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    Job
    Job
    Job
    Ebook832 pages11 hours

    Job

    By John H. Walton

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    About this ebook

    The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.

    To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections:

    • Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.
    • Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible.
    • Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved.

    This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateAug 21, 2012
    ISBN9780310492009
    Job
    Author

    John H. Walton

    John H. Walton (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is professor emeritus of Old Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Old Testament Today, with Andrew E. Hill; volumes on Job and Genesis in the NIV Application Commentary series; the six-volume Lost World series; and Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology. He was also coeditor, with Craig Keener, of the ECPA 2017 Bible of the Year winner, the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible.

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    • 4/5
      The NIV Application Commentary Series is unique. Most commentaries help us make the journey from our world back to the world of the Bible. They enable us to cross the barriers of time, culture, language, and geography that separate us from the biblical world. Once they have explained the original meaning of a book or passage, these commentaries give us little or no help in exploring its contemporary significance. The information they offer is valuable, but the job is only half done.Recently, a few commentaries have included some contemporary application as one of their goals. Yet that application is often sketchy or moralistic, and some volumes sound more like printed sermons than commentaries. The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context. Each passage is treated by John H. Walton in three sections:Original Meaning: All of the elements of traditional exegesis — in concise form — are discussed here. These include the historical, literary, and cultural context of the passage. The authors discuss matters related to grammar and syntax and the meaning of biblical words. They also seek to explore the main ideas of the passage and how the biblical author develops those ideas. After reading this section, you will understand the problems, questions, and concerns of the original audience and how the biblical author addressed those issues. This understanding is foundational to any legitimate application of the text today.Bridging Contexts: A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, between theoriginal context and the contemporary context, by focusing on both the timely and timeless aspects of the text.Contemporary Significance: allows the biblical message to speak with as much power today as it did when it was first written.In the NIV Application Commentary Job both the original NIV text of each chapter is presented to read as well as the treasure found in the sections described above. As a preface the whole book is explored. Author, date, theme, characters, plot, etc.The title character of the book of Job is caught in the ultimate “dark and stormy night” of a life gone tragically wrong. We should not mistakenly think that this book is just about Job, however; it is about all of us. Regardless of where anyone’s experiences fit on the spectrum of pain and suffering, we are all prone to ask the same questions. These questions direct us to the central subject of the book, God himself, for he is the one to whom we direct our confused questions and perplexed musings.The Commentary is perfect for theology students, preachers and devouted Christians willing to dig deeper and unearth the treasures underneath a superficial reading of the Scriptures.

    Book preview

    Job - John H. Walton

    JOB

    THE NIV APPLICATION COMMENTARY

    From biblical text … to contemporary life

    JOHN H. WALTON

    WITH KELLY LEMON VIZCAINO

    ZONDERVAN

    The NIV Application Commentary: Job

    Copyright © 2012 by John H. Walton

    Requests for information should be addressed to:

    Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Walton, John H.

    Job / John H. Walton with Kelly Lemon Vizcaino.

    p. cm.—(The NIV application commentary)

    Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

    ePub edition November 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-49200-9

    ISBN: 978-0-310-21442-7 (hardcover)

    1. Bible. O.T. Job—Commentaries. I. Title.

    BS1415.53.W35 2012

    223′.1077—dc23 2012001539

    All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

    Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

    To my son Jon,

    who persuaded me to write this commentary,

    then became thoroughly involved to improve it at every turn.

    His contributions are immeasurable and my gratitude is unbounded.

    Contents

    How to Use This Commentary

    Series Introduction

    General Editor’s Preface

    Author’s Preface

    Abbreviations

    Introduction

    Outline of Job

    Basic Bibliography on the Book of Job

    Text and Commentary on Job

    Job 1

    Job 2

    Job 3

    Job 4–14

    Job 15–21

    Job 22–27

    Job 28

    Job 29–31

    Job 32–37

    Job 38–41

    Job 42

    Technical Appendix

    Scripture Index

    Subject Index

    Notes

    How to Use This Commentary

    Thank you for purchasing the HarperCollins Christian Publishing eBook version of The NIV Application Commentary.

    What is the difference between an eBook and a print book?

    eBook versions contain all of the content and supplementary materials found in the original print versions and are optimized for navigation in the various apps and devices used for display. eReaders recognize text as one fluid string and are formatted in a single column. eReaders currently do not support the more complex layout seen in print version books. Therefore, some content may not appear in the same place as in the original print version, but it is structured consistently and uses hyperlinks to navigate between related content.

    How do I use the eBook Table of Contents?

    *Important Note: Be sure to consult your device manufacturer’s User’s Guide for device-specific navigation instructions.*

    The Table of Contents is the primary navigation anchor to quickly access various parts of the eBook. It is generally formatted in the same order as the original print version and is hyperlinked as follows:

    • Introductory Materials

    • Commentary

    • Indexes

    Selecting an entry in the Table of Contents takes you to that location in the eBook. Selecting the title of that specific entry or using your device’s Back button or function takes you back to the main Table of Contents.

    How do I navigate the content?

    The eBook version of The NIV Application Commentary includes introductory materials, commentary, footnotes, scripture index, and subject index. Hyperlinks to the materials appear in the Table of Contents as well as the main book text.

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    • Select the hyperlinked entry in the article or list to go to its location in the main text.

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    Footnotes in the Commentary are marked with small, hyperlinked numbers ¹ to access comments and citations.

    • Select the hyperlinked number in the main text to the corresponding footnote.

    • Select the hyperlinked number to the left of the footnote to go back to the main text or use the device’s Back button or function to go back to the last selection.

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    • Select the Scripture Index from the Table of Contents.

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    • Select the hyperlinked page number 1 to go to the main text.

    • Select the footnote entry marked with n1 to the corresponding footnote.

    • Use the device’s Back button or function to go back to the last selection.

    NOTES:

    • The Bible Translation quoted by the authors in the main Commentary, unless otherwise indicated, is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

    NIV Application Commentary

    Series Introduction

    THE NIV APPLICATION COMMENTARY Series is unique. Most commentaries help us make the journey from our world back to the world of the Bible. They enable us to cross the barriers of time, culture, language, and geography that separate us from the biblical world. Yet they only offer a one-way ticket to the past and assume that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. Once they have explained the original meaning of a book or passage, these commentaries give us little or no help in exploring its contemporary significance. The information they offer is valuable, but the job is only half done.

    Recently, a few commentaries have included some contemporary application as one of their goals. Yet that application is often sketchy or moralistic, and some volumes sound more like printed sermons than commentaries.

    The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context. The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance. These are commentaries, not popular expositions. They are works of reference, not devotional literature.

    The format of the series is designed to achieve the goals of the series. Each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning, Bridging Contexts, and Contemporary Significance.

    Original Meaning

    THIS SECTION HELPS YOU understand the meaning of the biblical text in its original context. All of the elements of traditional exegesis—in concise form—are discussed here. These include the historical, literary, and cultural context of the passage. The authors discuss matters related to grammar and syntax and the meaning of biblical words.¹ They also seek to explore the main ideas of the passage and how the biblical author develops those ideas.

    After reading this section, you will understand the problems, questions, and concerns of the original audience and how the biblical author addressed those issues. This understanding is foundational to any legitimate application of the text today.

    Bridging Contexts

    THIS SECTION BUILDS A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, between the original context and the contemporary context, by focusing on both the timely and timeless aspects of the text.

    God’s Word is timely. The authors of Scripture spoke to specific situations, problems, and questions. The author of Joshua encouraged the faith of his original readers by narrating the destruction of Jericho, a seemingly impregnable city, at the hands of an angry warrior God (Josh. 6). Paul warned the Galatians about the consequences of circumcision and the dangers of trying to be justified by law (Gal. 5:2–5). The author of Hebrews tried to convince his readers that Christ is superior to Moses, the Aaronic priests, and the Old Testament sacrifices. John urged his readers to test the spirits of those who taught a form of incipient Gnosticism (1 John 4:1–6). In each of these cases, the timely nature of Scripture enables us to hear God’s Word in situations that were concrete rather than abstract.

    Yet the timely nature of Scripture also creates problems. Our situations, difficulties, and questions are not always directly related to those faced by the people in the Bible. Therefore, God’s word to them does not always seem relevant to us. For example, when was the last time someone urged you to be circumcised, claiming that it was a necessary part of justification? How many people today care whether Christ is superior to the Aaronic priests? And how can a test designed to expose incipient Gnosticism be of any value in a modern culture?

    Fortunately, Scripture is not only timely but timeless. Just as God spoke to the original audience, so he still speaks to us through the pages of Scripture. Because we share a common humanity with the people of the Bible, we discover a universal dimension in the problems they faced and the solutions God gave them. The timeless nature of Scripture enables it to speak with power in every time and in every culture.

    Those who fail to recognize that Scripture is both timely and timeless run into a host of problems. For example, those who are intimidated by timely books such as Hebrews, Galatians, or Deuteronomy might avoid reading them because they seem meaningless today. At the other extreme, those who are convinced of the timeless nature of Scripture, but who fail to discern its timely element, may wax eloquent about the Melchizedekian priesthood to a sleeping congregation, or worse still, try to apply the holy wars of the Old Testament in a physical way to God’s enemies today.

    The purpose of this section, therefore, is to help you discern what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible—and what is not. For example, how do the holy wars of the Old Testament relate to the spiritual warfare of the New? If Paul’s primary concern is not circumcision (as he tells us in Gal. 5:6), what is he concerned about? If discussions about the Aaronic priesthood or Melchizedek seem irrelevant today, what is of abiding value in these passages? If people try to test the spirits today with a test designed for a specific first-century heresy, what other biblical test might be more appropriate?

    Yet this section does not merely uncover that which is timeless in a passage but also helps you to see how it is uncovered. The authors of the commentaries seek to take what is implicit in the text and make it explicit, to take a process that normally is intuitive and explain it in a logical, orderly fashion. How do we know that circumcision is not Paul’s primary concern? What clues in the text or its context help us realize that Paul’s real concern is at a deeper level?

    Of course, those passages in which the historical distance between us and the original readers is greatest require a longer treatment. Conversely, those passages in which the historical distance is smaller or seemingly nonexistent require less attention.

    One final clarification. Because this section prepares the way for discussing the contemporary significance of the passage, there is not always a sharp distinction or a clear break between this section and the one that follows. Yet when both sections are read together, you should have a strong sense of moving from the world of the Bible to the world of today.

    Contemporary Significance

    THIS SECTION ALLOWS THE biblical message to speak with as much power today as it did when it was first written. How can you apply what you learned about Jerusalem, Ephesus, or Corinth to our present-day needs in Chicago, Los Angeles, or London? How can you take a message originally spoken in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic and communicate it clearly in our own language? How can you take the eternal truths originally spoken in a different time and culture and apply them to the similar-yet-different needs of our culture?

    In order to achieve these goals, this section gives you help in several key areas.

    (1) It helps you identify contemporary situations, problems, or questions that are truly comparable to those faced by the original audience. Because contemporary situations are seldom identical to those faced by the original audience, you must seek situations that are analogous if your applications are to be relevant.

    (2) This section explores a variety of contexts in which the passage might be applied today. You will look at personal applications, but you will also be encouraged to think beyond private concerns to the society and culture at large.

    (3) This section will alert you to any problems or difficulties you might encounter in seeking to apply the passage. And if there are several legitimate ways to apply a passage (areas in which Christians disagree), the author will bring these to your attention and help you think through the issues involved.

    In seeking to achieve these goals, the contributors to this series attempt to avoid two extremes. They avoid making such specific applications that the commentary might quickly become dated. They also avoid discussing the significance of the passage in such a general way that it fails to engage contemporary life and culture.

    Above all, contributors to this series have made a diligent effort not to sound moralistic or preachy. The NIV Application Commentary Series does not seek to provide ready-made sermon materials but rather tools, ideas, and insights that will help you communicate God’s Word with power. If we help you to achieve that goal, then we have fulfilled the purpose for this series.

    The Editors

    General Editor’s Preface

    THERE IS GOOD REASON why Christian theologians consider theodicy the unsolvable theological issue. The reason is this: It is unsolvable. Yet this does not stop generation after generation of theological scholars from trying to solve it. And the biblical text they most often reference in this Sysiphian task is the book of Job.

    John Walton, author of this NIVAC commentary on Job, breaks the mold of these kinds of Job commentaries. To ask why God blesses, or doesn’t bless, the righteous, or why God punishes, or doesn’t punish, the wicked is to ask the wrong question when trying to understand this classic work. God’s justice is ultimately unfathomable to us. God is just—we know that by faith—but we can’t know how God is just. Thus, the book of Job does not answer that question, Walton avers; rather, it answers another question. Our task in reading Job is to read it as the answer to an unspoken question and then from the answer infer the correct question.

    This approach seems to make superfluous a lot of folk theological wisdom we have learned about Job over the years. We learn a lot about Middle Eastern approaches to theodicy—all futile, of course. We have all gained some solace in knowing that undeserved suffering is not ours alone to bear—others experience it too. But the genius of Walton’s exposition is that once we get the core question right, all of this other wisdom we have learned about Job remains just as meaningful to us, but with a slightly different twist and a more satisfying context—the context set by the right question.

    I know. You probably want to know what the right question is. Patience. Have patience because in addition to Walton’s groundbreaking insights regarding the right question, he tells us all we need to know about this somewhat enigmatic book. Unlike many books of the Bible, we don’t know the author of Job or its date of composition. We do not really know whether it is based on historical events (and a historical person named Job) or whether it is a purely literary construction—a thought experiment, as Walton labels it. We don’t really know why the Hebrew language used in it is so complex. We recognize its genre as wisdom literature, but this is of little help because it is head and shoulders above other Near Eastern wisdom literature of this sort in terms of quality and sophistication. All of this Walton discusses expertly, and the reader comes away feeling informed.

    Please notice that this is the only one of the forty volumes of the NIV Application Commentary published thus far that has a second author on the title page. Part of Professor Walton’s convictions about this book is that even if it is a thought experiment, it cannot be fully understood without relating it to real life—not just the legendary Job, but someone we know, here and now, in the twenty-first century. Enter Kelly Lemon Vizcaino. Kelly’s relating of the lessons of Job to her own personal experiences of suffering appear throughout the book. She has added an element of reality that is necessary for a work like this. Suffering is not, in the end, a philosophical, or even a theological problem, but a human problem. We all suffer, some more than others, but the quantity really doesn’t matter. What matters is what suffering teaches us about God. But there I am getting dangerously close to telling you what the real question is, the one that Job answers.

    So what’s the right question that the book of Job answers? What is the right question we should be asking? Read the book—first the book of Job, and then this commentary.

    Author’s Preface

    I HAVE HAD THE great privilege of having three marvelous teaching assistants while I was writing this commentary, all of whom were expert editors. I am grateful for their contribution in ensuring that I actually communicated the ideas that I wanted to get across. Ashley Edewaard and Kathryn Cobb both spent countless hours rewriting my sentences to make them effective and clear. Aubrey Buster did the same, but additionally read the manuscript numerous times providing critique of the ideas that I was trying to convey. Her input is reflected throughout the manuscript in more ways than I can recount. Many times, she was able to provide whole sentences that improved greatly on what I was trying to say. It was not uncommon that her wording corrected overstatements or logical non sequiturs. I am grateful and indebted to each for their conscientious work that served me well and will therefore serve the reader.

    I would also like to thank Matthew Patton for preparing the indices.

    Finally, I am very grateful that Kelly Lemon Vizcaino was willing to share her story, her life, and her struggles. As difficult as it was for her, she has added an element of reality that is necessary for a work such as this. Her courage is an inspiration to me, and I hope also to each reader.

    Abbreviations

    AB Anchor Bible

    ABY Anchor Bible: Yale University Press

    AfO Archiv für Orientforschung

    ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Ed. J. B. Pritchard

    AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament

    As. Mos. Assumption of Moses

    BBR Bulletin of Biblical Research

    BETS Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society

    Bib Biblica

    BibInt Biblical Interpretation

    BJS Brown Judaic Studies

    BM Before the Muses, 3rd ed. Ed Benjamin Foster

    BSac Bibliotheca sacra

    BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

    CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

    CANE Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Ed. J. Sasson

    CAT Commentaire de l’Ancien Testament

    CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series

    ConBOT Coniectanea biblica: Old Testament Series

    CTA Corpus des tablettes en cunéiformes alphabétiques découvertes à Ras Shamra-Ugarit de 1929 à 1939. Ed. A. Herdner.

    COS Context of Scripture. Ed. W. W. Hallo

    DCH Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. Ed. D. J. A. Clines

    DDD² Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Ed. K. van der Toorn et al. 2nd ed.

    EBC Expositors Bible Commentary

    GKC Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. Ed. E. Kautzsch. Trans. A. E. Cowley.

    HALOT Koehler, L., W. Baumgartner, and J. J. Stamm, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Trans. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson

    HMS Harvard Semitic Monographs

    HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual

    IBHS Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Ed. Bruce K. Waltke and M. O’Connor

    JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

    JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies

    JPS Jewish Publication Society

    JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

    JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement series

    Jub. Jubilees

    KJV King James Version

    KTU Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit. 2nd ed. Ed. M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, and J. Sanmartín.

    LXX Septuagint

    NASB New American Standard Bible

    NIBC New International Biblical Commentary

    NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament

    NIDOTTE New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. Ed. W. VanGemeren

    NIV New International Version

    NJPS Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text

    NRSV New Revised Standard Version

    NSBT Studies in Biblical Theology

    OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis

    OTL Old Testament Library

    PT Pyramid Texts

    PSCF Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

    RIMA The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Assyrian Periods

    RP Retribution Principle

    RSV Revised Standard Version

    SAA State Archives of Assyria

    SBLMS Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series

    SBLWAW Society of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World

    TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heiz-Josef Fabry

    TJ Trinity Journal

    TOTC Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries

    TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

    WBC Word Biblical Commentary

    WTJ Westminster Theological Journal

    ZIBBCOT Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Ed. J. H. Walton

    Introduction

    ¹

    Purpose of the Book

    IT WAS A DARK and stormy night…. So begins the novel perpetually being attempted by Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip. The humor is in the cliché. The cliché has its roots, I imagine, in the fact that novels want to draw the reader in by posing an intriguing scenario filled with danger and mystery. But when our lives are reading like that novel, the idle curiosity of a casual reader is replaced with the sorrow or abject fear of a person in crisis. No one is immune to dark and stormy nights, and reading about Job’s is designed to help us know how to think about our own.

    The title character of the book of Job is caught in the ultimate dark and stormy night of a life gone tragically wrong. We should not mistakenly think that this book is just about Job, however; it is about all of us. Though the book does engage in extremes, it is not trying to minimize anyone else’s suffering in comparison, for suffering cannot be measured objectively. Regardless of where anyone’s experiences fit on the spectrum of pain and suffering, we are all prone to ask the same questions. These questions direct us to the central subject of the book, God himself, for he is the one to whom we direct our confused questions and perplexed musings. Archibald MacLeish, in his Pulitzer Prize winning play J.B., frames it this way:

    Millions and millions of mankind

    Burned, crushed, broken, mutilated,

    Slaughtered, and for what? For thinking!

    For walking round the world in the wrong

    Skin, the wrong-shaped noses, eyelids:

    Sleeping the wrong night wrong city—

    London, Dresden, Hiroshima.

    There never could have been so many

    Suffered more for less. But where do

    I come in?²

    MacLeish had the same questions that we all direct heavenward, but as an existentialist, he had no answers. Like Job and like MacLeish, we are long on questions but short on answers. Does the book of Job offer any satisfaction? Many have thought not—that like MacLeish, the book simply restates the perennial and ubiquitous questions that plague humankind in a world full of pain and suffering.

    I disagree. Perhaps we have not recognized the answers the book offers because we have asked the wrong questions—or, more accurately, the less important questions. When in Acts 3 the crippled beggar asks for money, Peter instead gives him healing. The beggar had not thought to ask for that. Sometimes what we ask for is too limited to do us any real good. We must learn to ask better questions so that we might find the more significant answers. To this end, the book of Job repeatedly shows us that what we thought were the most poignant questions are not significant enough, and it dismisses them. At long last it leads us to the most momentous questions by introducing a whole series of answers, answers that at first seem oblique. In fact, many have been willing to dismiss the answers as a mere smokescreen and turn away from the book disillusioned and disappointed. But if we allow the answers to prompt us to the right questions, we will discover the wealth that the book has to offer.

    The book is not about Job, his friends, or the Challenger.³ I have suggested it is about all of us, and ultimately about God.⁴ Our questions about suffering inevitably lead to God, for when we go through difficult times in life, there is no one else to question—he is the one whose ways we seek to understand. When we ask Why me? we are in effect asking How does God work? We may start out asking why we deserved this, but ultimately the question we arrived at is, What kind of God are you? In all our difficult experiences, eventually we arrive at the place where it is no longer us, but God who is on trial.

    As we examine the book in detail, it becomes clear that Job is not on trial. In fact, he is declared innocent from beginning to end by all parties. When the Challenger suggests that Job’s motives may be self-interested, he has no evidence, only suspicions—possible explanations for Job’s pristine conduct. Job is thereby tacitly exonerated because there is no concrete evidence against him. When Job’s friends go hunting for offenses, they likewise have no hard evidence to offer and can only suggest possible misdemeanors. Though Job and his friends may believe he is on trial, the prologue shows that this is a misunderstanding. Rather, it is God’s policies that have been called into question, and he therefore takes the role of defendant.⁵ Job becomes deeply enmeshed in this trial and is central to it, but he is not on trial.

    This concept will be explored in greater depth in the commentary, but a summary here is apropos. The Challenger’s question, Does Job fear God for nothing? (1:9) centers on Job’s motivation for serving God and suggests that God’s treatment of the righteous is the incentive for righteous conduct. The policy under scrutiny is known today as the Retribution Principle (RP): the righteous prosper and the wicked suffer. If this is a truism, then the motives of righteous-acting people may be corrupted by the lure of prosperity, because if such material gain is the inevitable result of righteousness, true righteousness becomes illusionary and elusive. The Challenger’s claim is therefore that God’s policy of rewarding the righteous actually undermines, if not subverts, the very righteousness that he seeks to foster.⁶ In warfare, there is no true faithfulness in mercenaries. The RP has the potential of turning would-be righteous people into benefit mercenaries as it trains them to ask, What’s in it for me? We might see the issue more clearly if we compare the criticism that some politicians have of entitlement programs: They claim that welfare, food stamps, and the like are bad policy because they make people lazy and dependent.

    My son is an artist, and I noticed when he was grade school, still drawing dogs or dinosaurs, he used to either draw them upside down or draw the feet before he drew the rest of the figure. When I asked why, he replied that everything could be put in better proportion if he approached the drawing in this way. We find this same principle at work as we reflect on the literary artistry of the book of Job. The Challenger puts God’s policies to the test by suggesting that it is counterproductive for God to bless righteous people, for it makes them less righteous (in motive, if not in action). Such an accusation gives the book an interesting twist, for while we might be inclined (along with Job and his friends) to spend time thinking about why righteous people suffer, the Challenger turns the question upside down and asks why they should prosper. It is drawing the picture upside down to put everything in better perspective. In this way the book gives us the answers we need rather than the answers we thought we wanted.

    After God accepts the proposal of the Challenger, Job’s suffering begins, which provides the other side of the dilemma. Even as the Challenger suggests it is bad policy for righteousness to result in prosperity (ethically counterproductive), Job presses his point that it is bad policy for God’s most faithful people to suffer (theologically counterintuitive).⁷ Caught on the horns of this dilemma, what is a God to do? This is what the book is going to sort out. Because the book is about God, the teaching that it offers is valuable to all of us. It does not tell us why Job or any of us suffer, but it does tell us a bit about how we should think about God when we are suffering. This is what we really needed to know anyway.

    In summary, then, the purpose of this book is to explore God’s policies with regard to suffering in the world, especially by the righteous or the innocent. In the process it seeks to revolutionize our thinking about God and the way that he runs the world. Most importantly, the book shifts our attention from the idea that God’s justice (represented in the RP) is foundational to the operation of the world to the alternative that God’s wisdom is the more appropriate foundation.⁸ It does not offer a reason for suffering and does not try to defend God’s justice. It does not answer the why question that we are so prone to ask when things go wrong. Instead, we are to trust God’s wisdom and, in the process, to conclude by faith that he is also just.

    In truth, we will never be in a position to evaluate God’s justice. In order to appraise the justice of a decision, we must have all the facts, for justice can be derailed if we do not have all the information. Because we never have all the information about our lives, we cannot judge God when he brings experiences to us or make claims and demands. We cannot reach an affirmation about God’s justice through our own limited insight or experiences. We affirm his justice by faith directed toward his wisdom. As we will see, God’s speech at the end does not offer a defense of his justice, but of his wisdom and power.

    The book, therefore, wants to transform how we think about God’s work in the world and about our responses in times of suffering. Most people look at the book, thinking that it deals with the question of why righteous people suffer. Instead, the book sets out the question as, Is there such a thing as disinterested righteousness?⁹ In this sense the book is about the nature of righteousness, not the nature of suffering. As the book unfolds, we are going to discover that Job’s motives are indeed pure (he values righteousness over benefits), but his concept of God and his understanding of God’s policies are going to need modification.

    Author and Date

    THE SHORT ANSWER IS that while we do not know the author or the date, this lack of information does not affect our interpretation of the book. Literary works in the ancient world were largely anonymous, and it was not unusual for them to go through development as they were transmitted from generation to generation. Scholars have traditionally placed the events of this book in the patriarchal period, citing the absence of any reference to covenant or law. Two facts join to support the conclusion that the book is set before the time of Moses: Job’s service as the family priest and the lack of reference to a sanctuary. Against such an inference, we need only note that Job is not an Israelite (he is from the land of Uz, 1:1). We would therefore not expect any reference to covenant or law, priest, or temple.

    We could explore some of the potential historical references in the book, such as to the Sabeans (1:15) and Chaldeans (1:17), but such studies do not yield consistent results. Many have also focused on the specialized language of the book, such as the arcane term qesitah (42:11), a unit of money found elsewhere only in early literature (Gen. 33:19; Josh. 24:32). But these give little to go on. Scholars do not contest that the book contains arcane features, but there is not sufficient information to date either the setting of the story or the composition of the book with any confidence. Even if we could provide such dates, it would make no difference in the book’s interpretation.

    We should also note that the language of the book has been the subject of much discussion. The book is uncontested for the complexity of its Hebrew. Scholars have attempted to identify it as a dialect or even as a translation, but no such suggestions have been substantiated or widely accepted.¹⁰ All of this is to say that until we have more to go on, we cannot use the language of the book to determine its date.

    Literature and History: The Genre of the Book of Job

    WE MIGHT NEXT REASONABLY ask about the nature of the events. In the end this is a genre question. Is the author presenting the events of the book as actual occurrences? Was there such a man as Job? Did he suffer in these ways? Were there friends who came and discussed his plight with him? Is the book suggesting that there was such a scenario in heaven? Was there a divine appearance from the whirlwind?

    All of these questions get at the same issue: How much of the book is literary artifice and how much is a journalistic reporting of real events?¹¹ Either option could be legitimate genres for canonical texts and could provide the authority for sacred writ. How important is this question and how should it be approached? Often we are guided by the claims we presume that the book makes for itself. We also are inclined to check any of these supposed claims by other authoritative, canonical sources. Along with all of this evidence, we are often also driven by our own presuppositions and traditions.

    We might deduce from the fact that the book gives the names of Job’s daughters at the end of the book (42:14) that the reader is expected to link them to known history, but any such connections are lost to us. Little else in the book suggests that the author is urging us toward a historical reading of the book. References to Job in the Old Testament (Ezek. 14:14, 20) and in the New Testament (James 5:11) have been used to argue that Job is an historical figure, but such reference could just as easily be made to a literary figure. Job’s perseverance and righteousness could be drawn on effectively in either case, so these references prove nothing.

    Before we move on too hastily, however, we might also inquire whether there are literary figures in the ancient world. We know that there are legendary figures, but there is no reason to believe that the legends are not built around historical persons (e.g., Gilgamesh, Adapa, Etana, Kirtu). How then would we establish that a character was simply a literary figure rather than an historical person? Perhaps the better question is whether this distinction really matters, for the argument of the book does not depend on the historicity of the main characters. This is different from the story of, say, Abraham. There the integrity of the text depends on whether there actually was a man named Abraham to whom God made certain promises. If there were no such man, there was no covenant. The situation in Job, however, is not the same.

    Though there may be purely literary characters in the literature of the ancient world, ancient authors were more likely to construct their literature around epic figures of the distant past than to fabricate fiction as we understand it today.¹² This practice is illustrated in the Mesopotamian wisdom work known as Ludlul bel nemeqi, a first-person narration of someone who suffered greatly and did not know why. His name can be deduced from the work, and analysts do not hesitate to consider him a real person.¹³ Weiss builds the case that the introduction of Job’s name indicates syntactically that Job’s character and reputation are familiar to all.¹⁴ For these reasons, we may rightly assume that Job was a historical figure—a man who was righteous and suffered greatly.¹⁵ We lose nothing by accepting Job’s story as historical, and we gain nothing by concluding that he is a fabricated, fictional character.

    Yet questions concerning the nature and genre of the book are far more complex than simply determining whether Job really existed and underwent such suffering. For example, even the most conservative and traditional of recent interpreters grant that the speeches of Job and his friends are literary artifice rather than journalistic transcripts. No stenographer would have been present; furthermore, people do not talk extemporaneously in such elevated prose. If we agree that the speeches are literary artifice, we must then ask which other parts of the book are in the same category; in fact, is every part of the book in the same category? If the speeches are literary constructions, are the friends themselves literary constructions? That is, are they designed to represent certain approaches to the question of suffering?

    These questions are the same as those that surround other philosophical literature from the world of antiquity. For example, Socrates is a character in Plato’s dialogues, in whose mouth Plato places his philosophy. The historical Socrates (and it is debated whether there was such a person) may not have said the things Plato has him say (the same goes for his [historical] interlocutors), may not have gone to trial in the same way, and may not have died the same way that Plato depicts. Ultimately, this makes no difference to Plato’s philosophy; a discovery that there was no historical Socrates would not cast doubt on Platonism.

    In approaching this question, we must keep foremost in our mind that this book is manifestly and unarguably in the genre category of wisdom literature, not historical literature.¹⁶ As wisdom literature it makes no claims about the nature of the events. In that sense the discussion about whether the events are real events is misplaced. A second understanding that is important is that as wisdom literature, this book would fit easily into the classification thought experiment.¹⁷ In such a case the author is using the various parts of the book to pose a philosophical scenario that will be used to address the wisdom themes as we have articulated them above.¹⁸ If the book of Job is a thought experiment, the reader is supposed to draw conclusions about God from the final point, not from every detail along the way. Consequently, for example, the opening scene in heaven is not intended to be used as a source of information about God’s activities and nature. We would not rule out the possibility that such a scenario could happen, but we would be mistaken to think that author seeks to unfold a series of historical events. It is wisdom literature.¹⁹

    The scene in heaven is not trying to explain why Job or any of us suffer. Job is never told about that scene, nor would he have derived any comfort from it. As I have taught Job to students over the years, the question frequently arises, What sort of God is this who uses his faithful ones as pawns in bets with the devil? I would suggest that we need not concern ourselves with this question. The scene in heaven, like the speeches of Job’s friends, is part of the literary design of a thought experiment to generate discussion about how God runs the cosmos; it is not about trying to explain how Job got into such a difficult situation. The message of the book is offered at the end, in the speeches of God, not in the opening scenario, which only sets up the thought experiment.

    As wisdom literature the book of Job seeks to give us appropriate foundations for understanding how the world works and how God works in the world. The book reveals how things work in the world, not how things work in heaven. If we are seeking to satisfy our curiosity about whether the Challenger has such access to heaven or whether there are such conversations concerning particular individuals, we cannot rule it out, but we should not think that the answers are provided here.

    Shape and Structure

    WE MIGHT THINK ABOUT the composition of the book of Job by using an analogy to some issues in the natural sciences. Intelligent Design has introduced the concept of irreducible complexity as one way to criticize Neo-Darwinism’s adequacy as an explanation of origins. Irreducible complexity describes an organism in which all of the parts are essential to its operation such that the parts could not have developed independently or sequentially, for the organism could not survive if it were lacking any of them in their fully developed form.

    A similar claim of irreducible complexity could be made for the book of Job. The book includes dialogues, discourses, narratives, hymns, and laments (to name a few of the major sections), and each one has a significant role to play. If any of them were absent, the book would not accomplish its purpose. Many recent commentators have proposed a history of composition of the book; some suggest, for example, that the Elihu speeches are later additions, or the speeches of Yahweh don’t fit very well.²⁰ Some opine that an original narrative (the frame) was later embellished by the poetic speeches, while others propose that the speeches came first and the narrative frame was added later. Such discussions may have academic value, but in the end they can only result in speculation that has little impact on our reading of the book. Elihu’s speeches cannot be discarded as redundant—they make a significant contribution as they take the argument into new territory. God’s speeches are not superfluous, obtuse, or irrelevant. None of the pieces can be discarded from this carefully and artfully constructed book. The following table offers the structure of the book that I find most persuasive.

    Note that there are three sets of speeches in the dialogue section (chs. 4–27), balanced by three sets of speeches in the discourse section (chs. 29–41). Leading into the dialogue section is Job’s lament (ch. 3), which is balanced by Job’s responses to God (esp. 42:1–6) coming out of the discourse section. Narrative frames the entire work. At the center of all this and most controversial is Job 28, which I have set off as the narrator’s interjection that serves as a pivot for the book and a transition from the dialogues to the discourses.²¹ Many commentators believe that chapter 28 is a speech of Job bridging from his last speech in the dialogue to his first speech in the discourses.²² It is easy to understand how one would draw that conclusion, but a variety of reasons compel us to discard this option. N. Habel identifies the problem succinctly:

    For Job to return (in 28:28) to the traditional fear of the Lord would therefore mean returning to a posture of pious unquestioning submission which the friends had advocated all along and which he had repudiated time and again.²³

    Job’s final speech in Job 27:7–23 shows a pessimistic, fatalistic despair that would be ill-matched to and arguably irreconcilable with chapter 28. Likewise, the speeches in 29–31 show no hint of the convictions expressed in chapter 28.²⁴ In his study of the forms and structure of Job, C. Westermann has concluded that the Wisdom hymn does not conform to any of the speeches by Job or his friends and therefore cannot derive from any one of them.²⁵ Habel summarizes the field as he observes that

    Job 28 is a brilliant but embarrassing poem for many commentators. It has been viewed as an erratic intrusion, an inspired intermezzo, a superfluous prelude, and an orthodox afterthought.²⁶

    In light of all of this, we may make the most sense of the text by viewing Job 28 as an interlude by the narrator.²⁷

    As a final observation, this bracketing out of Job 28 may also find some support in the speech formulas used in the book. Most of the speeches throughout all sections of the book are introduced by wayyaʾan (he replied). The only exceptions are Job 27:1; 29:1; and 36:1, where the text has wayyosep (he continued). The latter verb usually indicates continuing, repeating, or supplementing something that was done/said before. The placement and nature of these three speeches suggests that they should be taken as concluding summary remarks. Job 27 is Job’s final statement regarding his friends’ urgings and accusations. Job 29–31 is a summary of Job’s position in the whole affair in relationship to his claim against God. Job 36–37 is Elihu’s concluding summary statement. Unfortunately, the idea that a speech introduced by wayyosep can serve as a summary conclusion to a series of speeches introduced by wayyaʾan cannot be demonstrated by pointing to other contexts outside of Job. Extended dialogues are not common in the biblical text.²⁸ The structural points I would make are as follows:

    1. We would not expect two wayyosep speeches back-to-back, making it unlikely that chapters 27–28 are one speech and chapters 29–31 are another.

    2. Chapter 28 is so radically distinct from the end of chapter 27 that it would call for some introductory speech formula if it came from the mouth of Job.

    If chapter 28 is put in the mouth of the narrator, it indicates that we have yet to hear true wisdom, even though we have now listened to extensive speeches from those characterized as the wisest in the ancient world. The accusation of the Challenger has been refuted even as the promptings and arguments of the friends have been rejected. Wisdom has yet to be heard, and Job’s own claims have yet to be answered.

    Job in the Ancient Near East

    SEVERAL PIECES OF LITERATURE from the ancient Near East deal with the topic of individuals suffering for no apparent reason.²⁹ From a literary perspective none of these approach the topic with the subtlety and complexity of the book of Job. Though there is certainly no literary dependence in either direction, these pieces of literature are important because they show that this was a common philosophical discussion. They are also significant because they show the differences between the Israelite approach to the issue and that found in the surrounding cultures. Perhaps most importantly, by understanding what the typical ancient Near Eastern solutions were, we can see how the book of Job interacts with them and shows their inadequacy.

    Primary Texts

    DIFFERENT STUDIES INCLUDE A variety of different pieces, but here we will mention only the most similar literature containing discussion surrounding a pious but suffering individual. While dates are not always easy to determine, generally speaking they range throughout the second millennium BC. The table on page 32 presents some analysis and comparison of these pieces.

    Similarities

    AS WE COMPARE THE principal pieces of Mesopotamian literature to Job, we find a number of superficial similarities. All feature an individual who is suffering, is baffled as to why he is suffering, and, in all but one case, is restored in the end. The sufferer in each case ponders his situation by laying his concerns before God or friends as he tries to understand the role of the gods in his plight. In that sense the scenarios are similar. As is often the case, however, when comparing the Bible to ancient Near Eastern exemplars, probing beneath the surface reveals many significant differences.

    Differences

    WHEN WE BEGIN TO penetrate beyond the superficial level of the general scenario, we find that Job differs on some important details as well as in its general philosophy and theology.

    1. The nature of the suffering is different. In the ancient Near Eastern exemplars the major difficulty is health-related. Because of RP thinking, sudden serious illness was generally assumed to result from the gods’ disfavor. Such illness inevitably led to social rejection, for if a god were angry with the sick individual, one would not want to be associated with that person. If a demon were causing the problem, it would likewise be best to keep one’s distance. As the literature indicates, then, serious illness made one a social outcast. In contrast, Job loses his wealth and his family before he loses his health. The Mesopotamian pieces touch on poverty and lost family, but these are not presented as major issues.

    2. The nature of the offenses considered in Job are never ceremonial. In the ancient Near East ritual offense was the most common sort of misdeed that a person could commit; though there were ritual expectations for the people, these were devised by society, not revealed by deity. Deity valued order in society, but moral responsibility was not understood as part of the people’s responsibility toward the gods. Instead, humans were to care for the gods (through ritual), and they would incur the anger of the gods by failing to provide for them. One cannot, then, easily speak of righteousness in the ancient world, only of piety (by which I refer to conscientiousness in ritual activity). There was no orthodoxy (right belief), only orthopraxy (proper performance).

    In the Mesopotamian pieces deity is eventually appeased, whether by prayers, laments, or rituals. This appeasement of the deity is necessary in these scenarios because the deity is presumed to be angry or inexplicably moody. In Job there is no appeasement of Yahweh, for Yahweh is not angry; furthermore, Job specifically rejects the path of appeasement urged by his friends (27:2–6). This refusal is important to the book of Job, for Job’s pursuit of appeasement would demonstrate that the Challenger was right. Appeasement focuses on regaining benefits and tacitly denies the place of righteousness. The Challenger had made that precise claim—that supposedly righteous people weren’t really righteous, but only behaved righteously to gain benefits.

    The Mesopotamians pursued appeasement because they considered themselves to be in a symbiotic relationship with the gods. The gods had created people to serve their needs; in response to such service, the gods protected the faithful people and provided for them (e.g., fertile fields). This was the Great Symbiosis of religious thinking in the ancient world. It was benefit-based: the gods reaped benefits from the labor of humans, and the humans reaped benefits from the favor of the gods. This expectation was not based on the belief that the god was just, only that he or she was sensible. The gods needed what humans provided, and they in return were capable in most circumstances of providing protection. The system did not work this way because the gods were just, but because they were needy. The gods in the ancient world did not care about defending their character; they were concerned to preserve their prerogatives and their executive perquisites. When a god did not receive the cultic rites to which he was entitled, his status was threatened and his wrath and/or abandonment was predictable. Appeasement was a vital part of this system, and if Job had pursued appeasement, he would have showed himself a part of this system.

    3. In the ancient Near Eastern exemplars, the sufferers stood ready to acknowledge offense if they could only be shown what it was. They claimed ignorance while Job claims innocence. This stance would be difficult to maintain in the ancient Near East, for the gods were the ones who decided where sacred spaces were and what rituals needed to be performed. People who lived in Mesopotamia never believed that their information on these issues was comprehensive. Job, in contrast, is confident in his innocence. He clearly uses different standards by which he makes his claims. Job never acknowledges any offense (unlike his Mesopotamian counterparts), and God does not offer forgiveness in the process of restoration.

    4. We can identify a number of Mesopotamian pieces that belong to the declarative praise genre, a genre that likewise appears frequently in the biblical Psalms. This genre is characterized by a lament, a petition, a favorable response by God, and an ending of praise. This is far different from the book of Job, which includes no concluding praise of Yahweh. The Mesopotamian pieces seem designed to feature praise, while Job omits it entirely.

    5. While the themes of justice (God’s) and righteousness (Job’s) are central to the book of Job, neither is present in the ancient Near Eastern exemplars. In the ancient world the gods were interested in justice being maintained in the human realm. Shamash, for example, was the god of justice, and kings were accountable to him to maintain justice in society. The gods desired an equitable society because a stable and prosperous community most effectively provided for their needs. It is more difficult to establish that the gods themselves were just or unjust. The gods did what they wished. They were not consistent or predictable. They were neither moral nor immoral.

    Notice that the Mesopotamian pieces do not try to defend the justice of God (in the end, neither does the book of Job), nor do they question whether deity is just. The primary concern is the preservation of the parameters and rules of the Great Symbiosis, not of justice. These pieces are all about the relationship between piety and prosperity. The contrasts in Job show it to be a work thoroughly immersed in the Israelite theological system (see below).

    6. Just as the gods were not necessarily just in the ancient world, neither were they necessarily responsible for evil or suffering. These elements were built into the fabric of the cosmos, but not by the gods or any other beings. Furthermore, demons or humans could be responsible for suffering or evil without necessarily involving the gods. In Israelite thinking God could not so easily be removed from the equation, though certainly humans could do evil.

    7. The piety/prosperity matrix of the Great Symbiosis serves as the foundation of the Challenger’s accusation against Job. If Job’s response indicates that he is bound to this matrix, the Challenger has won his case. In other words, if Job is no different from all of the sufferers in the Mesopotamian literature, the Challenger has made his point. In this sense, while all of the Mesopotamian pieces end by affirming the traditional dogmas, in Job those very same traditional dogmas are voiced by the friends and persistently rejected by Job.

    8. Job focuses on his own righteousness, not on the piety/prosperity matrix. While his Mesopotamian counterparts are not declared innocent at any point throughout the literature, Job is declared so from beginning to end. Unlike his Mesopotamian counterparts, Job never considers the option that he deserves what he is experiencing.

    9. In the ancient Near East when one offended deity by some sort of ritual neglect or misstep, the deity might react by simply turning his back, leaving one vulnerable to demonic attack. In this way the deity was not the one actively bringing harm. These demons were not seen as doing the will of the deity; they were simply acting in character by attacking a vulnerable subject. The Challenger in Job, however, is not an independent agent opportunistically fulfilling its nature. Whatever he does, he does through the power of God; all the events of the book are understood as God’s actions. Demons in

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