ChristadelphianBooksOnline
David Baird
The Education of Job

Introduction

The Title of the Book

The name of both the Book and its main character is "Job." This word is based on the Greek and Latin transcriptions and provides a rather inaccurate rendering of the Hebrew form of the name (iyob). However the etymology of "Job" is uncertain. A number of authorities suggest it could be derived from ayab ("to be an enemy" TWOT) but vary as to whether "Job" means, "an object of enmity" (BDB), "persecuted" (Ges), or "enemy, foe" (IDB, TWOT). Another suggestion is that it is derived from the Arabic ('wb) and carries the connotation of repentance (TWOT, BDB, "the penitent one" IDB). Thayer writes concerning the sole New Testament usage of "Job" (Iob) in James 5:11 that it means, "harassed, afflicted," but immediately follows with, "but questioned."

While it would be wrong to dogmatize on the meaning of Job's name, and bearing in mind that there may be no spiritual significance in his name anyway, it seems appropriate that "persecuted" should be the meaning of the name of a person who is a victim of a savage, albeit justified, experiment and the target of cruel criticisms from his friends.

When did Job live?

We do not know who wrote the Book of Job and this in no way detracts from our understanding of it. However, we can with reasonable accuracy place Job into a historical context. A wide range of dates has been suggested, extending from antediluvian to Hellenistic times. The earliest dates are easily discarded after noting the heritage of Eliphaz (a Temanite descended from Esau) and the most recent dating (2nd Century B.C.) is decisively contradicted by fragments of the Book of Job found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially those in the Old Hebrew script.

I believe that the date of the history narrated was post-Abrahamic and pre-Mosaic. Details can be unearthed in the Book that supports this dating. For example, the religion depicted is rudimentary. There is no priesthood or central shrine. Approach to God is through a personal priesthood (1:5 with Gen 22:16), and divine anger is assuaged by sacrifice offered by the patriarch (42:8), as in the Balaam story (Num 23:1,14,29). Wealth consists of cattle and servants (1:3 with Gen 12:16, 13:5, 32:5) and the unit of money mentioned in 42:11 (qesitah) is only specified elsewhere in Genesis 33:19 and Joshua 24:32. Job's exceptional longevity (42:17) is matched or surpassed only in the patriarchal period and earlier.

The Book of Job does not directly refer to any historical events; not even those that were prominent in the mind of an Israelite - the call of Abram, the Red Sea crossing, the exodus, the conquest of the land, etc. The Book does not refer to any of the familiar institutions of Israel - the Law of Moses, the monarchy, the temple, the prophets. The few historical allusions it seems to make belong to Genesis - Adam's fall (31:33), the flood (22:16), maybe the destruction of Sodom (18:15).

In the scant descriptions of Job's friends we are directed to the same patriarchal times. Eliphaz the Temanite takes his heritage from Teman, the son of an earlier Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen 36:4,11; 1Chron 1:35-36). Bildad the Shuhite is of Abrahamic origination. Shuah was a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:2) and one of those who, "he sent away from Isaac his son, while yet he lived, eastward, unto the east country" (Gen 25:6 see 1:3). Eliphaz appears to be the eldest of the company as it is he who is mentioned first of the friends and he who leads off the comments to Job. He is probably describing himself as such when he says to Job, "Both hoary and venerable are among us, One mightier than thy father in days!" (15:10 Roth). The sense is singular and Rotherham correctly reflects this. Therefore, if we take Eliphaz's lineage to an extreme it would be - Abraham, Isaac, Esau, Eliphaz, Teman, Eliphaz - the fifth generation from Abraham. If Eliphaz is well advanced in years, contemporary with Job's grandfather or father, the date of the action in the Book is deferred to the sixth or seventh generation from Abraham and would have occurred while the children of Israel were in Egypt.

While it is not crucial to our overall appreciation of the Book it is reasonable to claim that Job existed between the lifetimes of Joseph and Moses.

Suggestions for students of the Book of Job

The Book of Job is not an easy Bible book to read and/or study. The barriers it presents include:

i)	Its size - 42 chapters;
ii)	The complexities of the original Hebrew, especially the vagueness in the poetical sections (i.e. the majority of the Book);
iii)	The subsequent variations, both subtle and wild, among Bible versions and commentators;
iv)	The difficulties in determining the correctness or otherwise of the speeches - Is what is being said right? What is the tone/attitude of the speaker? Are the words, while possibly indelicate, valid in the circumstances? etc;
v)	The anomalies in the Prologue - e.g. Who or what was the Satan? The sons of God? The LORD? Why was Job's wife kept alive? etc;
vi)	The relentless, on-going nature of the dialogue - Will these speeches ever stop?; and
vii)	The mysteries surrounding Elihu - Good, bad or in-between? Where does he fit overall in the Book? Where did he come from and where did he go?, etc.

The following suggestions are offered to assist anybody who wishes to look a bit more carefully at this challenging Book.

Read the whole Book

As Brother Walker writes, "Rightly to appreciate the Book of Job, it requires to be read deliberately through at a single sitting, which might perhaps occupy about three hours. It is, as it were, listening to the conduct of a case in a court of law. If we were to listen to scraps of evidence, only occasionally, we should have difficulty in coming to a conclusion. A sustained and connected effort admits of clearer comparison, and will produce better results."

In a different version

While translators agree that the Hebrew text of the Book of Job presents more problems than most other parts of the Old Testament and I am an advocate of the Authorised Version, it is preferable to read (as opposed to study) the Book using a modern version. One of the few reservations about the Authorised Version is its weakness when translating poetical sections of the original text. Modern versions tend to be less ambiguous and their English is easier to understand. Recommended versions are those of the conservative idiomatic variety such as the Revised Standard Version and, to a lesser extent, the New International Version (despite its unsubstantiated assumption in 1:6 and 2:3 - "angels"). The Jerusalem Bible is really quite a superb translation of the text but cannot be used for reading in one sitting because, for reasons only known to its creators, it conjures up a third speech of Zophar out of what is almost universally considered to be the words of Job.

Always, the context first

This is essential when considering the speeches. Don't launch into the words, even the phrases. Read the whole speech carefully. Think about it as it relates to the previous speech. Try to detect the flow of thought. Then, perhaps, start digging around in concordances and lexicons and commentaries to see how your contextual resolutions withstand scrutiny.

Beware the sweeping generalisation

For example, Job is righteous therefore everything he says is correct (Job does not think so - 42:3), and the friends are condemned so everything they say is suspect (The Apostle Paul does not think so - 1Cor 3:19). Observance of the other suggestions helps to avoid this practice. Job is not a Book that can be interpreted in such a black-and-white manner. To do so is to mirror, in some degree, the error of Job's comforters.

Don't focus on the early chapters

Due to its size and a predilection to focus on the parts that we are comfortable with, many people can wax eloquently on the "questions/crotchets" generated by the Prologue of the Book. The first two chapters are preparing the way for the speeches that follow. Becoming an expert in Job's disease, or the Satan, does not necessarily enhance one's appreciation of why Job reacts to Zophar the way he does. Or why Eliphaz doggedly holds on to a patently wrong philosophy. To ignore the bulk is to miss the Book with its lessons and challenges. Andersen has this to say, "Job is a prodigious book in the vast range of its ideas, in its broad coverage of human experience, in the intensity of its passions, in the immensity of its concept of God, and not least in its superb literary craftmanship. It reaches widely over the complexities of existence, seeking a place for animals as well as men in God's world. It plumbs the depths of human despair, the anger of moral outrage, and the anguish of desertion by God. By one man's agony it reaches out to the mystery of God, beyond all words and explanations."