Job

What makes Job special?

Job tells the story of one man's troubles. But his situation prompts a series of conversations written in the form of poetry. These conversations between Job and his friends and the Lord focus on difficult life questions. In the story section of Job and when the Lord speaks (chapters 38–41), the Hebrew name for the Lord (Yahweh) is used. In the poetry sections, various names for God are used. Job is from the section of the Jewish Scriptures known as “The Writings” or “Wisdom” literature (see the Introduction to the Books of Wisdom and Poetry, INT 1.0). The Hebrew text of Job is somewhat difficult to translate and the translators have indicated in the footnotes when the Hebrew meaning of some terms in uncertain.

Why was Job written?

Job deals with the causes of human suffering and the role God may play in this suffering. The main character, Job, is described in the story as “a truly good person, who respected God and refused to do evil” (1.1). He trusted God and was blessed with many children, good health, and much wealth. But when Job loses everything and suffers terribly, the book seems to focus directly on the question of why a good and faithful person like Job has to suffer. The different characters in the story try to answer this and other questions. Is all suffering caused by human sin? Does God cause people to suffer, and if so, why? Job invites readers to struggle with these age-old questions along with the characters and, in the end, discover that the mysterious power and ways of God are sometimes beyond human understanding. But God's presence with us in times of suffering can give us the strength to go on and face the future.

What's the story behind the scene?

The story of Job is set in a time before the nation of Israel existed. Job is mentioned in Ezekiel (14.14,20), along with Noah, as a faithful man of ancient times. In Job's day, wealth was based on the number of cattle and servants a person owned, rather than on money, which was not commonly used in ancient times. The enemies of Job, the Sabeans and Chaldeans (1.15,17), are peoples that come from the time of Israel's earliest ancestors. The kind of sacrifice mentioned in the story (42.8) seems to be an ancient form of sacrifice rather than the required sacrifices that were later offered by Israel's priests. The story of Job itself appears to be very old and is similar to old stories from Babylon and Egypt.

It is impossible to give a clear date for the writing of Job. Scholars have argued for dating the book anywhere from the time of Moses (about 1300 b.c.) all the way to the time when the Greeks replaced the Persians as rulers of Palestine (333 b.c.).

How is Job constructed?

Job is made up of a series of poems contained inside a prose story. The introduction (chapters 1 and 2) and the conclusion (42.7-17) are written in narrative or prose, while the chapters in-between (3.1—42.6) are in poetic form. The prose section tells a story of a man named Job who lost his children and everything he owned but later recovered his riches and started a new family. The poetic section is made up of speeches by Job, his three friends, another observer named Elihu, and the Lord. The following outline is one way Job can be divided. Note that in the major section (3.1—31.40), Job and his three friends argue back and forth a number of times.