The book of job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering. These stories focus on jobs trials at the hands of god and how he deals with them. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. So far as jewish tradition testifies, these books and passages never. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. This reference in james is the only time job is mentioned by name in the n. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. Analysis of the book job from the hebrew bible bartleby.
One sage states that this book, like the song of songs, is allegorical talmud. These texts are almost exclusively in biblical hebrew, with a few passages in biblical aramaic instead in the books of daniel and ezra, the verse jeremiah 10. Job 1 kjv there was a man in the land of uz, bible gateway. The book of job is one of the three books in the hebrew bible whose genre is described as wisdom literature. The titular hero of the book of job, represented as a wealthy and pious landholder who lived in patriarchal times, or at least conditions, in the land of uz, on the borders of idumea. The book of job is 400 lines shorter in the septuagint than the masoretic because of the translation process that sought to simplify the oriental poetic style text into a coles notes dynamic equivalent for a target greek audience. One author says it is no less than eight types of literature rolled up in one book. 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.
Some of the hebrew prophets attempted to deal with this question insofar as it affected the nation as a whole, but the writer of the book of job deals with it on an individual basis. Job is one of the most famous people in scripture, yet he is rarely listed as a favorite bible character. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is named satan. List of books in the hebrew bible believers portal. Analysis of the book job from the hebrew bible 1017 words 5 pages. Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of job. Job is a pious believer who is struck by misfortune so great that it cannot be explained in the usual way as a prompting to repentance, a warning, let alone a punishment the arguments later. Chapter one describes a wager god made with the adversary. As compared with the latin vulgate, the hebrew bible includes the entire old testament with the exception of the seven deuterocanonical books, tobias, judith, wisdom, ecclesiasticus, baruch, i and ii machabees, and the deuterocanonical portions of esther x, 4 to end and daniel iii, 2490. The prose prologue chapters one and two and the epilogue 42. The book of job discusses why god allows pain and suffering. Job the cry of woe or i will exclaim 1 a man known for his piety and, consistency and fortitude in the endurance of trials.
From jurisprudence and warfare, for example, comes the retributive view that suffering is punishment for sin, whether unintentional or intentional. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. In its general framework, the hebrew bible is the account of gods. The book of job was written 400 years before moses in a land east of edam. The prologue, which provides context in the heavenly. Outside of the book of job he is mentioned by ezekiel ezekiel 14. Analysis of the book job of the hebrew bible essay. True, the book is written in hebrew, but it is very strange hebrew indeed. The book is an example of faithfulness as job loses everything important to him and through it all remains faithful to god. The book of job is the first of the five books of hebrew poetry, and is also been classified with the wisdom literature of the bible. Now, the book of job has been rendered into english by the eminent translator and scholar stephen mitchell, whose versions of rilke, israeli poetry, and the tao te ching have been widely praised. And after this job lived an hundred and forty years. Whereas the wisdom literature followed the torah and prophets in hebrew scripture, the wisdom books are followed by the prophets beginning with isaiah in the.
The book of job is a book of the christian old testament that tells a story about job, who in jewish tradition is the son of uz, who was the son of nahor, the brother of abraham. The pentateuch the first five books by moses would have been written after the time of the patriarchs, so job would be, by default, the oldest book in the bible. Job 1 niv prologue in the land of uz there bible gateway. Tanakh jewish bible 24 books21 books in bold are part of the ketuvim protestant old.
What does the book of job teach us about the coronavirus. The book of job is acclaimed as one of the great literary books of the old testament. I believe it was job who actually wrote it and if you were to place the book of job in chronological order, youd have to place it in the first 5th of the book of. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. The book of job has been widely given the theme of patience and we see this mentioned in the new testament book of james.
The book of job is the only book in the hebrew bible concerning which the talmud debates as to when it took place. In the land of uz there lived a man whose name was job. Jobs character the book of job from the hebrew bible is thought to be written by job himself. However, the name does occur in genesis 46 and ezekiel 14. Tanakh jewish bible 24 books21 books in bold are part of the ketuvim protestant old testament 39 books catholic old testament 46 books eastern orthodox old testament 51 books original language torah pentateuch or the five books of moses bereishit genesis genesis genesis hebrew shemot exodus exodus exodus hebrew vayikra leviticus leviticus leviticus hebrew bamidbar numbers numbers. The book of job is one of the literary masterpieces of all time, and provides a profound discussion on the suffering of a just man. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim writings section of the hebrew bible tanakh, and the first poetic book in the old testament of the christian bible. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. This idea pervades the historical and prophetic books as well as psalms, proverbs, and job. Dec 14, 2016 the book of job translated into a bible movie.
It has more unique words than any other book of the hebrew bible. In addition to them, the patriarch job is pointed out in verse 11 as an outstanding example of steadfast faith in the way he handled severe trials. The most popular bible verses from job top verses bible. And jehovah blessed the last part of job s life more than the first part. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. The hebrew canon contains 24 books, one for each of the scrolls on which these works were written in ancient times. Hebrew bible, also called hebrew scriptures, old testament, or tanakh, collection of writings that was first compiled and preserved as the sacred books of the jewish people. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. The oldest book in the bible is smack in the middle of the old testament.
The book of job is the first book of the wisdom literature of hebrew scripture, and is followed by psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and the song of songs. One would then expect that there are many ways to look at and learn from job. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. It constitutes a large portion of the christian bible a brief treatment of the hebrew bible follows. This is the first time ever that the hebrew verse of job has been translated into verse in any language, ancient or modern, and the result is a triumph. Then jehovah gave back to job, twice as much as he had before. The central figure in the book of job, jobs intense suffering supplies the framework for the primary theme of the book, which deals with the role of suffering in the life of a believer. There was a man in the land of uz whose name was job. Iyob is one of the writings ketuvim of the hebrew bible. How do people know that job is the oldest book of the bible. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. Fragments of a shattered plate on which the book of job had been written sebastian zimmer.
The hebrew bible is organized into three main sections. Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. Regardless of its classification the book of job has been known to be one of the greatest literary writings in all of history. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. The book of job is considered to be one of the three books of wisdom literature found within the bible. The hebrew bible, which is also called the tanakh t. The book, in its present form, loosely divides into five parts. The book of job tells how one man suddenly awakened to the anarchy rampant in the world, yet his attachment to god outlived the ruin of his tidy system. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job.
It poses the difficult and wellknown question oftheodicy. The greek septuagint also included the books of wisdom and sirach. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer. Analysis of the book job of the hebrew bible essay bartleby. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. Nov 17, 2015 i believe it was job who actually wrote it and if you were to place the book of job in chronological order, youd have to place it in the first 5th of the book of genesis because the book of job. His experiences are related in the ot book bearing his name. The crivoice bible study focuses on what you personally might learn and apply in your life. Questions of theodicy abound in the hebrew bible, and the answers vary. The language in job is unlike any other found in the bible, or outside it.