SETTING

The book of Job unfolds early in the patriarchal age, before Israel became a nation. Job’s wealth, like Abraham’s, was in livestock and slaves (Job 1:3; 42:12; see Gen 12:16; 32:5). He was his family’s priest, as was a common practice before the law of Moses (Job 1:5; 42:8; see Gen 4:4; 8:20; 12:7-8; 13:18; 15:9-10; 26:25; 33:20; 35:1-6; 46:1). During Job’s time, the Sabeans and Chaldeans were nomadic raiders (Job 1:15, 17), not important political and economic powers as in the late monarchical period (cp. Isa 45:14; Joel 3:8). The money was called the kesitah, which was used during the patriarchal age (Job 42:11; see Gen 33:19; Josh 24:32). Only those who lived before the flood (Gen 1–6) and the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) matched or exceeded Job’s longevity (Job 42:16; see Gen 5:3-32; 25:7; 35:28; 47:28; 50:26). With Job, we return to the beginning of history, when mortals first struggled to know God and understand the world.

SUMMARY

The prose introduction to the book of Job (chs 1–2) provides the heavenly perspective on Job’s suffering and sets the context for the human dialogue that forms the body of the work. Job was a righteous man whom God allowed Satan to test. In the heavenly courtroom, Satan argued that if God removed his blessings from Job, he would “surely curse you to your face” (Job 1:11). Instead, Job responded, “Praise the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21). “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job 2:10). Satan lost his challenge to Job’s righteousness.

The story leaves the court of heaven and enters the council of humans as three of Job’s friends come to sympathize with him. Their silent, seven-day vigil is apparently a genuine attempt to console Job (Job 2:11-13). However, when Job breaks his silence with a bitter complaint (ch 3), his counselors begin to criticize and condemn him. In three rounds of debate (chs 4–27), their rhetoric varies from innuendo to blatant accusation. Job’s friends argue that since God is righteous, he rewards each person according to what that person has done; therefore, Job’s suffering must be the just punishment for some evil he has committed. To each of their speeches, Job responds by insisting that he is innocent and that his suffering is undeserved and unfair.

After the three rounds of dialogue between Job and his friends, a poetic interlude praises God as the sole source of wisdom (ch 28). When Job has made his final statement about his misery and his righteousness (chs 29–31), his three friends give up on him, saying that he is too self-righteous (Job 32:1). Elihu (a new voice) then renews the human struggle to explain Job’s suffering (chs 32–37). Finally, God arrives to challenge Job (chs 38–41). Instead of hearing Job’s case, God demands answers and demonstrates his own power and sovereignty through the questions he poses. Job responds with repentance and acknowledges that he does not have the right to question God (Job 42:1-6).

In the final prose section (Job 42:7-17), God reaffirms Job’s righteousness and faithfulness, pronounces judgment on Job’s friends, and pours out final blessings on Job.

JOB AS HISTORY

The heavenly setting of the book’s opening and closing tempts the modern reader to cast the book of Job as something like a parable. The poetic dialogues also suggest that it is something more than just a dry historical record. But history can be described in flights of poetry just as well as in plodding narrative (cp. Exod 14:21-31; 15:1-12; Pss 78, 105). The biblical record clearly suggests that the account of Job is historical (see “Setting,” above). Ezekiel and James later referred to Job as an example of righteousness and endurance (Ezek 14:14, 20; Jas 5:11).

AUTHOR AND DATE OF COMPOSITION

The authorship and composition of Job is a riddle. Although the story has a patriarchal setting (around 2000 BC), the date of its composition appears to be much later. Commentators have suggested dates that range from the era of Israel’s wilderness wanderings (Exodus—Numbers) to the era following the return from exile (Ezra—Nehemiah). The final composition of Job probably took place during the monarchy (1–2 Kings), when other wisdom materials such as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes were being accumulated.

Even if we accept that Job was a historical character, we still do not know who the author was, where he lived, or what level of society he came from. The author appears to have been a sage who was skilled in the use of proverbs (e.g., Job 4:2; 6:5-6), rhetorical questions (e.g., Job 21:29), and the art of eloquence. He also knew about plant and animal life, foreign culture, and antiquity, including the patriarchal period.

The book cannot be dated with certainty by reference to (1) events or people mentioned or implied in the book (the earliest reference to Job is during the Exile, in Ezek 14:14, 20); (2) theological ideas in the book that point to distinct dates; or (3) textual relationship to other material in the OT (e.g., cp. Job 3:3-10; Jer 20:14-18). Job may even have been edited over a period of time by a number of different people.

LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS

• The Canaanite “Legend of King Keret” tells of a king who loses his family in a series of natural disasters; his god El restores his family.¹

• The Egyptian document “Dispute over Suicide” (2000s BC) tells of a man who considers suicide and hopes that someone will take up his case with the heavenly council. Job wishes he had never been born, but he never considers suicide.²

• Also from Egypt, the story “Protests of the Eloquent Peasant” (2200s BC) tells of a robbery victim who is not treated justly. At first he is polite, but as he keeps returning to present his case, his language becomes increasingly strident. His appeal is not to his god but to local authorities.³

• From Babylonia, the story “I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom” tells of a high-ranking, pious man who was struck down with illness and suffered the mockery of friends. Unlike Job, this man believed that he had committed some accidental sin, perhaps something that he never thought was wrong. Rather than maintain his innocence, he acknowledges his guilt and begs for mercy. His god restores his fortunes after a series of exorcisms that bring healing. In gratitude, he concludes with a long hymn of praise to his god, Marduk.⁴

• Also from Babylonia, the “Babylonian Theodicy” follows the same dialogue form that the book of Job uses: The sufferer complains, and his friends respond with rebukes. The arguments on both sides are remarkably similar to those in Job.⁵ Yet we also see key differences: (1) The “Babylonian Theodicy” is polytheistic, whereas Job is monotheistic; (2) its sufferer threatens to abandon his faith and give up obedience, even if he does end with a petition to his god and goddess. Job remains committed to the Lord throughout (e.g., Job 13:15-16).

Relationship to Israel’s Wisdom Literature. The book of Job has the flavor of other OT wisdom literature. Job’s friends follow lines of thought spelled out in Deuteronomy, Chronicles, and Proverbs. They argue that wisdom and righteousness lead to life and prosperity, while folly and wickedness lead to death and failure. Job joins the author of Ecclesiastes in questioning the simplistic, universal application of this doctrine. In effect, Job says, “Let’s be realistic. Sometimes no one can explain suffering, so give me the benefit of the doubt and show me some sympathy.”

MEANING AND MESSAGE

The central conflict of the book is between the integrity of the Creator and the integrity of a man. Heaven and earth appear to be at odds. It is too easy simply to line up with Job’s three friends in denying Job’s innocence. We can appeal to various NT passages that deny that any human is righteous (e.g., Rom 3:10, 23; Luke 18:19), but Job’s righteousness is genuine and thorough. However, his obsession with his own rectitude sometimes borders on self-righteousness. He grows so adamant in defending his integrity that he seems ready to defy God. Job’s three friends set out a view of God that is more orthodox, at least on the surface. These counselors are more than weak, imaginary straw men; they accurately develop most of the biblical ways of explaining suffering. Their theology is excellent, but their presumptuous applications go sour. They insist on a quid pro quo view of retribution, in which all the good and evil that people experience is directly related to what they have earned or deserved.

The book works within the basic commitments of OT Israel’s faith. Job and all of the other speakers take seriously the covenantal ideas of blessing and cursing (Lev 26; Deut 28) and of sowing and reaping in this life (Ps 34:11-22; Gal 6:7; 1 Pet 3:10). They don’t even consider solutions from outside the scope of biblical revelation (e.g., metaphysical dualism, polytheistic tensions, materialistic naturalism, deism, gnosticism, or stoicism). Instead, the book’s speakers explore only biblical answers for the meaning of suffering as (1) punishment for sin (e.g., Job 4:7-9); (2) the inevitable lot of mortals, who tend toward sin (e.g., Job 15:14-16); (3) God’s disciplinary work (e.g., Job 5:17-18; 33:15-28; 36:8-15; see Prov 3:11; Heb 12:2-13); (4) part of God’s mysterious plan (Job 11:7-8; 37:19, 23); or (5) a test imposed on earth to satisfy a heavenly dispute (e.g., Job 1:6-12).

Since life “under the sun” (see Ecclesiastes) is an arena too small to provide answers to all the great questions, the writer looks to the courts of heaven for a divine dimension to what takes place on earth. But the answer is not disclosed even there. Why did God entertain Satan’s challenge in the first place?

In the end, God defends Job’s innocence and rejects easy explanations of suffering. God also rejects Job’s demands for an explanation. Since Job could not possibly understand the whole universe, he should not demand an explanation of how his suffering fits into that order. The world cannot be explained in terms that humans can fully understand.

The book of Job thus offers a complex picture of God. Rather than deciding that he does not have to prove anything to Satan, “God chooses to get an open victory over Satan for his own glory.”⁶ God does not even explain his role to Job. Instead, God challenges Job’s right to question the integrity of divine justice (Job 40:8).

The way to live through calamities is not just to keep a stiff upper lip but to bow reverently before God and trust his sovereign goodness. In the day of calamity, humans properly respond to God by worshiping him and blessing him for the wisdom and justice of his ways, regardless of how harsh the pain or dark the confusion. God’s holy purposes for human suffering are sometimes hidden. Yet in the end, Job draws closer to God through his suffering: “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes” (Job 42:5).