This reference in james is the only time job is mentioned by name in the n. Owing to the importance of the book of job, the talmudists occupied themselves frequently with its chief character. In this series of blogs i shall revisit the book of job, the personality and some of its meaning for contemporary society. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date.
Here are three suggested times job might have lived by. Along with several other books psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of songs, wisdom, and sirach, the book of job is meant to be an instructional book which addresses the being of god and human suffering. One of the amoraim expressed his opinion in the presence of samuel b. The book of job is among the other old testament books both a philosophical riddle and a historical riddle. Some authors sefer hamefoar, parshat behaalotecha interpret this not as an embrace of the metaphoric caricature of job, but to mean that g. What i enjoyed most about this book was reading the history of interpretation of the book of job. I personally liked to look at the book of job and validate feeling sorry for myself and sitting down on the ashes without doing anything but suffering dwelling there, aching, looking at my wounds, feeling pain and waiting for it to magically pass or, even worse, until the end of my days. In thirty two cases, the phrase appears in intermediate plural form sons of men. Instead, i sampled his work focusing on one chapter of the book of job, chapter 38, on which i was doing a special study. This is the most common hebrew construction for the singular, appearing 93 times in the book of ezekiel alone and 14 times elsewhere.
The book, in edward greensteins characterization, is a wunderkind, a genius emerging out of the confluence of two literary streams which dazzles like shakespeare with unrivaled vocabulary and a penchant for linguistic innovation. The speakers, in this mostdebated chapter, are the stunned kings of nations who will bear. Job is not on the amazing bible timeline with world history. The book of ezekiel itself is somewhat problematic since it talks about events that occurred in the midsixth century b. The scholarship on medieval jewish thought has focused largely on the systematic philosophical. The use of this preexisting material very cleverly placed the problem outside of palestine, thereby excluding the possible objection of orthodox theology that such a casea perfectly righteous man persecuted by yhwh could not occur in israel.
The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that joba particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. In the book of job in the old testament he is a righteous man who is tested by god, enduring many tragedies and hardships while struggling to remain faithful. Jewish theological seminary the appearance of leong seows marvelous, eclectic commentary on the book of job is an occasion for celebration. Therefore, when both ancient and modern rabbinic commentators expound on the clear meaning of the text, they ascribe the suffering servant in isaiah 53 to the nation of israel. Communicating the book of job in the twentyfirst century.
The book of job is the first document in history to take seriously the question of why really bad things happen to really good people. I am a faithful reader of your column and am curious how the jewish faith interprets this story. Ezekiel mentions job, which means that the book of ezekiel must have been written, or at least edited, after the job story had reached mainstream jewish writers. This is a remarkable book, not only because it is thorough, clearly written, and focused, but because it speaks to the heart of what jews and christians need to understand about each others tradition namely, how each tradition intepreted and applied their common roots in different ways. The book of job is included among the wisdom writings precisely because it teaches man that pain and suffering are a mystery of divine wisdom. He suggests that the term elohim is not original on our part as jews, and. The book of job is one of the socalled wisdom books of the bible. Although major new testament figuresjesus and paul, peter and james, jesus mother mary and mary magdalenewere jews, living in a culture steeped in jewish history, beliefs, and practices, there has never been an edition of the new testament that addresses its jewish background and the culture from which it grewuntil now. The book of job a widely misunderstood book jeffrey radon.
The book of job is a book in the ketuvim writings section of the hebrew bible tanakh, and the first poetic book in. Job is a book that ranks as one of the most difficult books in thetanach bible, for two reasons. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job we have observed in the argument, that the firstborn son of nahor, abrahams brother, was called uz. Where did the biblical story of creation come from. Even its title, the complete jewish bible, challenges both jews and christians to see that the whole bible is jewish, the brit hadashah. Hebrew ot transliteration holy name kjv iyov job 1.
And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. It then explores the complexities and tensions within the biblical book of job. Loingirding and other male activities in the book of job. An explanation of the biblical book of job jewish books. Consider job and all of his problems that he faced. The book of job is not only the finest expression of the hebrew poetic genius. The collectors of the revised common lectionary have a neat solution for the wouldbe preacher of the book of job. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a. Pdf the jewish annotated new testament download read. The book of job has been widely given the theme of patience and we see this mentioned in the new testament book of james. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings.
An explanation of the biblical book of job the book job is composed of three parts. The book of job is the greatest jewish work of art and one of the masterpieces of world literature. This is, according to rabbinic interpretation, the pshat, or the plain meaning of the text in isaiah 52. The book of job explores the morality of divine justice through the experience of human suffering, primarily the suffering of job himself.
The work is grouped with proverbs and ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement, even though it contains what might be called an antiwisdom strain in that the hero protests. Jan 19, 2016 assuming that job was a historical figure, he most likely would have been an israelite, though its unclear in the book of job where the land of uz where job is from is in relation to israel or judah. The book of job has often been called the greatest poem ever written. Its theme is nothing less than human suffering and the transcendence of it. The use of this preexisting material very cleverly placed the problem outside of palestine, thereby excluding the possible objection of orthodox theology that such a casea perfectly righteous man persecuted by yhwh. Job s final speech in his own defense is probably where the book originally ended. The commentary includes the hebrew text plus an english translation of the entire book of job. Fields the song of songs provides an excellent background for discuss ing various hermeneutical approaches to the old testament. God praises job before satan, and satan is unimpressed, claiming that he is only righteous because his life is so comfortable. The name job is mentioned only 54 times and mostly just in the. According to the sacred writer, the truly wise man should realize that the fear of the lord, that is wisdom. Introduction to the book of job society of gilbert keith. Now there was a day when the sons of god came to present themselves before the lord this is generally understood of the angels, as in job 38.
Its origin, growth and interpretation by morris jastrow jr j. In fact, some scholars believe that job requires and understanding of the book as a whole more than any other book of the old testament. Dec 02, 2008 if the book of job is a portion of the word of god, as i believe it is, it deserves to be read with all the more care and diligence. In fact, one of the most dramatic and powerful expressions of mans struggle with god and his conscience involves job and satan. Many scholars are convinced that the prologue and epilogue are later additions to the original, the body of the tale. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. The author of the book of job incorporated the folk book into his work in a manner still showing traces of the component parts. The reception of job in visual art by brennan breed job, the beleaguered man of impeccable moral character in the book that bears his name, is most often depicted by artists as halfnaked atop a garbage heap, covered with sores, surrounded by three friends and his wife. Given the numerous difficulties that have longed plagued the interpretation of the book of job, as well as the additional contemporary factors that have arisen, how can scholars, teachers, and preachers effectively communicate this biblical text in the twentyfirst century. Assuming that job was a historical figure, he most likely would have been an israelite, though its unclear in the book of job where the land of uz where job is from is in relation to israel or judah.
God had given satan permission to afflict job with all manner of hardships and misfortune. Holocaust jewish interpretations of job oxford handbooks. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. We find this notion throughout the book of job, where god gives permission to the satan to challenge the righteous job. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author, but the principal character. In ancient judaism there were basically three approaches to the interpretation of the bible, associated with different groups of teachers. Job has ten children, three thousand camels, seven thousand sheep. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it among the literary masterpieces of all time. It is the philosophical riddle that concerns us in such an introduction as this. He lost his animals, wealth, children basically everything except one thing his wife. The complex and delicate nature of the subject matter. Its incredibly complex and obscure hebrew allowing for multiple translations and meanings. Early and medieval jewish interpretation of the song of songs. A number of email responses concerning the book of job.
The book of job, in the old testament, opens with words both majestic and onceuponatimeish. The book s theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. Origen was influenced by the jewish interpretation and by his elder contemporary hippolytus, but he was also a product of several philosophical forces at work in his day, namely, asceticism and gnostic tendencies that viewed the material world as evil. What the book of job is about job is a book not so much about gods justice as about the transformation of a man whose piety and view of the world were formed in a setting of wealth and happiness, and into whose life burst calamities that put an end to both.
Sep 07, 2010 the book of job is a highly controversial book of mostly confusing information. Why is there a book of job, and what does it do to you if you read it. Job, possibly the strangest book in the bible, is based on legends going back thousands of years, and is written in a very unusual form of hebrew. It is truly amazing to see how various writers, theologians, scholars, artists, and poets spanning both centuries and continents dealt with some of the very serious issues that the book of job brings to our awareness. The skeptical character of the symposium, with its challenge to timehonored views, most likely would have kept the book of job out of the canon of old testament writings had some additions not been made to the original book. I would like to present six general strategies as guides to follow. A book of tanach relating jobs suffering and his reaction thereto. Rabbi breitowitz responds to these fundamental issues based on the book of job.
It is the first critical commentary to give proper weight to reception history along with the philological and literary analysis necessary to support judicious interpretation. The date of composition of the book of job in the context. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. Lippincott, 1920 ps primary source a primary source is a work that is being studied, or that provides firsthand or direct evidence on a topic. For those who may wish to study the book of job, a critical and exegetical commentary on the book of job by samuel rolles driver, d. Meaning, origin and history of the name job behind the name. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. The complete jewish bible is the only english version of the bible fully jewish in style and presentation that includes both the tanakh old testament and the brit hadashah new covenant, new testament. Holbert, preaching job, preaching classic texts st.
Book of job sacred workcriticism and interpretation. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. Medieval biblical interpretation jewish biblical studies. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. Medieval jewish biblical interpretation is continuous with earlier rabbinic interpretation in that, like their predecessors, medieval interpreters presented their exegesis as one among many possible legitimate meanings of the biblical text, within shifting religiously delimited bounds. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. List of books and articles about book of job online. The book of job, in my view, is widely misunderstood it is the classic. God then gives permission to satan to put job to the test. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite.
The book of job explores the morality of divine justice through the experience of human suffering, primarily the suffering of job. Job is not on the timeline because biblical scholars cannot agree on when he might have lived, and the bible does not give enough direct clues to place him accurately. According to the passage, the behemoth is an oxlike creature that feeds on grass. D espite strong objections from conservative christian apologists, the prevailing rabbinic interpretation of isaiah 53 ascribes the servant to the nation of israel who silently endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of its gentile oppressors. To understand the full impact of the book of job the book must be read and understood as a whole. This is the message of the book of job that we must communicate effectively in the twentyfirst century. It considers a range of postholocaust jewish interpretations of job and the relevance this biblical figure and text might have to the realities of the holocaust and living in a postholocaust world. I recently began studying the book of job and several things strike me as strange right from the start. A quite different interpretation has been proposed by matitiahu tsevat in his essay, the meaning of the book of job.
Tsevat suggests that the content of gods speech is intended to convey a picture of the universe deliberately at variance with that held previously by job and the friends. Moreover, tradition put him in the patriarchal period and made the book one of the. This grows out of the large number of different interpretations attached through the ages to this enigmatic book. The book of job in postholocaust, jewish theological reflection essay. In addition to a series of homilies, he produced a tenvolume commentary on the book. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job.
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