Job

Composition

The book of Job appears in both the Hebrew Bible (Talmud) and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Experts are not sure who wrote it, but they have developed multiple theories regarding its authorship. They are also uncertain of exactly when Job was written, though textual clues suggest certain details about its time of composition.

Multiple versions of the book of Job have appeared in the various editions of the Talmud that evolved over the centuries. One such edition credits the Jewish prophet Moses as the book’s author, but additional information from the same version of the book contradicts this claim. Commentary attributed to the ancient priests Eliezer and Jonathan both identify Job as one of the Israelites who returned from the Babylonian exile. The end of the Babylonian exile is traditionally dated to 537 BCE—some seven centuries after Moses’ death.

Another theory suggests that Job himself wrote the book, but multiple details, including the fact that the text describes Job’s death, problematize this hypothesis. While Job has been accepted as a historical figure as a matter of tradition, academics have also questioned whether he was a real person or just an allegorical character.

Much modern analysis of the book focuses on the formal characteristics of the language used in the text. Scholars characterize the Hebrew in Job as anomalous and unlike anything found elsewhere within the Talmud/Old Testament, or any other source of ancient Hebrew literature. The book’s Hebrew displays elevated levels of Aramaic influence, a feature that has spawned several hypotheses. One is that the book may have been written by Israelites living in Aramaic-speaking areas of the Arab world. It may also have originally been composed in Aramaic and translated into Hebrew at a later date. Another theory surmises that Job was written in a lost language known as Idumean, which is referenced elsewhere in the Talmud/Old Testament. Notably, the character of Job himself is said to be Idumean.

While each of these theories remains a possibility, a plurality of contemporary experts now endorse the idea that the Book of Job was likely written by a native speaker or speakers of Aramaic who worked in a literary form of the Hebrew language. Proponents of this viewpoint generally consider the Book of Job’s unusual diction and syntax an intentional stylistic feature.

If this prevailing theory is correct, it would likely place the book’s composition during the sixth century BCE, in the immediate aftermath of the end of the Babylonian exile. However, other scholars of Judeo-Christian scripture have dated Job to a much earlier time. The early Christian historian Eusebius believed Job was written about 1800 BCE. Eusebius built his case on an analysis of events included in and omitted from the text, as well as the social customs and conventions referenced in the book. Experts continue to debate the relative merits of the competing theories about the origins of the book. No scholarly consensus on the time of its composition and the identity of its author(s) has yet been reached.

Summary

The Book of Job’s narrative centers on a wealthy and prosperous landowner and farmer named Job (pronounced “jobe”). A married father of seven sons and three daughters, Job lives in a land called Uz that experts believe to have been located near the Euphrates River close to the ancient states of Palestine and Idumea. He is described as “perfect and upright, [a man] that feared God, and eschewed evil.”

In heaven, Satan and God discuss Job’s goodness. God holds Job up as a model servant, but Satan suggests that Job is only faithful because God has so generously blessed him with wealth and children. Satan issues a challenge to God, believing that he can get Job to “curse thee to thy face” by tormenting Job and taking away his riches. God permits the experiment on the condition that Satan does not take Job’s life.

Over the course of a single day, Job receives a succession of messages that deliver news of catastrophes. All 10 of his children as well as his servants, and his livestock—the source of his wealth—die from a series of seemingly unrelated calamities. Though he is devastated, Job continues to honor God in his prayers. Satan then afflicts Job with sores all over his body, but Job refuses to curse God even after his wife urges him to.

Three of Job’s friends—Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar—come to visit Job. Each of them opines on the source of Job’s recent problems: Job curses his own birth, and the three others agree that Job must have done something to anger or sin against God. The exchange prompts Job into deep philosophical musings on the nature of the relationship between humans and God, wondering how people can elicit God’s favor and approval if following God’s laws does not suffice to ward off the kind of catastrophes Job is now experiencing. Job also wonders why it is that God judges people based on their actions and choices when God is capable of controlling those actions and choices. Ultimately, Job wishes to go to Sheol, a deep and forlorn world of the dead often likened to Christian concepts of Hell.

Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar grow irritated with Job, who refuses to entertain their perspectives on his situation. Job’s despair turns to anger. He becomes enraged that God allows evil people to prosper while imposing suffering on faithful people like himself, and wishes to challenge God and air his grievances. Elihu, a fourth friend of Job’s, enters the conversation and repeats the consensus opinion that Job must have provoked God’s wrath through his own wicked actions.

God finally intervenes, asking Job a series of questions that reveal to Job just how little he truly understands about God’s ways and power. During this exchange, God references two legendary beasts—the Behemoth and the Leviathan—described as ranking among God’s greatest creations. Job blesses God and defers to God’s superiority. Having bested Satan, God restores Job to full health, gives him seven new sons and three new daughters, and makes him wealthier and more prosperous than ever before.

Themes

The book of Job belongs to a group of Judeo-Christian scriptural texts collectively known as the poetry and wisdom books of the Bible. These works, which are generally written in an elevated and literary style, include the books of Ecclesiastes, Job, Proverbs, Psalms, and the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon). Rather than recounting narratives and origin stories that detail Israelite history and God’s revelations to the prophets like most other books of the Talmud/Old Testament, the poetry and wisdom books maintain a stronger focus on the practical, everyday applications of religious lessons and spiritual principles. The draw on relatable human experiences, placing them within an instructive context to reveal ways in which God’s faithful people can live moral lives and cultivate favor with God in their everyday lives.

In the book of Job, the spiritual and religious themes focus heavily on human suffering and the question of why a just and loving God allows morally righteous people to endure severe hardships. The book also poses the opposite question, asking why a God that places such importance on faithful service and observant worship permits immoral and evil people to prosper. No direct answer to either question is given in the text of the book. Instead, the text supplies implicit responses—a good person may suffer and an evil person may prosper, but both are ultimately partial manifestations of a much larger design of a grand and holy scope—one that functions beyond the realm of human comprehension. The book of Job is designed to teach that God is good, just, and loving, even though people may not always be able to understand the ways in which God works.

Hierarchy is another thematic feature of the book of Job. It presents Satan and God as being of comparable power, with humans ranking far below them both. Thus, while human beings can control their own choices and actions, God and Satan struggle for control of the grand scheme of things. The book shows readers that the forces of God’s good and Satan’s evil are locked in a fierce and eternal war, and that human suffering is a direct consequence of that war. Sometimes, that suffering serves God’s ends; at others, it serves those of Satan.

Notably, Job has also been interpreted as a treatise on how God expects people to behave during periods of suffering. From this perspective, Job functions as a powerful symbol of enduring and resolute faith in God, which persists no matter what trials or tribulations God or Satan impose on him.

Bibliography

Fairchild, Mary. “Poetry and Wisdom Books of the Bible.” Learn Religions, 25 June 2019, www.learnreligions.com/poetry-and-wisdom-books-of-the-bible-700273. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.

Gilad, Elon. “Who Really Wrote the Book of Job?” Haaretz, 14 Sep. 2016, www.haaretz.com/jewish/MAGAZINE-who-really-wrote-the-book-of-job-1.5434183. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.

Larrimore, Mark. The Book of Job. Princeton University Press, 2020.

MacArthur, John F. Job. HarperChristian Resources, 2020.

Swindoll, Chuck. “Job.” Insight for Living Ministries, 2022, insight.org/resources/bible/the-wisdom-books/job. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.

Vicchio, Stephen J. The Book of Job: A History of Interpretation and a Commentary. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020.

Zavada, Jack. “Introduction to the Book of Job and Its Themes.” Learn Religions, 27 Feb. 2019, www.learnreligions.com/book-of-job-701124. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.