Bible Commentary: Job

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Job

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Introduction to Job 

Contained within the Writings section of the Old Testament are what are often referred to as the Poetical or Wisdom books: Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Job. Chronologically, the first among these is evidently the book of Job—or at least the story contained within the book appears to precede most of the material in the other Writings. We did not read the book of Job in harmony with earlier sections because its chronological placement is not completely clear and its contents are not crucial to the story flow of the Law and Prophets. Nevertheless, Job is directly mentioned in the Prophets as an illustrious example, along with Noah and Daniel, of righteousness (see Ezekiel 14:14, Ezekiel 14:20). And it is possible that he is mentioned in the Law as well, as we will see.

Job is widely considered to be one of the great, epic works of literature. The famed 19th-century French author and playwright Victor Hugo said, “The book of Job is perhaps the greatest masterpiece of the human mind.” Of course, as part of Scripture, it is not ultimately a product of the human mind—though God did inspire a human being to write it down. The 19th-century Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle said: “I call this book, apart from all theories about it, one of the grandest things ever written. Our first, oldest statement of the never-ending problem: man’s destiny, and God’s ways with him in the earth. There is nothing written, I think, of equal literary merit.” Religious encyclopedist Philip Schaff said, “The book of Job rises like a pyramid in the history of literature, without predecessor and without a rival” (all quoted in Halley’s Bible Handbook, introductory notes on Job).

Yet who it was who penned the book of Job is not named. Jewish tradition credits Moses, and that is certainly possible as the book’s story seems to have preceded him. Others maintain that Job himself may be the author—or perhaps the author of a record that was used by another author, again possibly Moses, as the foundation on which to create a dramatic narrative and series of lofty orations. Yet even many who accept the great antiquity of the story believe it was initially passed down through oral tradition and then written down much later. Some see it as the work of Solomon, as he compiled the wisdom of the East.

Because the work is poetic in structure, some today try to paint Job as an allegorical, fictional character. Yet the literary genius of the work should not lead to the conclusion that the events and dialogue recorded in it are not genuine. The reference in Ezekiel 14 clearly portrays Job as a historical figure. He is also mentioned in the New Testament: “You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

So who was Job? When and where did he live? The answers to these questions are not known with certainty. Indeed, it is not necessary to know them to appreciate and benefit from the story, themes and lessons of the book. There is a palpably timeless quality about the book of Job. He represents all believers in our struggle to cope with the hardships of life and maintain our trust and confidence in God come what may.

Still, there are a number of clues to the historical setting of the book of Job. The evidence points to Job living in patriarchal times. For instance, he offered sacrifices. Yet in the period after Israel became a nation, sacrifices were to be performed by the Levitical priests. This would indicate that Job lived before this period.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary states in its introductory notes on the book of Job: “It seems likely that Job himself lived in the second millennium B.C. (2000 to 1000 B.C.) and shared a tradition not far removed from that of the Hebrew patriarchs. Job’s longevity of 140 years, his position as a man whose wealth was measured in cattle and who acted as priest for his family, and the picture of roving Sabean and Chaldean tribesmen fit the second millennium better than the first…. The book shows considerable Aramaic flavor that may mean Job and his friends lived near centers of Aramaic influence. Aram-Naharaim [the area in which the family of Abraham’s brother Nahor lived] was such a center in northern Mesopotamia. At the end of the millennium, some Aramean tribes moved south and settled on the borders of Babylonia and Palestine; but Arameans continued to control the caravan route through the Khabur River area. This was the time when Aleppo and Damascus became Aramean centers and when the Chaldean tribes invaded Babylonia…. If Job 1:17 means that Chaldean tribes were still roving, the event could reflect a time before they settled at about 1000 B.C.”

The same commentary further explains Job’s name in its historical setting: “The English name ‘Job’ comes from the Greek Iob, which derives from the Hebrew form Iyob. Earlier attempts to determine an etymology of the name have given way to evidence from a well-attested west Semitic name in the second millennium found in the Amarna Letters, Egyptian Execration texts, Mari, Alalakh, and Ugaritic documents. The original form of the name was Ayyabum”—related to the biblical name Jobab.

Gleason Archer’s New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties gives more information on this, noting that renowned archaeologist William F. Albright “suggested that Job may have been a contemporary of the patriarchs of the pre-Mosaic age. He supports the credibility of Job by the authentic second-millennium employment of the name ’Iyyob. (It should be noted that in the Berlin Execration texts, ’Iyyob appears as the name of a Syrian prince living near Damascus; in the Mari documents of the eighteenth century B.C., Ayyabum is mentioned; and in the Tell el-Amarna correspondence from about 1400 B.C., Ayab is referred to as a prince of Pella [in what is today northwestern Jordan].) Albright also certifies the credibility of the name of Bildad (one of Job’s three “comforters”) as a shortened form of Yabil-Dadum, a name found in the cuneiform sources of the early second millennium” (1982, p. 236).

What of Job’s nationality? Exceedingly wealthy, he was referred to as “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3)—“East” most likely from the perspective of the land of Israel. More specifically, Job lived in the land of Uz (verse 1). Genesis 10:22-23 lists Uz as a son of Shem’s son Aram, father of the ancient Aramaeans or Syrians. Genesis 22:20-22 lists a Huz, essentially the same as Uz, as the firstborn of Abraham’s brother Nahor. So there could be some relation to the people dwelling near the Euphrates. Then again, according to Lamentations 4:21, Edom was in the land of Uz. Expositor’s states: “It seems then that Uz might have been the name of a region east of Palestine including the Edomites and adjacent tribes.”

Uz is also listed in the Bible as a son of one of the Horite chiefs, Dishan son of Seir, who lived in the land of Edom (Genesis 36:20-21, Genesis 36:28). Recall that Edom was another name for Jacob’s brother Esau. So related were the Edomites and Horites by proximity that Mount Seir was the geographical name for the Edomites’ territory. Note that the sons of Seir are listed in the same chapter as the genealogy of Esau’s family (Genesis 36). Job’s friend Eliphaz the Temanite was clearly an Edomite. Another Eliphaz was the firstborn of Esau, and Teman was his firstborn son, being the first listed chief of Edom (verses 4, 11, 15). Teman is often reckoned to have been a city or district in Edom (see Jeremiah 49:7; Ezekiel 25:13; Amos 1:12; Obadiah 8-9). As Expositor’s notes, “The site may be the same as the Arabian town of Tema mentioned in Babylonian sources” (and in Jeremiah 25:23). Eliphaz’s identity as a Temanite dates the story of Job to at least a few generations after Jacob and Esau—most likely to when the Israelites were in Egypt (since, as we’ve seen, it appears to have been written prior to Israel becoming a nation).

Another of Job’s friends, Bildad (mentioned above), is referred to as a Shuhite. The Shuhites were apparently descendants of Shuah, a son of Abraham by his last wife Keturah (see Genesis 25:1-2). Thus the Shuhites were closely related to the Midianites (see verses 2, 4) and to the Arabian peoples of Sheba and Dedan (verse 3). Indeed, Jeremiah 25:23 seems to place Dedan in proximity to Tema. Yet “there is a land of Suhu on the Middle Euphrates mentioned in Assyrian records” (Expositor’s). So it is quite possible that the Shuhites stretched from northern Arabia up to the Euphrates. Indeed, as noted in the Beyond Today BIble Commentary on Obadiah, the Edomites appear to have stretched over this whole region. And Uz could have been anywhere in this expanse.

The land and people of Job’s third friend, Zophar the Naamathite, are not known, except that Naamah was a fairly common name. But another major character in the book, the young man Elihu, is described as being the son of Barachel the Buzite. Buz was the brother of Huz, both sons of Abraham’s brother Nahor (Genesis 22:20-21). Furthermore, in Jeremiah 25:23, Buz is mentioned in conjunction with Tema and Dedan. All of this helps to substantiate the conclusion that the book of Job was set among Abraham’s non-Israelite descendants and related family a few generations after Jacob and Esau—again, probably while the Israelites were in Egypt. And it helps us to locate, at least generally, where the story took place.

Building on what we have already seen, Halley’s Bible Handbook says regarding the setting of the book: “The land of Uz (Job 1:1) is thought to have been along the border between Palestine and Arabia, extending from Edom northerly and easterly toward the Euphrates river, skirting the caravan route between Babylon and Egypt. The particular section of the land of Uz which tradition has called the home of Job was Hauran, a region east of the Sea of Galilee, noted for its fertility of soil and its grain, once thickly populated, now dotted with the ruins of three hundred cities….

“The Septuagint, in a postscript, following ancient tradition, identified Job with Jobab, the second king of Edom (Genesis 36:33). Names and places mentioned in the book seem to give it a setting among the descendants of Esau…. If this is correct, and if Hauran was Job’s home, it would indicate that the early kings of Edom may, at times, have migrated from the rock cliffs of Edom northward to the more fertile plains of Hauran. At any rate the book has the atmosphere of very primitive times, and seems to have its setting among the early tribes descended from Abraham, along the northern border of Arabia, about contemporary with Israel’s sojourn in Egypt.”

King Jobab, whose name relates to the aforementioned second-millennium-B.C. name Ayyabum (as an m sound is a nasal b), was the son of Zerah of the Edomite city of Bozrah—this Zerah likely being the same as Chief Zerah, a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:17). The early kings of Edom, as listed in verses 31-39, apparently did not hold hereditary office and so were probably elected for life terms. It is reasonable to suppose that Job was such a king considering his vast wealth and his distinction of being the greatest man in the East. In fact, in Job 29 he seems to portray himself as a king.

As descendants of Abraham and Isaac, many of the Edomites probably continued to worship the true God in this early period—helping to explain the religious understanding of Job and his friends.

We will consider the themes and issues of the book as we progress through it, summing up the book’s great lessons at the end.