nature and whether he could do anything with the stars and the clouds.

The Lord asked Job to tell him whether he had the knowledge about the laws governing the sky and if he could make them applicable here on earth.

The Lord told Job that it was him who gave the wild donkeys their freedom and deserts as their homes.

The Lord asked Job to tell Him whether he was trying to prove that he (the Lord) was unjust and deserved to be put on the wrong and Job himself on the right.

The Lord asked" Job to tell Him whether he was as strong as Him and if could make his voice thunder.

The Lord also condemned Job's friends and accused them for misguiding and misleading him (Job).

The Lord commanded Job's friends to offer sacrifices for the sins they had committed-in ¬order for them to be put right with him.

The Lord told Job's friends that the one in troubles would be the one to pray for them. The Lord restored Job to his original health and he started living a normal life like it was before.

The Lord also blessed Job with seven sons and three daughters just as he had before.

God blessed Job with so many more years to stay alive thereby making him to live longer than he expected.

God also blessed Job with more wealth by giving him twice as much as he had before.

LESSONS FOR CHRISTIANS FROM GOD'S RESPONSE TO JOB

· Should be ready to meet God anywhere

· Should seek God's wisdom about the things they cannot understand

· Should present their problems to God through prayer

· Should respond to God's call positively

· Should acknowledge God as a creator.

· Should depend on God during difficulties

· Should seek blessings from God.

· Should give the right advice to their friends.

· Should remain hopeful in times of difficult moments

· Should remain righteous and morally upright

· Should seek clarification for what they cannot understand

· Should accept their mistakes

· Should repent their sins.

· Should acknowledge the sovereignty of God.

JOB'S RESPONSE TO GOD

(Job 40:3-5 and 42: 1 ff)

Job admitted his mistakes and accepted that he had spoken foolishly against the Lord.

Job told the Lord that he could longer say anything. He came to realize that he had said more than enough in his capacity

Besides, he confessed that the Lord was powerful that He could do everything He wanted.

Job remembered that the Lord had asked who he was to question his wisdom with his ignorance

Job confessed that he had talked about the things he did not know and what he could not explain.

Job recalled that the Lord had commanded him to listen while He was speaking to him and answer Him back.

Job went on to confess that he had now seen with his own eyes all that the Lord could do.

Job confessed that he had always known what others had told him in the past. By this Job accepted his ignorance about God's ways of doing things.

Job felt ashamed of all that he had said against the Lord. In that feeling, Job showed that he was not worthy to stand before the Lord.

Job went ahead and repented for all that he had spoken against the Lord.

Revision Questions

1. Comment on Job's response to God's questions

2. What lessons can modern Christians learn from the above response?

REASONS FOR GOD'S CONDEMNATION OF JOB'S FRIENDS

The friends of Job had accused him falsely that he had sinned against the Lord. Job's friends had compelled or forced him to repent yet Job was a righteous man.

Job's friends behaved as if they knew all about God's ways of dealing with His creatures. The friends had lied about God especially when justified Job's troubles as punishment from God for his wickedness.

Job's friends were so harsh and rude as they tried to comfort and console him that they instead ended worsening his situation.

Job's friends made him to appear guilty as they insisted that he had only forgotten his evils.

Job's friends acted like God's messengers and yet none of them had been sent to speak on His behalf.

The friends of Job misguided and misled him that he eventually lost his faith in God.

The friends of Job claimed self righteousness by explaining that he was reaping from his own wickedness.

Job's friends presented him as a senseless person and someone incapable of understanding his own situations around him. However, they were the ones failing to understand Job's situation.

Job's friends tried to explain God's work using human understanding. By doing so, they misrepresented God's messages.

The friends of Job became mourners instead of comforting him and this worked to worsen his situation.

The friends of Job over attacked him innocently and yet he was a righteous man before God.

Job's friends chose to remain silent for seven days and night. This caused more pain to Job.

Job's friends were pretenders especially as they failed to recognize him as if they were not close to him.

Revision Questions

1. Justify God's condemnation of Job's friends.

2. Account for God's accusation of the friends of Job

THE NATURE OF GOD IN THE BOOK OF JOB

God is omnipotent as Job acknowledged that He could do everything He wanted at 'his will.

God is omnipresent. He appeared to Job from the storm when He was going to respond to his complaints.

God is the provider. Job acknowledged him as being the giver and the taker of everything. He also provided Job with all his wealth that he had lost before.

God is a judge. He judged Job's friends for their act of misguiding and misleading him. God is all knowing. Job told his friends that God knew about his troubles to which they too consented later.

God is immortal. Job told his friends that he had no quarrels with the mortals but rather that his case was with God.

God is the creator. He confirmed to Job that it was him who made the world to be that form.

God is transcendent. Job just like his friends too failed to understand the cause of his troubles.

God is a source of blessings. He blessed Job with more wealth, children and life after his long troublesome period.

God is controller of the universe. He gave Satan the power to do whatever he wanted with Job but restricted him to spare his life.

God is merciful" and forgiving. He forgave Job when he admitted his guilt and repented. God protects by nature. He protected Job's life from being destroyed by Satan.

God is worshipped by nature. Job himself used to worship Him that even his friends used it to ridicule him as troubles reached the climax.

God is perfect. Job's friends recognized His perfection that He could never twist justice God is the source of wisdom. He challenged Job whether he was as wise as him to question His wisdom.

THE NATURE OF MAN

Man is mortal by nature. This was proved by the death of Job's children. Even Job himself referred to his friends as mortals.

Man is weak by nature. Job developed sores all over the body and the friends broke down easily after seeing his bad conditions.

Man is dependent on God. Job acknowledged God as being the giver and taker of everything when his wife wanted him to curse God for having brought troubles unto him.

Man fears suffering by nature. This was proved by the way Job complained to God to the extent of cursing the day he was born.

Man is a sinner by nature. This was the reason Job's friends insisted that his suffering was a consequence of his evil deeds.

Man is impatient. Job eventually gave up his faith and complained that God was nor responding to his problems as fast as he expected.

Man is easily controlled by the circumstances around him. Job allowed his situation to overcome him and even his friends were terrified to see his bad conditions.

Man is inconsistent. Job tried to maintain his faith but eventually lost it to the extent that he blamed God.

Man is a repentant being. Job repented after having acknowledged that he had spoken foolishly against the Lord.

Man tends to look for the causes of events around him. This was the reason Job's friends gave different and inadequate explanations as to what could have caused Job's suffering.

Man can be tempted by nature. Job broke down after being struck by the last disaster and he lost his faith in God.

Man tends to separate from each other in times of difficult moments like the wife and the friends of Job who deserted him during his suffering.

Man lacks adequate knowledge and understanding of God's ways of doing things. Job wondered why the wicked had to prosper and the righteous to suffer.

JOB'S FAITHFULNESS TO GOD

God acknowledged and told Satan that Job was the only faithful man left on earth. This was the reason God and Satan agreed to put Job on a test.

Job ignored the ill advice of his wife who wanted to curse God for the troubles in his life. Job acknowledged God as being the giver and the taker of everything. This came at a painful moment when he had lost all his servants, wealth and children.

Job used to give sacrifices to God on daily basis on behalf of his children so that they could be forgiven in case they had sinned without his knowledge.

Job is presented as a person who was God fearing and someone who used to worship the' Lord.

Job was always very careful and could only aim at doing only good things before the Lord.

Job acknowledged the presence of God in his life at the climax of his suffering. He rebuked his friends who were misleading him.

Job remained optimistic that God would set him free from his pain. This was at a time when his friends had already lost hope in his survival and insisted upon his repentance in order for him to be set free.

Job is presented as an innocent person and someone who did not know anything to do with evil.

Job confessed to the Lord and admitted his guilt that he had spoken foolishly against Him.

Job repented and acknowledged that he had talked more than he could have said in his human capacity.

Job maintained his self righteousness as the friends continued to think that he was wicked.

Job chose to keep quiet when the Lord challenged and asked him to answer Him back whether he knew how the universe came into its present form. This meant that Job believed in what God was saying.

Job asked and challenged his friends to tell him his faults against the Lord so that he could repent.

Job prayed to God after presenting his friends sacrifices so that they would be forgiven for having misled him.

Job felt ashamed for all that he had said against the Lord. This meant that Job knew that he was in the wrong.

The book of Job as a challenge to the Deuteronomic views

According to the Jewish traditions, any kind of sins or disobedience was rewarded with punishment from the Lord. This was contained in Moses' moral instructions as they were in the land of Moab on their way to the Promised Land.

However, Job's personal experience challenges the understanding of sin and suffering as portrayed under blessings and curses in the book of Deuteronomy.

Job was a faithful person and therefore he could have been rewarded with good health. However, he suffered from a skin disease as sores developed all over his body.

Job feared the Lord and was always careful not to commit any evil. This meant that he would have enjoyed the Lord's protection. Unfortunately for him, he was exposed to terrible disaster.

Job was exposed to a lot of pain despite his innocence and righteousness in his relationship with God.

Job lost all his wealth although he was a faithful person who used to worship the Lord every day. However, he could have been rewarded with more wealth and prosperity as Moses had told the Israelites.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses had said that disobedience could lead into suffering. However, the cause of Job's disaster remained mysterious and unknown to himself the friends.

Job was forced to repent despite his righteousness. However, the Jews knew that repentance was only for the wicked.

In a reverse twist, Job refused to repent when it was clearly evident that he had already sinned against the Lord by raising complaints and accusation against him.

Job appeared to have been defeated by Satan yet he was a righteous person. However, he could have been given victory over an enemy if it were was told the Israelites.

Job suffered greatly at a time the wicked continued to prosper. However the wicked were the ones to have taken his place if it were as the Jews had known.

Job maintained faith in God at the climax of his disaster. However, any of the Jews could have felt ignored by God.

Job preferred to be dead despite being a good and a righteous person. They were rewarded with life in the Jewish community.

Job admitted his guilt especially that he had spoken foolishly again the Lord even though his disaster was simply a test.

THE UNIVERSAL NATURE OF THE BOOK OF JOB

Job asked God to tell his sorcerers to curse the day he was born as it exposed him to his troubles.

Job wondered why his mother carried him on her knees and breast fed him.

Job wished he had died so that he could be resting and sleeping like the kings and the rulers of the earth.

Job wondered why the wicked prospered as the righteous continued to meet disaster.

Job gave reference to the wicked who would eventually find a rest while in their grave. God challenged Job to tell Him whether he was present at a time the universe was being created.

God told Job that it was him who gave the wild animals their power and desert as their homes.

God challenged Job whether he had power over nature and whether he could do anything with the stars and the clouds.

God told the friends of Job that the one who was suffering would be the one to pray for them.

Job presented sacrifices on behalf of his friends so that they could be forgiven.

THE MAIN THEMES OR TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB

• Trials and temptations in human life

• Innocent suffering

• Faithfulness despite pain

• Hope during disaster

• The presence of Satan in human life

• Righteousness

• Need for repentance

• The omnipresence of God

• God's love for his rebellious people

• Blessings and curses

• Wealth and poverty as part of human life

• The holiness of God

• Purification after wickedness

• Weak human nature

• God's mercy portrayed on Job's friends

• Existence of evils in life

• God as being the creator

• Human wisdom as being inferior to that of God

• Suffering and tolerance or perseverance

• God answer man's prayer

• God is all knowing

• The weak nature of man when faced with disaster

• Man's limited understanding of God

• Being courageous amidst suffering




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Book of Job

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joshua 1:1 as recorded in the Aleppo Codex
Tanakh (Judaism)
Old Testament (Christianity)
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The Book of Job (/ˈdʒoʊb/; Hebrew: אִיוֹב Iyov) is one of the Writings (Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible, and the first poetic book in the Christian Old Testament.[1] Addressing the theme of God's justice in the face of human suffering—or more simply, "Why do the righteous suffer?"[2]— it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives.[3] It has been widely and often extravagantly praised for its literary qualities, withAlfred, Lord Tennyson calling it "the greatest poem of ancient and modern times".[4]

Structure[edit]

Jewish scroll of the Book of Job

The Book of Job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues.[5] It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the Elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the book's underlying editorial unity.[6]

1. Prologue in two scenes, the first on earth, the second in heaven (chapters 1-2);

2. Job's opening monologue (chapter 3 - seen by some scholars as a bridge between the prologue and the dialogues and by others as the beginning of the dialogues),[7] and three cycles of dialogues between Job and his three friends (chapters 4-27 - the third cycle is not complete, the expected speech of Zophar being replaced by the wisdom poem of chapter 28):[8]

  • First cycle
Eliphaz (chapters 4-5) and Job's response (chapters 6-7)
Bildad (8) and Job (9-10)
Zophar (11) and Job (12-14)
  • Second cycle
Eliphaz (15) and Job (16-17)
Bildad (18) and Job (19)
Zophar (20) and Job (21)
  • Third cycle
Eliphaz (22) and Job (23-24)
Bildad (25) and Job (26-27);

3. Three monologues:

  • A Poem to Wisdom (chapter 28, previously read as part of the speech of Job, now regarded by most scholars as a separate interlude in the narrator's voice),[7]
  • Job's closing monologue (chapters 29-31),
  • and Elihu's speeches (chapters 32-37);

4. Two speeches by God (chapters 38:1-40:2 and 40:6-41:34, 42:7-8), with Job's responses;

5. Epilogue - Job's restoration (chapters 42:9-17).

Contents[edit]

Job's Tormentors' from William Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job.

Prologue on earth and in heaven[edit]

The prologue on earth shows the righteous Job blessed with wealth and sons and daughters. The scene shifts to heaven, where God asks Satan (ha-satan, literally "the accuser") for his opinion of Job's piety. Satan answers that Job is pious only because God has blessed him; if God were to take away everything that Job had, then he would surely curse God. God gives Satan permission to take Job's wealth and kill all of his children and servants [9] but Job nonetheless praises God: "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return: the Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." God allows Satan to afflict his body with boils. Job sits in ashes; his wife prompts him to "curse God, and die," but Job answers: "Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil?"

Job's opening monologue; dialogues between Job and his three friends[edit]

Job laments the day of his birth; he would like to die, but even that is denied him. His three friends Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, console him. The friends do not waver in their belief that Job's suffering is a punishment for sin, for God causes no one to suffer innocently, and advise him to repent and seek God's mercy. Job responds with scorn: a just God would not treat him so harshly, patience in suffering is impossible, and the Creator should not take his creatures so lightly, to come against them with such force.[10]

Three monologues: Poem to Wisdom, Job's closing monologue, and Elihu's speeches[edit]

The dialogues of Job and his friends are followed by a poem (the "hymn to wisdom") on the inaccessibility of wisdom: Where is wisdom to be found? it asks, and concludes that it has been hidden from man (chapter 28).[11] Job contrasts his previous fortune with his present plight, an outcast, mocked and in pain; he protests his innocence, lists the principles he has lived by, and demands that God answer him.[12] Elihu (a character not previously mentioned) intervenes to state that wisdom comes from God, who reveals it through dreams and visions to those who will then declare their knowledge.[11]

Two speeches by God[edit]

God speaks from a whirlwind. His speeches neither explain Job's suffering, nor defend divine justice, nor enter into the courtroom confrontation that Job has demanded, nor respond to his oath of innocence.[13] Instead they contrast Job's weakness with divine wisdom and omnipotence: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Job makes a brief response, but God's monologue resumes, never addressing Job directly.[14] In 42:1-6 Job makes his final response, confessing God's power and his own lack of knowledge "of things beyond me which I did not know;" previously he has only heard, but now his eyes have seen God, and "therefore I retract/ And repent of dust and ashes."[15]

Epilogue[edit]

God tells Eliphaz that he and his two friends "have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has done." The three (Elihu is not mentioned) are told to make a burnt offering with Job as their intercessor, "for only to him will I show favour." Job is restored to health, riches and family, and lives to see his children to the fourth generation.[16]

Composition[edit]

Anonymous Byzantine illustration
God speaks to Job

Authorship, language, texts[edit]

Ascribed by Jewish tradition to Moses, it is generally agreed by scholars that the book comes from the period between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE, with the 6th century as the most likely date for a variety of reasons.[17] The anonymous author was almost certainly an Israelite, although he has set his story outside Israel, in southern Edom or northern Arabia, and makes allusion to places as far apart as Mesopotamia and Egypt.[18] According to the 6th-century prophet Ezekiel, Job was a man of antiquity renowned for his righteousness,[19] and the book's author has chosen this legendary hero for his parable.[20]

The language of Job stands out for its conservative spelling and for its exceptionally large number of words and forms not found elsewhere in the Bible.[21] The 12th century Jewish scholar Ibn Ezra concluded that the book must have been written in some other language and translated into Hebrew, and many later scholars down to the 20th century looked for an Aramaic, Arabic or Edomite original; but a close analysis suggests that the foreign words and foreign-looking forms are literary affectations designed to lend authenticity to the book's distant setting.[22]

The book exists in a number of forms; the Hebrew Masoretic Text, which underlies many modern Bible translations, the Greek Septuagint made in Egypt in the last centuries BCE, and Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.[23]

Job and the wisdom tradition[edit]

Job, Ecclesiastes and the book of Proverbs belong to the genre of wisdom literature, sharing a perspective that they themselves call the "way of wisdom."[24] Wisdom means both a way of thinking and a body of knowledge gained through such thinking, as well as the ability to apply it to life; it is attainable in part through human effort, and in part as a gift from God, but never in its entirety— except by God.[25] The three books share attitudes and assumptions, but differ in their conclusions: Proverbs makes confident statements about the world and its workings that are flatly contradicted by Job and Ecclesiastes.[26] Wisdom literature was not confined to the Bible, or to Israel;[27] several texts from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt offer parallels to Job,[28] and while it is impossible to tell whether the author of Job was influenced by any of them, their existence tells us that he was the recipient of a long tradition of reflection on the existence of inexplicable suffering.[29]

Themes[edit]

Gustave Doré,
Destruction of Leviathan

Job is an investigation of the problem of divine justice.[30]This problem, known in theology as theodicy, can be rephrased as a question: "Why do the righteous suffer?"[2]The conventional answer in ancient Israel was that God rewards virtue and punishes sin (the principle known as "retributive justice").[31] This assumes a world in which human choices and actions are morally significant, but experience demonstrates that suffering cannot be sensibly understood as a consequence of bad choices and actions, and unmerited suffering requires theological candour.[32]

The biblical concept of righteousness was rooted in the covenant-making God who had ordered creation for communal well-being, and the righteous were those who invested in the community, showing special concern for the poor and needy (see Job's description of his life in chapter 31); their antithesis were the wicked, who were selfish and greedy.[33] Satan raises the question of whether there is such a thing as disinterested righteousness: if God rewards righteousness with prosperity, will men not act righteously from selfish motives? He asks God to test this by removing the prosperity of Job, the most righteous of all God's servants.[34]

The book begins with the frame narrative, giving the reader an omniscient "God's eye perspective" which introduces Job as a man of exemplary faith and piety, "blameless and upright," who "fears God" and "shuns evil."[35][36] God is seen initiating the discussion with Satan and approving Job's suffering, a device which serves three purposes: the usual explanations for suffering, that the sufferer has committed some sin of which he is unaware or that God's actions are inscrutable, are eliminated; it makes clear that it is not Job who is on trial, but God's policy of retribution; and the reader sees that God himself bears responsibility for Job's suffering.[37] The contrast between the frame and the poetic dialogues and monologues, in which Job never learns of the opening scenes in heaven or of the reason for his suffering, creates a sense of contradictory juxtaposition between the divine and human views of Job's suffering.[36][38]

In the poetic dialogues Job's friends see his suffering and assume he must be guilty, since God is just; Job, knowing he is innocent, concludes that God must be unjust.[39] He retains his piety throughout the story (belying Satan's suspicion that his righteousness is due to the expectation of reward), but makes clear from his first speech that he agrees with his friends that God should and does reward righteousness.[40] Elihu rejects the arguments of both parties: Job is wrong to accuse God of injustice, as God is greater than human beings, and nor are the friends correct, for suffering, far from being a punishment, may "rescue the afflicted from their affliction" and make them more amenable to revelation—literally, "open their ears" (36:15).[39]

Chapter 28, the Hymn to Wisdom, introduces another theme, divine wisdom. The hymn does not place any emphasis on retributive justice, stressing instead the inaccessibility of wisdom.[41]Wisdom cannot be discovered or purchased, it says; God alone knows the meaning of the world, and he grants it only to those who live in reverence before him.[42] God possesses wisdom because he grasps the complexities of the world (Job 28:24-26)—a theme which looks forward to God's speech in chapters 38-41, with its repeated refrain "Where were you when...?"[43]

When God finally speaks he neither explains the reason for Job's suffering (revealed to the reader in the prologue in heaven) nor defends his justice. The first speech focuses on his role in maintaining order in the universe: the list of things that God does and Job cannot do demonstrates divine wisdom because order is the heart of wisdom. Job then confesses his lack of wisdom, meaning his lack of understanding of the workings of the cosmos and of the ability to maintain it. The second speech concerns God's role in controlling leviathan and behemoth, sometimes translated as the hippopotamus and crocodile, but more probably representing primeval cosmic creatures, in either case demonstrating God's wisdom and power.[44] Job's reply to God's final speech is longer than his first, and more complicated: the usual view is that he admits to being wrong to challenge God and now repents "in dust and ashes" (42:6), but the Hebrew is difficult and an alternative understanding is that Job says he was wrong to repent and mourn and does not retract any of his arguments.[45] In the concluding part of the frame narrative God restores and increases his prosperity, indicating that the divine policy on retributive justice remains unchanged.[46]

Later interpretation and influence[edit]

History of interpretation[edit]

In the Second Temple period (500 BCE-70 CE) Job began being transformed into something more patient and steadfast, with his suffering a test of virtue and a vindication of righteousness for the glory of God.[47] The process of "sanctifying" Job began with the Greek Septuaginttranslation (c.200 BCE) and was furthered in the Testament of Job (1st century BCE-1st century CE), which makes him the hero of patience.[48] This reading pays little attention to the Job of the dialogue sections of the book,[49] but was the tradition taken up by the New Testament Epistle of James, which presented Job as one whose patience and endurance should be emulated by believers (James 5:7-11).[50]

Jewish interpretation of Job was initially positive: he was seen as a righteous Gentile who acknowledged God.[51] Very early, however, Christianity began interpreting Job 19:23-29 (verses concerning a "redeemer" whom Job hopes can save him from God) as a prophecy of Christ,[52] although the major view among scholars is that Job's "redeemer" is either an angelic being or God himself.[53] With Job appropriated as a witness to the coming Christ, the predominant Jewish view became "Job the blasphemer," some rabbis even saying that he was rightly punished by God because he had stood by while Pharaoh massacred the innocent Jewish infants.[54][55]

Saint Augustine recorded that Job had prophesied the coming of Christ and Gregory the Greatoffered him as a model of right living worthy of respect; the medieval Jewish scholar Maimonidesdeclared his story a parable and the medieval Christian Thomas Aquinas wrote a detailed commentary declaring it true history; in the Reformation Martin Luther explained how Job's confession of sinfulness and worthlessness underlay his saintliness, and John Calvin's Job demonstrated the doctrine of the resurrection and the ultimate certainty of divine justice.[56]

The contemporary movement known as creation theology, an ecological theology valuing the needs of all creation, interprets God's speeches in Job 38-41 to imply that his interests and actions are not exclusively focused on humankind.[57]

Liturgical use[edit]

Jewish liturgy does not use readings from the book of Job in the manner of the Pentateuch,Prophets, or Five Megillot, although it is quoted at funerals and times of mourning. However, there are some Jews, particularly the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, who do hold public readings of Job on the Tisha B'Av fast (a day of mourning over the destruction of the First andSecond Temples and other tragedies). The cantillation signs for the large poetic section in the middle of the Book of Job differ from those of most of the biblical books, using a system shared with it only by Psalms and Proverbs.

The Eastern Orthodox Church reads from Job and Exodus during Holy Week. Exodus prepares 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. The Roman Catholic Churchreads from Job during Matins in the first two weeks of September and in the Office of the Dead, and in the revised Liturgy of the Hours Job is read during the Eighth and Ninth Weeks inOrdinary Time.[citation needed]

In music, art, literature, and film[edit]

Georges de La Tour,
Job Mocked by his Wife

The book of Job has been deeply influential in Western culture, to such an extent that no list could be more than representative. Musical settings from Job include Orlande de Lassus's 1565 cycle of motets, the Sacrae Lectiones Novem ex Propheta Job, and George Frideric Handel's use of Job 19:25 ("I know that my redeemer liveth") as an aria in his 1741 oratorio Messiah. Modern works based on the book include Ralph Vaughan Williams's Job: A Masque for Dancing, French composer Darius Milhaud's Cantata From Job, and Joseph Stein's Broadway interpretation The Fiddler on the Roof, based on an earlier Yiddish memoir by Sholem Alchem in 1894. Neil Simon wrote God's Favoritewhich is a modern retelling of the Book of Job. Breughel andGeorges de la Tour depicted Job visited by his wife, andWilliam Blake produced an entire cycle of illustrations for the book. Writers Job has inspired or influenced include[original research?] John Milton (Samson Agonistes), Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov), Franz Kafka (The Trial), Carl Jung (Answer to Job), Philip Roth and Bernard Malamud. The most prominent use[according to whom?] of the Book of Job in modern literature has probably been Archibald MacLeish's drama, J.B., which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1959. Job's influence can also be seen in the Coen brothers' 2009 film, A Serious Man, which was nominated for two Oscars. Terrence Malick's 2011 film The Tree of Life which won the Palme d'Or is heavily influenced by the themes of the book of Job, as the film starts with a quote from the beginning of God's speech to Job. A Malayalam film called "Iyobinte Pusthakam" was made in 2014, which is the story of a man who is losing everything in his life, and also has parallels with Dostoevsky's (The Brothers Karamazov). Russian film Leviathan also draws themes from the book of Job.

In Islam and Middle Eastern folk tradition[edit]

Job (Arabic Ayyub ايوب) is one of the 25 prophets mentioned by name in the Quran, where he is lauded as a steadfast and upright worshiper (Q.38:44). His story has the same basic outline as in the Bible, although the three friends are replaced by his brothers and his wife stays by his side.[55][58] In Palestinian folklore, Job's place of trial is Al-Joura, a village outside the town of Al Majdal (Ashkelon). It was there that God rewarded him with a Fountain of Youth that removed whatever illnesses he had, and restored his youth. Al-Joura was a place of annual festivities (4 days in all) when people of many faiths gathered and bathed in a natural spring. In Lebanon the Muwahideen (or Druze) community have a shrine built in the Shouf area of Lebanon that allegedly contains Job's tomb. In Turkey, Job is known as Eyüp, and he is supposed to have lived in Şanlıurfa. There is also a tomb of Job outside the city of Salalah in Oman in the Sultanate of Oman.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Hartley 1988, p. 3.
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b Lawson 2005, p. 11.
  3. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 87.
  4. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 74.
  5. Jump up^ Bullock 2007, p. 87.
  6. Jump up^ Walton 2008, p. 343.
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b Walton 2008, p. 333.
  8. Jump up^ Kugler & Hartin 2009, p. 191.
  9. Jump up^ Job 1:12
  10. Jump up^ Kugler & Hartin 2008, p. 190.
  11. ^ Jump up to:a b Seow 2013, p. 33-34.
  12. Jump up^ Sawyer 2013, p. 27.
  13. Jump up^ Walton 2008, p. 339.
  14. Jump up^ Sawyer 2013, p. 28.
  15. Jump up^ Habel 1985, p. 575.
  16. Jump up^ Kugler & Hartin 2008, p. 33.
  17. Jump up^ Kugler & Hartin 2008, p. 193.
  18. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 44.
  19. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 1.
  20. Jump up^ Fokkelman 2012, p. 20.
  21. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 17.
  22. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 21-24.
  23. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 1-16.
  24. Jump up^ Farmer 1998, p. 129.
  25. Jump up^ Farmer 1998, p. 129-130.
  26. Jump up^ Farmer 1998, p. 130-131.
  27. Jump up^ Bullock 2007, p. 84.
  28. Jump up^ Hartley 2008, p. 346.
  29. Jump up^ Hartley 2008, p. 360.
  30. Jump up^ Bullock 2007, p. 82.
  31. Jump up^ Hooks 2007, p. 58.
  32. Jump up^ Brueggemann 2002, p. 201.
  33. Jump up^ Brueggemann 2002, p. 177-178.
  34. Jump up^ Walton 2008, p. 336-337.
  35. Jump up^ Hooks 2006, p. 57.
  36. ^ Jump up to:a b O'Dowd 2008, p. 242-243.
  37. Jump up^ Barton 2008, p. 336.
  38. Jump up^ Barton 2008, p. 338.
  39. ^ Jump up to:a b Seow 2013, p. 97-98.
  40. Jump up^ Kulger & Hartin 2009, p. 194.
  41. Jump up^ Dell 2003, p. 356.
  42. Jump up^ Hooks 2006, p. 329-330.
  43. Jump up^ Fiddes 1996, p. 174.
  44. Jump up^ Walton 2008, p. 338.
  45. Jump up^ Sawyer 2013, p. 34.
  46. Jump up^ Barton 2008, p. 338-339.
  47. Jump up^ Seow 2013, p. 111.
  48. Jump up^ Allen 2008, p. 362-363.
  49. Jump up^ Dell 1991, p. 6-7.
  50. Jump up^ Allen 2008, p. 362.
  51. Jump up^ Allen 2008, p. 364.
  52. Jump up^ Simonetti, Conti & Oden 2006, p. 105-106.
  53. Jump up^ Hooks 2006, p. 250-251.
  54. Jump up^ Allen 2008, p. 361-362.
  55. ^ Jump up to:a b Noegal & Wheeler 2010, p. 171.
  56. Jump up^ Allen 2008, p. 368-371.
  57. Jump up^ Farmer 1998, p. 150.
  58. Jump up^ Wheeler 2002, p. 8.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Michael Wise, Martin Abegg, Jr, and Edward Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation, (1996), HarperSanFrancisco paperback 1999, ISBN 0-06-069201-4, (contains the non-biblical portion of the scrolls)
  • Stella Papadaki-Oekland,"Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts of the Book of Job",ISBN 2-503-53232-2,[1]

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Book of Job
Book of Job
Preceded by
Proverbs		 Hebrew Bible Succeeded by
Song of Songs
Preceded by
Esther		 Protestant
Old Testament		 Succeeded by
Psalms
Preceded by
2 Maccabees		 Roman Catholic
Old Testament
Preceded by
4 Maccabees		 Eastern Orthodox
Old Testament

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