JOB
It is our first, oldest statement of the never-ending Problem—man’s destiny, and God’s way with him here in this earth ... . Sublime sorrow, sublime reconciliation; oldest choral melody as of the heart of mankind—so soft, and great; as the summer midnight, as the world with its seas and stars! There is nothing written I think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit.”
—Thomas Carly
My academic background is in history, political science and organizational management, as such I tend to prefer my to be chronological and analytical, thus I find the poetic and wisdom literature difficult. One of members indicated “How many times and how many ways can you say the same thing”. While this is seemingly true of Job, it is even more true of the Psalms and Proverbs. But hang in there, dig deeper and we may all be surprised by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
“The book of Job stands alone amongst the books of the Old Testament…in form and theme it is unique. No one knows who wrote it, or just when it was written, but the story is set in the days of the patriarchs. ….He belongs to the days before the priesthood and organized religion or to regon where these things were not needed.”
-Erdmans’ Handbook to the Bible, 1973
The ultimate question posed by this book of Job is “If God is just and good, why does he let innocent people suffer? It should be noted at this early time the people have no assurance of a future life. For them death is the end.
This book is described as “magnificent poetry” in Erdmans. It should be noted that The reference “poetical books” denotes form rather than imaginative or capricious content. Neither does the term poetical mean that it is rhythmic. Hebrew poetry is achieved by repeating an idea or “parallelism.
Below is Job 1:1 as it is rendered in five Bible translations. It is certainly interesting that in four of the five translations Job is described as a “blameless” man. The New Jerusalem Bible describes him as a “sound and honest man”. Remember that “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 (NIV)). In God’s view Job was blameless not sinless. It is also worth noting that Job and his friends were not aware of the discussion in heaven between God and Satan.
There was once a man in the land of Uz called Job: a sound and honest man who feared God and shunned evil.
Job 1:1 The New Jerusalem Bible
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
Job 1:1 (NIV)
1 THERE WAS a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who [reverently] feared God and abstained from and shunned evil [because it was wrong].
Job 1:1 (AMP)
1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
Job 1:1 (NRSV)
1 There was a man in the aland of Uz whose name was bJob; and that man was cblameless, upright, dfearing God and eturning away from evil.
Job 1:1 (NASB)
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MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Job 1:1
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary: Poetry (Job). electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1991 (Thru the Bible Commentary 16), vii
The New Jerusalem Bible. New York : Doubleday, 1985, S. Job 1:1
The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, S. Job 1:1
a Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21
b Ezek 14:14, 20; James 5:11
c Gen 6:9; 17:1; Deut 18:13
d Gen 22:12; 42:18; Ex 18:21; Prov 8:13
e Job 28:28
New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, S. Job 1:1
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