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{{short description|Book of the Bible}}
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{{Books of Ketuvim}} {{Tanakh OT |Ketuvim |WP}}
]: dated to the 1st century AD, it contains part of Job 42 translated into ].]]
The '''Book of Job''' ('''איוב''', ] '''Iyyov''', ] '''ʾIyyôḇ'''; ] '''أيّوب''' '''ʾAyyūb''') is one of the books of the Hebrew ], or ], and is also one of the books of the Christian ]. The numerous ] of the ''Book of Job'' are classic attempts to reconcile the co-existence of evil and God (Greek '']''). ''Job'' is a ] set in a prose framing device.
The '''Book of Job''' ({{IPAc-en|dʒ|oʊ|b}}; {{langx|hbo|אִיּוֹב|ʾĪyyōḇ}}), or simply '''Job''', is a book found in the ] ("Writings") section of the ] and the first of the ] in the ] of the ].{{sfn|Hartley|1988|p=3}} The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonian ] and ] influences, indicates it was composed during the ] (540-330 BCE), with the poet using Hebrew in a learned, literary manner.<ref>{{cite book
| title = Job: A New Translation
| author = Edward L. Greenstein
| publisher = Yale University Press
| year = 2019
| isbn = 9780300163766
| page = xxvii
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W8KmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR27
| quote = Determining the time and place of the book's composition is bound up with the nature of the book's language. The Hebrew prose of the frame tale, notwithstanding many classic features, shows that it was composed in the post-Babylonian era (after 540 BCE). The poetic core of the book is written in a highly literate and literary Hebrew, the eccentricities and occasional clumsiness of which suggest that Hebrew was a learned and not native language of the poet. The numerous words and grammatical shadings of Aramaic spread throughout the mainly Hebrew text of Job make a setting in the Persian era (approximately 540-330) fairly certain, for it was only in that period that Aramaic became a major language throughout the Levant. The poet depends on an audience that will pick up on subtle signs of Aramaic.
}}</ref> It addresses ], providing a ] through the experiences of the ]ous protagonist.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=11}} ] is a wealthy and God-fearing man with a comfortable life and a large family. God asks ] ({{langx|hbo|הַשָּׂטָן|haśśāṭān|{{lit|the adversary}}|label=none}}) for his opinion of Job's piety. When Satan states that Job would turn away from God if he were rendered penniless, without his family, and materially uncomfortable, God allows him to do so. The rest of the book deals with Job successfully defending himself against his unsympathetic friends, whom God admonishes, and God's sovereignty over nature.


=== Authorship === ==Structure==
]
A great diversity of opinion exists as to the authorship of this book. Two ]ic traditions hold that ] either lived in the time of ] or of ]. Levi ben La&#7717;ma held that Job lived in the time of ], by whom the Book of Job was written. Others argue that it was written by ] himself, or by ], or ]. From internal evidence, such as the similarity of sentiment and language to those in the ] and ] (see ] 88 and 89), the prevalence of the idea of "wisdom," and the style and character of the composition, it is supposed by some to have been written in the time of King ] and King ].
The Book of Job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues.{{sfn|Bullock|2007|p=87}} It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the Elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of ] as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the book's underlying editorial unity.{{sfn|Walton|2008|p=343}}


# {{em|Prologue}}: in two scenes, the first on Earth, the second in Heaven<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|1–2}}</ref>
In contrast, secular examinations of the text more generally conclude that, though archaic features such as the "council in heaven" survive, and though the Job legend was familiar to Ezekiel, the present form of the Job tale was fixed in the ]. The Job legend apparently originated in the land of ], which has been retained as the background. Fragments of ''Job'' are found among the ], and Job remains prominent in haggadic legends. Compare the later Greek '']'' among the ]. Secular scholars agree that the introductory and concluding sections of the book, the framing devices, were composed to set the central poem into a prose "folk-book," as the compilers of the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' expressed it. In the prologue and epilogue, the name of God is Yahweh, a name that even the Edomites use. Secular scholars agree that the central poem is from another source.
# {{em|Job's opening monologue}}:<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|3}}</ref> seen by some scholars as a bridge between the prologue and the dialogues and by others as the beginning of the dialogues{{sfn|Walton|2008|p=333}} and three cycles of dialogues between Job and his three friends<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|4–27}}</ref> – the third cycle is not complete, the expected speech of Zophar being replaced by the wisdom poem of chapter 28.{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2009|p=191}}{{pb}}{{bulleted list|{{em|First cycle:}}|] and Job's response<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|4–7}}</ref>|] and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|8–10}}</ref>|] and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|12–14}}</ref>|{{em|Second cycle:}}|Eliphaz and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|15–17}}</ref>|Bildad and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|18-19}}</ref>|Zophar and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|20-21}}</ref>|{{em|Third cycle:}}|Eliphaz and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|22–24}}</ref>|Bildad and Job<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|25–27}}</ref>}}
# Three monologues:{{pb}}{{bulleted list|A {{em|Poem to Wisdom}}{{efn|Chapter 28,<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|28}}</ref> previously read as part of the speech of Job, is now regarded by most scholars as a separate interlude in the narrator's voice.}}{{sfn|Walton|2008|p=333}}|{{em|Job's closing monologue}}<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|29–31}}</ref>|and {{em|]'s speeches}}<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|32–37}}</ref>}}
# {{em|Two speeches by God}},<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|38:1–40:2}} and {{bibleverse|Job|40:6–41:34}} {{bibleverse|Job|42:7–8}}</ref> with Job's responses
# {{em|Epilogue}} – Job's restoration<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|42:9–17}}</ref>


==Contents==
=== Narrative structure ===
]'s ]]]
The subject of the book is the trial of Job, its occasion, nature, endurance, and issue. It consists of
#An historical introduction in prose (ch. 1,2).
#The controversy and its solution, in poetry (ch. 3-42:6). Job's desponding lamentation (ch. 3) is the occasion of the controversy which is carried on in three courses of dialogues between Job and his three friends. The first course gives the commencement of the controversy (ch. 4-14); the second the growth of the controversy (15-21); and the third the height of the controversy (22-27). This is followed by the solution of the controversy in the speeches of Elihu and the address of ], followed by Job's humble confession (42:1-6) of his own fault and folly.
#The third division is the historical conclusion, in prose (42:7-15).


===Prologue on Earth and in Heaven===
It is possible that the introductory and concluding sections of the book were composed by a different author than the body of the book.
In ], the prologue on Earth introduces ] as a righteous man, blessed with wealth, sons, and daughters, who lives in the ]. The scene then shifts to Heaven, where God asks ] ({{langx|hbo|הַשָּׂטָן|haśśāṭān|the adversary}}) for his opinion of Job's piety. Satan accuses Job of being pious only because he believes God is responsible for his happiness; if God were to take away everything that Job has, then he would surely curse God.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|1:21}}</ref>


God gives Satan permission to strip Job of his wealth and kill his children and servants, but Job nonetheless praises God:
==Later interpolations and additions==
: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."<ref>{{Bibleref2|Job|1:21}}</ref>
In the edited form of ''Job'' that we have, various interpolations have been made in the text of the central poem. The clearest of these are of two kinds: the "parallel texts", which are parallel developments of the corresponding passages in the base text, and the speeches of Elihu (xxxii - xxxvii), which consist of a polemic against the ideas expressed elsewhere in the poem, and so appear to be interpretive interpolations. The speeches of ] (who is not mentioned in the prologue or epilogue) contradict the fundamental teachings of the central poem of Job, according to which it is impossible that the righteous should suffer, all pain being a punishment for some sin. Elihu, however, assumes that suffering may be decreed for the righteous as a protection against greater sin, and for moral betterment.


In ], God further allows Satan to afflict Job's body with disfiguring and painful ]s. As Job sits in the ]es of his former estate, his wife prompts him to ''"curse God, and die"'', but Job answers:
Subjects of more contention among scholars are the identity of corrections and revisions of Job's speeches, which have been made for the purpose of harmonizing them with the orthodox doctrine of retribution.
: "Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil?"<ref>{{Bibleverse|Job|2:9–10|9}}</ref>


=== Job's opening monologue and dialogues between Job and his three friends ===
=== Exegesis of the ''Book of Job''===
In ], "instead of cursing God",<ref>{{cite book |author-link=James Crenshaw |last=Crenshaw |first=J.L. |year=2001 |section=17.&nbsp;Job |editor1-last=Barton |editor1-first=J. |editor2-last=Muddiman |editor2-first=J. |title=The Oxford Bible Commentary |page=335 |section-url=https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122193211/http://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 |archive-date=22 November 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Job laments the night of his conception and the day of his birth; he longs for death, ''"but it does not come"''.<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|3:21|NKJV}}</ref>
] largely concerns the question, "Is misfortune always a divine punishment for something?" Job's three friends argued in the affirmative, stating that Job's misfortunes were proof that he had committed some sins for which he was being punished. His friends also advanced the converse position that good fortune is always a divine reward, and that if Job would renounce his supposed sins, he would immediately experience the return of good fortune.


His three friends, ], ], and ], visit him, accuse him of sinning, and tell him that his suffering was deserved. Job responds with scorn, calling his visitors ''"miserable comforters"''.<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|16:2|NKJV}}</ref> Job asserts that since a ''just'' God would not treat him so harshly, patience in suffering is impossible, and the Creator should not take his creatures so lightly, to come against them with such force.{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2009|p=190}}
In response, Job asserted that he was a righteous man, and that his misfortune was therefore not a punishment for anything. This raised the possibility that God acts in capricious ways, and Job's wife urged him to curse God, and die. Instead, Job responded with equanimity: "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord." The climax of the book occurs when God responds to Job, not with an explanation for Job's suffering but rather with a question: Where was Job when God created the world?


Job's responses represent one of the most radical restatements of Israelite ] in the Hebrew Bible.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Clines |first=David J.A. |date=2004 |title=Job's God |journal=Concilium |volume=2004 |issue=4 |pages=39–51}}</ref> He moves away from the pious attitude shown in the prologue and begins to berate God for the disproportionate wrath against him. He sees God as, among others,
God's response itself may be read in a variety of ways. Some see it as an attempt to humble Job. Yet Job is comforted by God's appearance, and the fact that he 'saw God and lived', suggesting that the author of the book was more concerned with whether or not God is present in people's lives, than with the question of whether or not God is just. ''Job'' xxviii rejects these efforts to fathom divine wisdom.
{{div col begin|colwidth=15em}}
* intrusive and suffocating<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|7:17–19}}</ref>
* unforgiving and obsessed with destroying a human target<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|7:20–21}}</ref>
* angry<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|9:13}}; {{bibleverse|Job|14:13}}; {{bibleverse|Job|16:9}}; {{bibleverse|Job|19:11}}</ref>
* fixated on punishment<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|10:13–14}}</ref>
* hostile and destructive<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|16:11–14}}</ref>
{{div col end}}
Job then shifts his focus from the injustice that he himself suffers to God's governance of the world. He suggests that God does nothing to punish the wicked, who have taken advantage of the needy and the helpless, who, in turn, have been left to suffer the significant hardships inflicted on them.<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|24:1-12}}</ref>


=== Three monologues: Poem to Wisdom, Job's closing monologue ===
The framing story complicates the book further: in the introductory section God decides to inflict misery on Job and his family as a result of a bet with Satan (suggesting that God does indeed act in capricious ways); the appended conclusion has God restoring Job to health and wealth, thus suggesting that the faith of the righteous is indeed rewarded.
] (1869)]]
The dialogues of Job and his friends are followed by a poem (the "hymn to wisdom") on the inaccessibility of wisdom: "Where is wisdom to be found?" it asks; it concludes in chapter 28 that wisdom has been hidden from humankind){{sfn|Seow|2013|pp=}} Job contrasts his previous fortune with his present plight as an outcast, mocked and in pain. He protests his innocence, lists the principles he has lived by, and demands that God answer him.{{sfn|Sawyer|2013|p=27}}


=== Satan in the ''Book of Job''=== === Elihu's speeches ===
A character not previously mentioned, ], intrudes into the story and occupies chapters&nbsp;32–37. The narrative describes him as stepping out of a crowd of bystanders irate. He intervenes to state that wisdom comes from God, who reveals it through dreams and visions to those who will then declare their knowledge.{{sfn|Seow|2013|pp=}}
The name ] appears in the prose prologue of ''Job'', with his usual connotation of "the adversary", as a distinct being. He is shown as one of the celestial beings or "sons of God" before the Deity, replying to the inquiry of God as to whence he had come, with the words: "from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (''Job'' 1:7). Both the question and the answer, as well as the dialogue that ensues, characterize Satan as that member of the divine council who watches over human activity, but with the evil purpose of searching out men's sins and appearing as their accuser. He is, therefore, the celestial prosecutor, who sees only iniquity; for he persists in his evil opinion of Job even after the man of Uz has passed successfully through his first trial by surrendering to the will of God, whereupon Satan demands another test through physical suffering (''Job'' 2:3-5). Satan tempts God by saying that Job's belief is only built upon what material goods he is given, and that his faith will disappear as soon as they are taken from him. And God succumbs to the temptation.


===Two speeches by God===
But recall that this entire story about "the adversary" occurs in the (very short) framing story alone, and is never alluded to in the (very long) central poem at all. Many conjecture that the framing prose was written by a different author, and from a different theological point of view, than the central poem.
From chapter&nbsp;], God speaks from a ].<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|38:1}}</ref> God's speeches do not explain Job's suffering, defend divine justice, enter into the courtroom of confrontation that Job has demanded, or respond to his oath of innocence of which the narrative prologue shows God is well aware.{{sfn|Walton|2008|p=339}}


Instead, God changes the subject to human frailty and contrasts Job's weakness with divine wisdom and ]: ''"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"'' Job responds briefly, but God's monologue resumes, never addressing Job directly.{{sfn|Sawyer|2013|p=28}}
==External links==
* Job; Book of Job
*: Job; ''Book of Job''
*: Bill Long
* at wikisource


In ]:1–6, Job makes his final response, confessing God's power and his own ] ''"of things beyond me which I did not know"''. Previously, he has only heard God, but now his eyes have seen God, and therefore, he declares, ''"I retract and repent in dust and ashes"''.{{sfn|Habel|1985|p=575}}
]
]
]
]


===Epilogue===
]
God tells Eliphaz that he and the two other friends
]
: "have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has done".
]

]
The three are told to make ] with Job as their intercessor, ''"for only to him will I show favour"''. Elihu, the critic of Job and his friends, is notably omitted from this part of the narrative.
]

The epilogue describes Job's health being restored, his riches and family being remade, and Job living to see the new children born into his family produce grandchildren up to the fourth generation.{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2009|p=33}}

==Composition==
] Christ speaks to Job]]

===Authorship, language, texts===
The character Job appears in the 6th-century BCE ] as an exemplary righteous man of antiquity, and the author of the Book of Job has apparently chosen this legendary hero for his ].{{sfn|Fokkelman|2012|p=20}} The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonian ] and ] influences, indicates it was composed during the ] (540–330 BCE), with the poet using Hebrew in a learned, literary manner.<ref>{{cite book
| title = Job: A New Translation
| author = Edward L. Greenstein
| publisher = Yale University Press
| year = 2019
| isbn = 9780300163766
| page = xxvii
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W8KmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR27
| quote = Determining the time and place of the book's composition is bound up with the nature of the book's language. The Hebrew prose of the frame tale, notwithstanding many classic features, shows that it was composed in the post-Babylonian era (after 540 BCE). The poetic core of the book is written in a highly literate and literary Hebrew, the eccentricities and occasional clumsiness of which suggest that Hebrew was a learned and not native language of the poet. The numerous words and grammatical shadings of Aramaic spread throughout the mainly Hebrew text of Job make a setting in the Persian era (approximately 540-330) fairly certain, for it was only in that period that Aramaic became a major language throughout the Levant. The poet depends on an audience that will pick up on subtle signs of Aramaic.
}}</ref> The anonymous author was almost certainly an ]—although the story is set outside Israel, in southern ] or northern Arabia—and alludes to places as far apart as ] and Egypt.{{sfn|Seow|2013|p=}} Despite the Israelite origins, it appears that the Book of Job was composed in a time in which ] was common but not acceptable to Judean sensibilities (i.e., during the ] and shortly thereafter).<ref>{{cite book |last=Kugel |first=James L. |year=2008 |title=How to Read the Bible: A guide to scripture, then and now |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0743235877}}</ref>

The language of Job stands out for its conservative spelling and exceptionally large number of words and word forms not found elsewhere in the Bible.{{sfn|Seow|2013|p=}} Many later scholars, down to the 20th century, have looked for an ], ], or ] origin, but a close analysis suggests that the foreign words and foreign-looking forms are literary affectations designed to lend authenticity to the book's distant setting and give it a foreign flavor.{{sfn|Seow|2013|p=}}{{sfn|Kugel|2012|p=}}

===Modern revisions===

Job exists in a number of forms: the Hebrew ], which underlies many modern Bible translations; the Greek ] made in Egypt in the last centuries BCE; and Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts found among the ].{{sfn|Seow|2013|pp=}}

In the Latin ], the ], and in ]s, it is placed after the ] as the first of the ].{{sfn|Hartley|1988|p=3}} In the Hebrew Bible, it is located within the ]. John Hartley notes that in ] manuscripts, the texts are ordered as ], Job, and ], but in ] texts, the order is Psalms, Proverbs, and then Job.{{sfn|Hartley|1988|p=3}} In the ] ], it is described as the first of the "wisdom books" and follows the two ].<ref>Jerusalem Bible (1966), ''Introduction to the Wisdom Books'', p. 723</ref>

===Job and the wisdom tradition===
Job, ], and the ] belong to the genre of wisdom literature, sharing a perspective that they themselves call the "way of wisdom".{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=129}} ''Wisdom'' means both a way of thinking and a body of knowledge gained through such thinking, as well as the ability to apply it to life. In its Biblical application in wisdom literature, it is seen as attainable in part through human effort and in part as a gift from God, but never in its entirety—except by God.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=129–30}}

The three books of wisdom literature share attitudes and assumptions but differ in their conclusions: Proverbs makes confident statements about the world and its workings that Job and Ecclesiastes flatly contradict.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|pp=130–31}} Wisdom literature from Sumeria and Babylonia can be dated to the third millennium BCE.{{sfn|Bullock|2007|p=84}} Several texts from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt offer parallels to Job,{{sfn|Hartley|2008|p=346}} and while it is impossible to tell whether any of them influenced the author of Job, their existence suggests that the author was the recipient of a long tradition of reflection on the existence of inexplicable suffering.{{sfn|Hartley|2008|p=360}}

==Themes==
] (1865)]]
The Book of Job is an investigation of the problem of divine justice.{{sfn|Bullock|2007|p=82}} This problem, known in theology as the ] or ], can be rephrased as a question: "Why do the righteous suffer?"{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=11}} The conventional answer in ancient Israel was that God rewards virtue and punishes sin (the principle known as "]").{{sfn|Hooks|2006|p=58}} According to this view the moral status of human choices and actions is consequential, but experience demonstrates that suffering is experienced by those who are good.{{sfn|Brueggemann|2002|p=201}}

The biblical concept of righteousness was rooted in the ]-making God who had ordered creation for communal well-being, and the righteous were those who invested in the community, showing special concern for the poor and needy (see Job's description of his life in chapter 31). Their antithesis were the wicked, who were selfish and greedy.{{sfn|Brueggemann|2002|pp=177–78}} The Satan (or the Adversary) raises the question of whether there is such a thing as disinterested righteousness: if God rewards righteousness with prosperity, will men not act righteously from selfish motives? He asks God to test this by removing the prosperity of Job, the most righteous of all God's servants.{{sfn|Walton|2008|pp=336–37}}

The book begins with the frame narrative, giving the reader an omniscient "God's eye perspective" which introduces Job as a man of exemplary faith and piety, "blameless and upright", who "fears God" and "shuns evil".{{sfn|Hooks|2006|p=57}}{{sfn|O'Dowd|2008|pp=242–43}} The contrast between the frame and the poetic dialogues and monologues, in which Job never learns of the opening scenes in heaven or of the reason for his suffering, creates a sense of dramatic irony between the divine view of the Adversary's wager, and the human view of Job's suffering "without any reason" (2:3).{{sfn|O'Dowd|2008|pp=242–43}}

In the poetic dialogues Job's friends see his suffering and assume he must be guilty, since God is just. Job, knowing he is innocent, concludes that God must be unjust.{{sfn|Seow|2013|pp=}} He retains his piety throughout the story (contradicting the Adversary's suspicion that his righteousness is due to the expectation of reward), but makes clear from his first speech that he agrees with his friends that God should and does reward righteousness.{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2009|p=194}}

The intruder, Elihu, rejects the arguments of both parties:
* Job is wrong to accuse God of injustice, as God is greater than human beings, and
* the visitors are not correct either; for suffering, far from being a punishment, may "rescue the afflicted from their affliction".
That is, suffering can make those afflicted more amenable to revelation – literally, "open their ears" (Job 36:15).<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|36:15}}</ref>{{sfn|Seow|2013|pp=}}

Chapter&nbsp;28, the Poem (or Hymn) to Wisdom, introduces another theme: Divine wisdom. The hymn does not place any emphasis on retributive justice, stressing instead the inaccessibility of wisdom.{{sfn|Dell|2003|p=356}} Wisdom cannot be invented or purchased, it says; God alone knows the meaning of the world, and he grants it only to those who live in reverence before him.{{sfn|Hooks|2006|pp=329–30}} God possesses wisdom because he grasps the complexities of the world (Job 28:24–26)<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|28:24–26}}</ref> – a theme which anticipates God's speech in chapters&nbsp;38–41, with its repeated refrain "Where were you when&nbsp;...?"{{sfn|Fiddes|1996|p=174}}

When God finally speaks he neither explains the reason for Job's suffering (known to the reader to be unjust, from the prologue set in heaven) nor defends his justice. The first speech focuses on his role in maintaining order in the universe: The list of things that God does and Job cannot do demonstrates divine wisdom because order is the heart of wisdom. Job then confesses his lack of wisdom, meaning his lack of understanding of the workings of the cosmos and of the ability to maintain it. The second speech concerns God's role in controlling the formidable ']' and ']'.{{sfn|Walton|2008|p=338}}{{efn|
The ] words '']'' and '']'' are sometimes naturalistically translated as the 'hippopotamus' and 'crocodile', but more probably representing more ominous primeval cosmic monsters or chaotic forces, in either case demonstrating God's wisdom and power.{{sfn|Walton|2008|p=338}}
}}

Job's reply to God's final speech is longer than his first and more complicated. The usual view is that he admits to being wrong to challenge God and now repents "in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6),<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|42:6}}</ref> but the Hebrew is difficult: An alternative reading is that Job says he was wrong to repent and mourn, and does ''not'' retract any of his arguments.{{sfn|Sawyer|2013|p=34}}

In the concluding part of the frame narrative God restores and increases Job's prosperity, indicating that the divine policy on retributive justice remains unchanged.{{sfn|Walton|2008|pp=338–39}}

==Influence and interpretation==

===History of interpretation===
]
In the ] period (500 BCE–70 CE), the character of Job began to be transformed into something more patient and steadfast, with his suffering a test of virtue and a vindication of righteousness for the glory of God.{{sfn|Seow|2013|p=}} The process of "sanctifying" Job began with the Greek ] translation ({{c.|200 BCE}}) and was furthered in the apocryphal ] (1st century BCE–1st century CE), which makes him the hero of patience.{{sfn|Allen|2008|pp=362–63}} This reading pays little attention to the Job of the dialogue sections of the book,{{sfn|Dell|1991|pp=6–7}} but it was the tradition taken up by the ] in the ], which presents Job as one whose patience and endurance should be emulated by believers (]:7–11).<ref>{{bibleverse|James|5:7–11}}</ref>{{sfn|Allen|2008|p=362}}

When Christians began interpreting Job 19:23–29<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|19:23–29}}</ref> (verses concerning a "redeemer" who Job hopes can save him from God) as a prophecy of Christ,{{sfn|Simonetti|Conti|Oden|2006|pp=105–06}} the predominant Jewish view became "Job the blasphemer", with some rabbis even saying that he was rightly punished by God because he had stood by while Pharaoh massacred the innocent Jewish infants.{{sfn|Allen|2008|pp=361–62}}{{sfn|Noegel|Wheeler|2010|p=171}}

] recorded that Job had prophesied the coming of Christ, and ] offered him as a model of right living worthy of respect. The medieval Jewish scholar ] declared his story a parable, and the medieval Christian ] wrote a detailed commentary declaring it true history. In the ], ] explained how Job's confession of sinfulness and worthlessness underlay his saintliness, and ]'s interpretation of Job demonstrated the doctrine of the resurrection and the ultimate certainty of divine justice.{{sfn|Allen|2008|pp=368–71}}

The contemporary movement known as creation theology, an ] valuing the needs of all creation, interprets God's speeches in Job 38–41 to imply that his interests and actions are not exclusively focused on humankind.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=150}}

===Liturgical use===
Jewish liturgy does not use readings from the Book of Job in the manner of the ], ], or ], although it is quoted at funerals and times of mourning. However, there are some Jews, particularly the ], who do hold public readings of Job on the ] fast (a day of mourning over the destruction of the ] and ] ] and other tragedies).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ou.org/holidays/tisha_bav_and_sefer_iyov/|title=The Connection Between Tisha B'Av and Sefer Iyov (Job)|publisher=Orthodox Union|date=2011-07-19}}</ref> The ] signs for the large poetic section in the middle of the Book of Job differ from those of most of the biblical books, using a system shared with it only by ] and ].

The ] reads from Job and Exodus during ]. Exodus prepares for the understanding of Christ's exodus to his Father, of his fulfillment of the whole history of salvation; Job, the sufferer, is the Old Testament icon of Christ.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

The ] reads from Job during ] in the first two weeks of September and in the Office of the Dead,{{sfn|Dell|1991|p=26}} and in the revised ] Job is read during the Fifth, Twelfth, and Twenty Sixth Week in ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bergsma |first=John Sietze |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950745091 |title=A Catholic introduction to the Bible. Volume 1, The Old Testament |date=2018 |first2=Brant James|last2=Pitre|publisher=Ignatius Press |isbn=978-1-58617-722-5 |location=San Francisco |pages=556–558 |oclc=950745091}}</ref>

In the modern ], the Book of Job is read during:
* 5th and 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - ''Year B''
* Weekday Reading for the 26th Week in Ordinary Time - ''Year II Cycle''
* Ritual Masses for the Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum - ''First Reading'' options
* Masses for the Dead - ''First Reading'' options

===In music, art, literature, and film===
], ''Job Mocked by his Wife'']]
The Book of Job has been deeply influential in Western culture, to such an extent that no list could be more than representative. Musical settings from Job include ]'s 1565 cycle of motets, the {{lang|la|Sacrae Lectiones Novem ex Propheta Iob}}, and ]'s use of Job 19:25 ("I know that my redeemer liveth") as an aria in his 1741 oratorio '']''.

Modern works based on the book include ]'s '']''; French composer ]'s ''Cantata From Job''; and Joseph Stein's Broadway interpretation '']'', based on the ] stories by ]. Neil Simon wrote '']'', which is a modern retelling of the Book of Job. Breughel and ] depicted Job visited by his wife. ] produced an entire cycle of ]. It was ].

Writers Job has inspired or influenced include{{original research inline|date=May 2015}} ] ('']''); Dostoevsky ('']'')<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rosenshield |first=Gary |date=2016 |title=Dostoevskii and the Book of Job: Theodicy and Theophany in "the Brothers Karamazov" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26633666 |journal=The Slavic and East European Journal |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=609–632 |jstor=26633666 |issn=0037-6752}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}; Alfred Döblin ('']''); Franz Kafka ('']''); ] ('']''); ] ('']''); Bernard Malamud; and ], whose book ''Footnotes to the Book of Job'' was a finalist<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ggbooks.ca/past-winners-and-finalists|title=Past GGBooks winners and finalists}}</ref> for the 1996 ] for poetry in Canada. Archibald MacLeish's drama '']'', one of the most prominent uses of the Book of Job in modern literature, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1959. Verses from the Book of Job {{bibleverse-nb|Job|3:14|9}} figure prominently in the plot of the film '']'' (1996).<ref>{{ cite book| title= The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film|volume=2 |series= Handbooks of the Bible and Its Reception (HBR) | editor-first= Rhonda | editor-last= Burnette-Bletsch | publisher= Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG | year= 2016 | isbn= 9781614513261 | page= 372}}</ref> Job's influence can also be seen in the ]' 2009 film, '']'', which was nominated for two ].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tollerton | first1 = David | author-link1 = David Tollerton | title = Job of Suburbia? A Serious Man and Viewer Perceptions of the Biblical Biblical | journal = Journal of Religion & Film | volume = 15 | issue = 2, Article 7 | pages = 1–11 | publisher = University of Nebraska | location = Omaha | date = October 2011 | url = https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol15/iss2/7}}</ref>

]'s 2011 film '']'', which won the ], is heavily influenced by the themes of the Book of Job, with the film starting with a quote from the beginning of God's speech to Job.

The Russian film '']'' also draws themes from the Book of Job.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moss |first1=Walter G. |title=What Does the Film Leviathan Tell Us about Putin's Russia and Its Past? |url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/159579 |website=History News Network|date=16 June 2015 }}</ref>

The 2014 Indian ]-language film '']'' ({{lit|Book of Job}}) by ] tells the story of a man who is losing everything in his life.

"The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)" is the final track on Joni Mitchell's 15th studio album, '']''.

In 2015 two Ukrainian composers Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko created the opera-requiem '']''. The premiere of the opera was held on 21 September 2015 on the main stage of the international multidisciplinary festival ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://2015.gogolfest.org/eng/programm/1247/|title=Program 2015|author=GogolFest|access-date=25 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202102315/http://2015.gogolfest.org/eng/programm/1247/|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 3rd episode of the 15th season of '']'', the lines of Job 3:23 are quoted by doctor Abby Lockhart shortly before she and her husband (Dr. Luka Covac) leave the series forever.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ER: Season 15 Episode 3 Transcript |url=https://subslikescript.com/series/ER-108757/season-15/episode-3-The_Book_of_Abby |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323135319/https://subslikescript.com/series/ER-108757/season-15/episode-3-The_Book_of_Abby |archive-date=2022-03-23 |access-date=2022-03-23}}</ref>

In season two of ''Good Omens'', the tale of Job and his struggles with good and evil are demonstrated and debated as the demon Crowley is sent to plague Job and his family by destroying his property and children, and the angel Aziraphale struggles with the implications of the actions of God.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/good-omens-2-tv-review | title=David Tennant, Michael Sheen Continue to Elevate Quality of Good Omens 2 &#124; TV/Streaming &#124; Roger Ebert | date=26 July 2023|author-first1=Max |author-last1=Covill }}</ref>

In the '']'' episode '']'', ], who is ], experiences a major crisis of faith. ] try to cheer him up by reading from the Book of Job, which only serves to demoralize Kyle even more, who despairs at Job's horrific trials by God to prove a point to Satan.<ref>], Season 5, Episode 6, "]". Directed and written by ].</ref>

In a series of (now deleted) cryptic ] detailing the story of an unconfirmed meeting with ], comedian ] makes allusions and references to The Book of Job, calling it his favorite book of the Bible. Dylan allegedly preferred ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Loofbourow |first=Lili |date=2021-09-16 |title=Norm Macdonald Never Stopped Bulls–tting |url=https://slate.com/culture/2021/09/norm-macdonald-death-anti-confessional-comic.html |access-date=2024-04-26 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author-first1=Ben |author-last1=Yakas |date=2015-01-22 |title=Here's Norm Macdonald's Magical Twitter Story About Meeting Bob Dylan |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/heres-norm-macdonalds-magical-twitter-story-about-meeting-bob-dylan |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Gothamist |publisher=New York Public Radio |language=en}}</ref>

===In Islam and Arab folk tradition===
{{Main|Job in Islam}}
Job ({{langx|ar|ايوب|Ayyub}}) is one of the 25 prophets mentioned by name in the ], where he is lauded as a steadfast and upright worshipper (]). His story has the same basic outline as in the Bible, although the three friends are replaced by his brothers, and his wife stays by his side.{{sfn|Noegel|Wheeler|2010|p=171}}{{sfn|Wheeler|2002|p=8}}

In ], Job's place of trial is ], a village adjacent to the ruins of ]. It was there that God rewarded him with a ] that removed whatever illnesses he had and restored his youth. Al-Jura was a place of annual festivities (four days in all) when people of many faiths gathered and bathed in a natural spring.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} In Lebanon the Muwahideen (or ]) community have a shrine built in the Shouf area that allegedly contains Job's tomb.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} In ], Job is known as {{lang|tr|Eyüp}}, and he is supposed to have lived in ].{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} There is also a tomb of Job outside the city of ] in Oman.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://sacredsites.com/middle_east/oman/tomb_of_prophet_job_salalah.html |title=Tomb of Prophet Job, Salalah |last= Gray |first= Martin |publisher= World Pilgrimage Guide |access-date= 3 August 2021}}
</ref>

==See also==
* '']'' by Carl Jung
* ]
* '']''
* {{transliteration|akk|]}}, the "Babylonian Job"
* '']''
* '']'', a play by ], loosely based on the Book of Job

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|25em}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Allen | first = J. | chapter = Job III: History of Interpretation |editor1-last=Longman III| editor1-first = Tremper | editor2-last = Enns | editor2-first = Peter | title = Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings | publisher = InterVarsity Press | year = 2008 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kE2k36XAkv4C&pg=PA361 | isbn = 978-0-83081783-2 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Blenkinsopp | first = Joseph | title = A History of Prophecy in Israel | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press | year = 1996 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6P9YEd9lXeAC&pg=PA166 | isbn = 978-0-66425639-5 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Brueggemann | first = Walter | title = Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes | publisher = Westminster John Knox | year = 2002 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dBJQ71RIpdMC | isbn = 978-0-66422231-4 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Bullock | first = C. Hassell | title = An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books | publisher = Moody Publishers | year = 2007 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QSGZbt7isfQC | isbn = 978-1-57567450-6 }}
* {{cite journal |author-last= Burnight |author-first=John | date= September 2021 |title=Is Eliphaz a false prophet? The vision in Job 4.12–21 |editor1-last= Shepherd |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Tiemeyer |editor2-first=Lena-Sofia |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=96–116 |doi= 10.1177/03090892211001404 |s2cid=238412522 |issn=1476-6728}}
* {{Cite book | last = Dell | first = Katharine J. | chapter = Job | editor1-last = Dunn | editor1-first = James D. G. | editor2-last = Rogerson | editor2-first = John William | title = Eerdmans Bible Commentary | publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company| year = 2003 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA337 | isbn = 978-0-80283711-0 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Dell | first = Katherine J. | title = The Book of Job as Sceptical Literature | publisher = Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin | year = 1991 |oclc=857769510 |isbn=978-3-11-085873-0}}
* {{Cite book | last = Farmer | first = Kathleen A. | chapter = The Wisdom Books | editor1-last = McKenzie | editor1-first = Steven L. | editor2-last = Graham | editor2-first = Matt Patrick | title = The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press | year = 1998 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=owwhpmIVgSAC | isbn = 9780664256524 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/hebrewbibletoday0000unse }}
* {{Cite book | last = Fiddes | first = Paul | author-link = Paul Fiddes | title = After the Exile: Essays in Honour of Rex Mason | editor1-last = Barton | editor1-first = John | editor1-link = John Barton (theologian) | editor2-last = Reimer | editor2-first = David | publisher = Mercer University Press | year = 1996 | chapter = 'Where Shall Wisdom be Found?' Job 28 as a Riddle for Ancient and Modern Readers | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sUb7EDXODOwC | isbn = 978-0-86554524-3 }}
* {{Cite book
| last = Fokkelman
| first = J.P.
| title = The Book of Job in Form: A Literary Translation with Commentary
| publisher = BRILL
| year = 2012
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LImUbvrCysoC
| isbn = 978-9-0042-3158-0
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Hartley
| first = John E.
| title = The Book of Job
| publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
| year = 1988
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=f-m5GnRjDckC
| isbn = 978-0-8028-2528-5
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Hartley
| first = John E.
| chapter = Job II: Ancient Near Eastern Background
| editor1-last = Longman
| editor1-first = Tremper
| editor2-last = Enns
| editor2-first = Peter
| title = Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings
| publisher = InterVarsity Press
| year = 2008
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kE2k36XAkv4C&pg=PA346
| isbn = 978-0-8308-1783-2
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Habel
| first = Norman C
| author-link = Norman Habel
| title = The Book of Job: A Commentary
| publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
| year = 1985
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=N9F1hkMuN0gC
| isbn = 978-0-6642-2218-5
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Hooks
| first = Stephen M.
| title = Job
| publisher = College Press
| year = 2006
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aJDCpR9qvuoC
| isbn = 978-0-8990-0886-8
}}
*{{Cite book
| last = Joyce
| first = Paul M.
| title = Ezekiel: A Commentary
| publisher = Continuum
| year = 2009
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LRepfsso2p0C&q=commentary+Ezekiel
| isbn = 9780567483614
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Kugel
| first = James L.
| title = How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now
| publisher = Simon and Schuster
| year = 2012
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iyjzHjnEJ8AC
| isbn = 978-1-4516-8909-9
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1 = Kugler
| first1 = Robert
| last2 = Hartin
| first2 = Patrick J.
| title = An Introduction to the Bible
| publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
| year = 2009
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=L8WbXbPjxpoC
| isbn = 978-0-8028-4636-5
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Lawson
| first = Steven J.
| title = Job
| publisher = B&H Publishing Group
| year = 2004
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x5lkMJ92gNwC
| isbn = 978-0-8054-9470-9
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Murphy
| first = Roland Edmund
| title = The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature
| publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
| year = 2002
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zKykx-9zf9EC
| isbn = 978-0-8028-3965-7
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1 = Noegel
| first1 = Scott B.
| last2 = Wheeler
| first2 = Brannon M.
| title = The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism
| publisher = Scarecrow Press
| year = 2010
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lNAWAgAAQBAJ
| isbn = 978-1-4617-1895-6
}}
* {{Cite book | last = O'Dowd | first = R. | chapter = Frame Narrative | editor1-last = Longman | editor1-first = Tremper | editor2-last = Enns | editor2-first = Peter | title = Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings | publisher = InterVarsity Press | year = 2008 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kE2k36XAkv4C&pg=PA242 | isbn = 978-0-8308-1783-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = Pihlström | first = Sami | chapter = Chapter 5. The Problem of Evil and Pragmatic Recognition | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9KCXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 | editor-last = Skowroński | editor-first = Krzysztof Piotr | title = Practicing Philosophy as Experiencing Life. Essays on American Pragmatism | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9KCXCgAAQBAJ | year = 2015 | publisher = ] | location = ] | isbn = 978-9-0043-0199-3 | doi = 10.1163/9789004301993_006 | hdl = 10138/176976 | pages = 77–101 }}. {{Dead link|date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.
* {{Cite book
| last = Sawyer
| first = John F.A.
| chapter = Job
| editor1-last = Lieb
| editor1-first = Michael
| editor2-last = Mason
| editor2-first = Emma
| editor3-last = Roberts
| editor3-first = Jonathan
| title = The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| year = 2013
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iePi5FO-bxAC&pg=PA25
| isbn = 978-0-1992-0454-0
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Seow
| first = C.L.
| title = Job 1–21: Interpretation and Commentary
| publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
| year = 2013
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOn3ZK2n0UUC
| isbn = 978-0-8028-4895-6
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1 = Simonetti
| first1 = Manlio
| last2 = Conti
| first2 = Marco
| last3 = Oden
| first3 = Thomas C.
| title = Job
| publisher = InterVarsity Press
| year = 2006
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PW_FPxKr9t4C
| isbn = 9780830814763
}}
* {{Cite book | last = Vicchio | first = Stephen J. | title = The Book of Job: A History of Interpretation and a Commentary | publisher = Wipf & Stock | year = 2020 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Piv4DwAAQBAJ | isbn = 978-1-7252-5726-9 }}
* {{Cite book
| last = Walsh
| first = Jerome T
| title = Style and structure in Biblical Hebrew narrative
| publisher = Liturgical Press
| year = 2001
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hGeXrcQTZ2kC
| isbn = 9780814658970
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Walton
| first = J.H.
| chapter = Job I: Book of
| editor1-last = Longman
| editor1-first = Tremper
| editor2-last = Enns
| editor2-first = Peter
| title = Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings
| publisher = InterVarsity Press
| year = 2008
| isbn = 9780830817832
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kE2k36XAkv4C&pg=PA333
}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wheeler |first1=Brannon M. |title=Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis |date=18 June 2002 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-4957-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIDZIep-GIQC |language=en }}
* {{Cite book | last = Wilson | first = Gerald H. | author-link = Gerald H. Wilson | title = Job | publisher = Baker Books | year = 2012 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Od8mk7QIO4AC | isbn = 978-1-44123839-9 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Wollaston | first = Isabell | chapter = Post-Holocaust Interpretations of Job | editor1-last = Lieb | editor1-first = Michael | editor2-last = Mason | editor2-first = Emma | editor3-last = Roberts | editor3-first = Jonathan | title = The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2013 | isbn = 978-0-19967039-0 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iePi5FO-bxAC&pg=PA488 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|translator-first1=Michael|translator-last1=Wise|translator-first2=Martin|translator-last2=Abegg Jr|translator-first3=Edward|translator-last3=Cook|year=1996|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation|publisher=Harper |location=San Francisco|edition=paperback|ISBN=0-06-069201-4}} (contains the non-biblical portion of the scrolls)
* {{cite book|first1=Stella |last1=Papadaki-Oekland|title=Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts of the Book of Job|ISBN=2-503-53232-2|publisher=Brepols|year=2009}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Book of Job}}
{{Commons category}}
* by David M. Betesh and the Sephardic Pizmonim Project
* at ]
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016133348/http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2701.htm |date=16 October 2011 }} English Translation is the 1917 ]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906131613/http://www.vts.edu/ftpimages/95/download/download_group10629_id432547.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.vts.edu/ftpimages/95/download/download_group10629_id432547.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |date=6 September 2015 |title=''Introduction to the Book of Job''}}
* {{librivox book | dtitle = Bible: Job | stitle = 18: Job }}

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{{Book of Job}}
{{Books of the Bible}}

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Latest revision as of 18:38, 20 January 2025

Book of the Bible For the Indian film also known as Book of Job, see Iyobinte Pustakam.

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Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522: dated to the 1st century AD, it contains part of Job 42 translated into Greek.

The Book of Job (/dʒoʊb/; Biblical Hebrew: אִיּוֹב, romanized: ʾĪyyōḇ), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonian Hebrew and Aramaic influences, indicates it was composed during the Persian period (540-330 BCE), with the poet using Hebrew in a learned, literary manner. It addresses the problem of evil, providing a theodicy through the experiences of the eponymous protagonist. Job is a wealthy and God-fearing man with a comfortable life and a large family. God asks Satan (הַשָּׂטָן, haśśāṭān, 'lit. 'the adversary'') for his opinion of Job's piety. When Satan states that Job would turn away from God if he were rendered penniless, without his family, and materially uncomfortable, God allows him to do so. The rest of the book deals with Job successfully defending himself against his unsympathetic friends, whom God admonishes, and God's sovereignty over nature.

Structure

A scroll of the Book of Job, in Hebrew

The Book of Job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the Elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the book's underlying editorial unity.

  1. Prologue: in two scenes, the first on Earth, the second in Heaven
  2. Job's opening monologue: seen by some scholars as a bridge between the prologue and the dialogues and by others as the beginning of the dialogues and three cycles of dialogues between Job and his three friends – the third cycle is not complete, the expected speech of Zophar being replaced by the wisdom poem of chapter 28.
    • First cycle:
    • Eliphaz and Job's response
    • Bildad and Job
    • Zophar and Job
    • Second cycle:
    • Eliphaz and Job
    • Bildad and Job
    • Zophar and Job
    • Third cycle:
    • Eliphaz and Job
    • Bildad and Job
  3. Three monologues:
    • A Poem to Wisdom
    • Job's closing monologue
    • and Elihu's speeches
  4. Two speeches by God, with Job's responses
  5. Epilogue – Job's restoration

Contents

Job's Tormentors from William Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job

Prologue on Earth and in Heaven

In chapter 1, the prologue on Earth introduces Job as a righteous man, blessed with wealth, sons, and daughters, who lives in the land of Uz. The scene then shifts to Heaven, where God asks Satan (Biblical Hebrew: הַשָּׂטָן, romanized: haśśāṭān, lit.'the adversary') for his opinion of Job's piety. Satan accuses Job of being pious only because he believes God is responsible for his happiness; if God were to take away everything that Job has, then he would surely curse God.

God gives Satan permission to strip Job of his wealth and kill his children and servants, but Job nonetheless praises God:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

In chapter 2, God further allows Satan to afflict Job's body with disfiguring and painful boils. As Job sits in the ashes of his former estate, his wife prompts him to "curse God, and die", but Job answers:

"Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil?"

Job's opening monologue and dialogues between Job and his three friends

In chapter 3, "instead of cursing God", Job laments the night of his conception and the day of his birth; he longs for death, "but it does not come".

His three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, visit him, accuse him of sinning, and tell him that his suffering was deserved. Job responds with scorn, calling his visitors "miserable comforters". Job asserts that since a just God would not treat him so harshly, patience in suffering is impossible, and the Creator should not take his creatures so lightly, to come against them with such force.

Job's responses represent one of the most radical restatements of Israelite theology in the Hebrew Bible. He moves away from the pious attitude shown in the prologue and begins to berate God for the disproportionate wrath against him. He sees God as, among others,

  • intrusive and suffocating
  • unforgiving and obsessed with destroying a human target
  • angry
  • fixated on punishment
  • hostile and destructive

Job then shifts his focus from the injustice that he himself suffers to God's governance of the world. He suggests that God does nothing to punish the wicked, who have taken advantage of the needy and the helpless, who, in turn, have been left to suffer the significant hardships inflicted on them.

Three monologues: Poem to Wisdom, Job's closing monologue

Job and His Friends by Ilya Repin (1869)

The dialogues of Job and his friends are followed by a poem (the "hymn to wisdom") on the inaccessibility of wisdom: "Where is wisdom to be found?" it asks; it concludes in chapter 28 that wisdom has been hidden from humankind) Job contrasts his previous fortune with his present plight as an outcast, mocked and in pain. He protests his innocence, lists the principles he has lived by, and demands that God answer him.

Elihu's speeches

A character not previously mentioned, Elihu, intrudes into the story and occupies chapters 32–37. The narrative describes him as stepping out of a crowd of bystanders irate. He intervenes to state that wisdom comes from God, who reveals it through dreams and visions to those who will then declare their knowledge.

Two speeches by God

From chapter 38, God speaks from a whirlwind. God's speeches do not explain Job's suffering, defend divine justice, enter into the courtroom of confrontation that Job has demanded, or respond to his oath of innocence of which the narrative prologue shows God is well aware.

Instead, God changes the subject to human frailty and contrasts Job's weakness with divine wisdom and omnipotence: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Job responds briefly, but God's monologue resumes, never addressing Job directly.

In Job 42:1–6, Job makes his final response, confessing God's power and his own lack of knowledge "of things beyond me which I did not know". Previously, he has only heard God, but now his eyes have seen God, and therefore, he declares, "I retract and repent in dust and ashes".

Epilogue

God tells Eliphaz that he and the two other friends

"have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has done".

The three are told to make a burnt offering with Job as their intercessor, "for only to him will I show favour". Elihu, the critic of Job and his friends, is notably omitted from this part of the narrative.

The epilogue describes Job's health being restored, his riches and family being remade, and Job living to see the new children born into his family produce grandchildren up to the fourth generation.

Composition

Anonymous Byzantine illustration; the pre-incarnate Christ speaks to Job

Authorship, language, texts

The character Job appears in the 6th-century BCE Book of Ezekiel as an exemplary righteous man of antiquity, and the author of the Book of Job has apparently chosen this legendary hero for his parable. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonian Hebrew and Aramaic influences, indicates it was composed during the Persian period (540–330 BCE), with the poet using Hebrew in a learned, literary manner. The anonymous author was almost certainly an Israelite—although the story is set outside Israel, in southern Edom or northern Arabia—and alludes to places as far apart as Mesopotamia and Egypt. Despite the Israelite origins, it appears that the Book of Job was composed in a time in which wisdom literature was common but not acceptable to Judean sensibilities (i.e., during the Babylonian exile and shortly thereafter).

The language of Job stands out for its conservative spelling and exceptionally large number of words and word forms not found elsewhere in the Bible. Many later scholars, down to the 20th century, have looked for an Aramaic, Arabic, or Edomite origin, but a close analysis suggests that the foreign words and foreign-looking forms are literary affectations designed to lend authenticity to the book's distant setting and give it a foreign flavor.

Modern revisions

Job exists in a number of forms: the Hebrew Masoretic Text, which underlies many modern Bible translations; the Greek Septuagint made in Egypt in the last centuries BCE; and Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In the Latin Vulgate, the New Revised Standard Version, and in Protestant Bibles, it is placed after the Book of Esther as the first of the poetic books. In the Hebrew Bible, it is located within the Ketuvim. John Hartley notes that in Sephardic manuscripts, the texts are ordered as Psalms, Job, and Proverbs, but in Ashkenazic texts, the order is Psalms, Proverbs, and then Job. In the Catholic Jerusalem Bible, it is described as the first of the "wisdom books" and follows the two books of the Maccabees.

Job and the wisdom tradition

Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Proverbs belong to the genre of wisdom literature, sharing a perspective that they themselves call the "way of wisdom". Wisdom means both a way of thinking and a body of knowledge gained through such thinking, as well as the ability to apply it to life. In its Biblical application in wisdom literature, it is seen as attainable in part through human effort and in part as a gift from God, but never in its entirety—except by God.

The three books of wisdom literature share attitudes and assumptions but differ in their conclusions: Proverbs makes confident statements about the world and its workings that Job and Ecclesiastes flatly contradict. Wisdom literature from Sumeria and Babylonia can be dated to the third millennium BCE. Several texts from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt offer parallels to Job, and while it is impossible to tell whether any of them influenced the author of Job, their existence suggests that the author was the recipient of a long tradition of reflection on the existence of inexplicable suffering.

Themes

The Destruction of Leviathan by Gustave Doré (1865)

The Book of Job is an investigation of the problem of divine justice. This problem, known in theology as the problem of evil or theodicy, can be rephrased as a question: "Why do the righteous suffer?" The conventional answer in ancient Israel was that God rewards virtue and punishes sin (the principle known as "retributive justice"). According to this view the moral status of human choices and actions is consequential, but experience demonstrates that suffering is experienced by those who are good.

The biblical concept of righteousness was rooted in the covenant-making God who had ordered creation for communal well-being, and the righteous were those who invested in the community, showing special concern for the poor and needy (see Job's description of his life in chapter 31). Their antithesis were the wicked, who were selfish and greedy. The Satan (or the Adversary) raises the question of whether there is such a thing as disinterested righteousness: if God rewards righteousness with prosperity, will men not act righteously from selfish motives? He asks God to test this by removing the prosperity of Job, the most righteous of all God's servants.

The book begins with the frame narrative, giving the reader an omniscient "God's eye perspective" which introduces Job as a man of exemplary faith and piety, "blameless and upright", who "fears God" and "shuns evil". The contrast between the frame and the poetic dialogues and monologues, in which Job never learns of the opening scenes in heaven or of the reason for his suffering, creates a sense of dramatic irony between the divine view of the Adversary's wager, and the human view of Job's suffering "without any reason" (2:3).

In the poetic dialogues Job's friends see his suffering and assume he must be guilty, since God is just. Job, knowing he is innocent, concludes that God must be unjust. He retains his piety throughout the story (contradicting the Adversary's suspicion that his righteousness is due to the expectation of reward), but makes clear from his first speech that he agrees with his friends that God should and does reward righteousness.

The intruder, Elihu, rejects the arguments of both parties:

  • Job is wrong to accuse God of injustice, as God is greater than human beings, and
  • the visitors are not correct either; for suffering, far from being a punishment, may "rescue the afflicted from their affliction".

That is, suffering can make those afflicted more amenable to revelation – literally, "open their ears" (Job 36:15).

Chapter 28, the Poem (or Hymn) to Wisdom, introduces another theme: Divine wisdom. The hymn does not place any emphasis on retributive justice, stressing instead the inaccessibility of wisdom. Wisdom cannot be invented or purchased, it says; God alone knows the meaning of the world, and he grants it only to those who live in reverence before him. God possesses wisdom because he grasps the complexities of the world (Job 28:24–26) – a theme which anticipates God's speech in chapters 38–41, with its repeated refrain "Where were you when ...?"

When God finally speaks he neither explains the reason for Job's suffering (known to the reader to be unjust, from the prologue set in heaven) nor defends his justice. The first speech focuses on his role in maintaining order in the universe: The list of things that God does and Job cannot do demonstrates divine wisdom because order is the heart of wisdom. Job then confesses his lack of wisdom, meaning his lack of understanding of the workings of the cosmos and of the ability to maintain it. The second speech concerns God's role in controlling the formidable 'behemoth' and 'leviathan'.

Job's reply to God's final speech is longer than his first and more complicated. The usual view is that he admits to being wrong to challenge God and now repents "in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6), but the Hebrew is difficult: An alternative reading is that Job says he was wrong to repent and mourn, and does not retract any of his arguments.

In the concluding part of the frame narrative God restores and increases Job's prosperity, indicating that the divine policy on retributive justice remains unchanged.

Influence and interpretation

History of interpretation

A carved wooden figure of Job. Probably from Germany, 1750–1850 CE. The Wellcome Collection, London

In the Second Temple period (500 BCE–70 CE), the character of Job began to be transformed into something more patient and steadfast, with his suffering a test of virtue and a vindication of righteousness for the glory of God. The process of "sanctifying" Job began with the Greek Septuagint translation (c. 200 BCE) and was furthered in the apocryphal Testament of Job (1st century BCE–1st century CE), which makes him the hero of patience. This reading pays little attention to the Job of the dialogue sections of the book, but it was the tradition taken up by the Epistle of James in the New Testament, which presents Job as one whose patience and endurance should be emulated by believers (James 5:7–11).

When Christians began interpreting Job 19:23–29 (verses concerning a "redeemer" who Job hopes can save him from God) as a prophecy of Christ, the predominant Jewish view became "Job the blasphemer", with some rabbis even saying that he was rightly punished by God because he had stood by while Pharaoh massacred the innocent Jewish infants.

Augustine of Hippo recorded that Job had prophesied the coming of Christ, and Pope Gregory I offered him as a model of right living worthy of respect. The medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides declared his story a parable, and the medieval Christian Thomas Aquinas wrote a detailed commentary declaring it true history. In the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther explained how Job's confession of sinfulness and worthlessness underlay his saintliness, and John Calvin's interpretation of Job demonstrated the doctrine of the resurrection and the ultimate certainty of divine justice.

The contemporary movement known as creation theology, an ecological theology valuing the needs of all creation, interprets God's speeches in Job 38–41 to imply that his interests and actions are not exclusively focused on humankind.

Liturgical use

Jewish liturgy does not use readings from the Book of Job in the manner of the Pentateuch, Prophets, or Five Megillot, although it is quoted at funerals and times of mourning. However, there are some Jews, particularly the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, who do hold public readings of Job on the Tisha B'Av fast (a day of mourning over the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies). The cantillation signs for the large poetic section in the middle of the Book of Job differ from those of most of the biblical books, using a system shared with it only by Psalms and Proverbs.

The Eastern Orthodox Church reads from Job and Exodus during Holy Week. Exodus prepares for the understanding of Christ's exodus to his Father, of his fulfillment of the whole history of salvation; Job, the sufferer, is the Old Testament icon of Christ.

The Roman Catholic Church reads from Job during Matins in the first two weeks of September and in the Office of the Dead, and in the revised Liturgy of the Hours Job is read during the Fifth, Twelfth, and Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

In the modern Roman Rite, the Book of Job is read during:

  • 5th and 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
  • Weekday Reading for the 26th Week in Ordinary Time - Year II Cycle
  • Ritual Masses for the Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum - First Reading options
  • Masses for the Dead - First Reading options

In music, art, literature, and film

Georges de La Tour, Job Mocked by his Wife

The Book of Job has been deeply influential in Western culture, to such an extent that no list could be more than representative. Musical settings from Job include Orlande de Lassus's 1565 cycle of motets, the Sacrae Lectiones Novem ex Propheta Iob, and George Frideric Handel's use of Job 19:25 ("I know that my redeemer liveth") as an aria in his 1741 oratorio Messiah.

Modern works based on the book include Ralph Vaughan Williams's Job: A Masque for Dancing; French composer Darius Milhaud's Cantata From Job; and Joseph Stein's Broadway interpretation Fiddler on the Roof, based on the Tevye the Dairyman stories by Sholem Aleichem. Neil Simon wrote God's Favorite, which is a modern retelling of the Book of Job. Breughel and Georges de La Tour depicted Job visited by his wife. William Blake produced an entire cycle of illustrations for the book. It was adapted for Australian radio in 1939.

Writers Job has inspired or influenced include John Milton (Samson Agonistes); Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov); Alfred Döblin (Berlin Alexanderplatz); Franz Kafka (The Trial); Carl Jung (Answer to Job); Joseph Roth (Job); Bernard Malamud; and Elizabeth Brewster, whose book Footnotes to the Book of Job was a finalist for the 1996 Governor General's Award for poetry in Canada. Archibald MacLeish's drama JB, one of the most prominent uses of the Book of Job in modern literature, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1959. Verses from the Book of Job 3:14 figure prominently in the plot of the film Mission: Impossible (1996). Job's influence can also be seen in the Coen brothers' 2009 film, A Serious Man, which was nominated for two Academy Awards.

Terrence Malick's 2011 film The Tree of Life, which won the Palme d'Or, is heavily influenced by the themes of the Book of Job, with the film starting with a quote from the beginning of God's speech to Job.

The Russian film Leviathan also draws themes from the Book of Job.

The 2014 Indian Malayalam-language film Iyobinte Pusthakam (lit. 'Book of Job') by Amal Neerad tells the story of a man who is losing everything in his life.

"The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)" is the final track on Joni Mitchell's 15th studio album, Turbulent Indigo.

In 2015 two Ukrainian composers Roman Grygoriv and Illia Razumeiko created the opera-requiem IYOV. The premiere of the opera was held on 21 September 2015 on the main stage of the international multidisciplinary festival Gogolfest.

In the 3rd episode of the 15th season of ER, the lines of Job 3:23 are quoted by doctor Abby Lockhart shortly before she and her husband (Dr. Luka Covac) leave the series forever.

In season two of Good Omens, the tale of Job and his struggles with good and evil are demonstrated and debated as the demon Crowley is sent to plague Job and his family by destroying his property and children, and the angel Aziraphale struggles with the implications of the actions of God.

In the South Park episode Cartmanland, Kyle Broflovski, who is Jewish, experiences a major crisis of faith. His parents try to cheer him up by reading from the Book of Job, which only serves to demoralize Kyle even more, who despairs at Job's horrific trials by God to prove a point to Satan.

In a series of (now deleted) cryptic tweets detailing the story of an unconfirmed meeting with Bob Dylan, comedian Norm Macdonald makes allusions and references to The Book of Job, calling it his favorite book of the Bible. Dylan allegedly preferred Ecclesiastes.

In Islam and Arab folk tradition

Main article: Job in Islam

Job (Arabic: ايوب, romanizedAyyub) is one of the 25 prophets mentioned by name in the Quran, where he is lauded as a steadfast and upright worshipper (Q.38:44). His story has the same basic outline as in the Bible, although the three friends are replaced by his brothers, and his wife stays by his side.

In Palestinian folklore, Job's place of trial is Al-Jura, a village adjacent to the ruins of Ascalon. It was there that God rewarded him with a Fountain of Youth that removed whatever illnesses he had and restored his youth. Al-Jura was a place of annual festivities (four days in all) when people of many faiths gathered and bathed in a natural spring. In Lebanon the Muwahideen (or Druze) community have a shrine built in the Shouf area that allegedly contains Job's tomb. In Turkey, Job is known as Eyüp, and he is supposed to have lived in Şanlıurfa. There is also a tomb of Job outside the city of Salalah in Oman.

See also

Notes

  1. Chapter 28, previously read as part of the speech of Job, is now regarded by most scholars as a separate interlude in the narrator's voice.
  2. The Hebrew words behemoth and leviathan are sometimes naturalistically translated as the 'hippopotamus' and 'crocodile', but more probably representing more ominous primeval cosmic monsters or chaotic forces, in either case demonstrating God's wisdom and power.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Hartley 1988, p. 3.
  2. Edward L. Greenstein (2019). Job: A New Translation. Yale University Press. p. xxvii. ISBN 9780300163766. Determining the time and place of the book's composition is bound up with the nature of the book's language. The Hebrew prose of the frame tale, notwithstanding many classic features, shows that it was composed in the post-Babylonian era (after 540 BCE). The poetic core of the book is written in a highly literate and literary Hebrew, the eccentricities and occasional clumsiness of which suggest that Hebrew was a learned and not native language of the poet. The numerous words and grammatical shadings of Aramaic spread throughout the mainly Hebrew text of Job make a setting in the Persian era (approximately 540-330) fairly certain, for it was only in that period that Aramaic became a major language throughout the Levant. The poet depends on an audience that will pick up on subtle signs of Aramaic.
  3. ^ Lawson 2004, p. 11.
  4. Bullock 2007, p. 87.
  5. Walton 2008, p. 343.
  6. Job 1–2
  7. Job 3
  8. ^ Walton 2008, p. 333.
  9. Job 4–27
  10. Kugler & Hartin 2009, p. 191.
  11. Job 4–7
  12. Job 8–10
  13. Job 12–14
  14. Job 15–17
  15. Job 18–19
  16. Job 20–21
  17. Job 22–24
  18. Job 25–27
  19. Job 28
  20. Job 29–31
  21. Job 32–37
  22. Job 38:1–40:2 and Job 40:6–41:34 Job 42:7–8
  23. Job 42:9–17
  24. Job 1:21
  25. Job 1:21
  26. Job 2:9–10
  27. Crenshaw, J.L. (2001). "17. Job". In Barton, J.; Muddiman, J. (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary. p. 335. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017.
  28. Job 3:21
  29. Job 16:2
  30. Kugler & Hartin 2009, p. 190.
  31. Clines, David J.A. (2004). "Job's God". Concilium. 2004 (4): 39–51.
  32. Job 7:17–19
  33. Job 7:20–21
  34. Job 9:13; Job 14:13; Job 16:9; Job 19:11
  35. Job 10:13–14
  36. Job 16:11–14
  37. Job 24:1–12
  38. ^ Seow 2013, pp. 33–34.
  39. Sawyer 2013, p. 27.
  40. Job 38:1
  41. Walton 2008, p. 339.
  42. Sawyer 2013, p. 28.
  43. Habel 1985, p. 575.
  44. Kugler & Hartin 2009, p. 33.
  45. Fokkelman 2012, p. 20.
  46. Edward L. Greenstein (2019). Job: A New Translation. Yale University Press. p. xxvii. ISBN 9780300163766. Determining the time and place of the book's composition is bound up with the nature of the book's language. The Hebrew prose of the frame tale, notwithstanding many classic features, shows that it was composed in the post-Babylonian era (after 540 BCE). The poetic core of the book is written in a highly literate and literary Hebrew, the eccentricities and occasional clumsiness of which suggest that Hebrew was a learned and not native language of the poet. The numerous words and grammatical shadings of Aramaic spread throughout the mainly Hebrew text of Job make a setting in the Persian era (approximately 540-330) fairly certain, for it was only in that period that Aramaic became a major language throughout the Levant. The poet depends on an audience that will pick up on subtle signs of Aramaic.
  47. ^ Seow 2013, p. 24.
  48. Kugel, James L. (2008). How to Read the Bible: A guide to scripture, then and now. Free Press. ISBN 978-0743235877.
  49. Seow 2013, p. 17-20.
  50. Kugel 2012, p. 641.
  51. Seow 2013, pp. 1–16.
  52. Jerusalem Bible (1966), Introduction to the Wisdom Books, p. 723
  53. Farmer 1998, p. 129.
  54. Farmer 1998, pp. 129–30.
  55. Farmer 1998, pp. 130–31.
  56. Bullock 2007, p. 84.
  57. Hartley 2008, p. 346.
  58. Hartley 2008, p. 360.
  59. Bullock 2007, p. 82.
  60. Hooks 2006, p. 58.
  61. Brueggemann 2002, p. 201.
  62. Brueggemann 2002, pp. 177–78.
  63. Walton 2008, pp. 336–37.
  64. Hooks 2006, p. 57.
  65. ^ O'Dowd 2008, pp. 242–43.
  66. ^ Seow 2013, pp. 97–98.
  67. Kugler & Hartin 2009, p. 194.
  68. Job 36:15
  69. Dell 2003, p. 356.
  70. Hooks 2006, pp. 329–30.
  71. Job 28:24–26
  72. Fiddes 1996, p. 174.
  73. ^ Walton 2008, p. 338.
  74. Job 42:6
  75. Sawyer 2013, p. 34.
  76. Walton 2008, pp. 338–39.
  77. Seow 2013, p. 111.
  78. Allen 2008, pp. 362–63.
  79. Dell 1991, pp. 6–7.
  80. James 5:7–11
  81. Allen 2008, p. 362.
  82. Job 19:23–29
  83. Simonetti, Conti & Oden 2006, pp. 105–06.
  84. Allen 2008, pp. 361–62.
  85. ^ Noegel & Wheeler 2010, p. 171.
  86. Allen 2008, pp. 368–71.
  87. Farmer 1998, p. 150.
  88. "The Connection Between Tisha B'Av and Sefer Iyov (Job)". Orthodox Union. 19 July 2011.
  89. Dell 1991, p. 26.
  90. Bergsma, John Sietze; Pitre, Brant James (2018). A Catholic introduction to the Bible. Volume 1, The Old Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. pp. 556–558. ISBN 978-1-58617-722-5. OCLC 950745091.
  91. Rosenshield, Gary (2016). "Dostoevskii and the Book of Job: Theodicy and Theophany in "the Brothers Karamazov"". The Slavic and East European Journal. 60 (4): 609–632. ISSN 0037-6752. JSTOR 26633666.
  92. "Past GGBooks winners and finalists".
  93. Burnette-Bletsch, Rhonda, ed. (2016). The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film. Handbooks of the Bible and Its Reception (HBR). Vol. 2. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 372. ISBN 9781614513261.
  94. Tollerton, David (October 2011). "Job of Suburbia? A Serious Man and Viewer Perceptions of the Biblical Biblical". Journal of Religion & Film. 15 (2, Article 7). Omaha: University of Nebraska: 1–11.
  95. Moss, Walter G. (16 June 2015). "What Does the Film Leviathan Tell Us about Putin's Russia and Its Past?". History News Network.
  96. GogolFest. "Program 2015". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  97. "ER: Season 15 Episode 3 Transcript". Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  98. Covill, Max (26 July 2023). "David Tennant, Michael Sheen Continue to Elevate Quality of Good Omens 2 | TV/Streaming | Roger Ebert".
  99. South Park, Season 5, Episode 6, "Cartmanland". Directed and written by Trey Parker.
  100. Loofbourow, Lili (16 September 2021). "Norm Macdonald Never Stopped Bulls–tting". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  101. Yakas, Ben (22 January 2015). "Here's Norm Macdonald's Magical Twitter Story About Meeting Bob Dylan". Gothamist. New York Public Radio. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  102. Wheeler 2002, p. 8.
  103. Gray, Martin. "Tomb of Prophet Job, Salalah". World Pilgrimage Guide. Retrieved 3 August 2021.

Sources

Further reading

  • The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation. Translated by Wise, Michael; Abegg Jr, Martin; Cook, Edward (paperback ed.). San Francisco: Harper. 1996. ISBN 0-06-069201-4. (contains the non-biblical portion of the scrolls)
  • Papadaki-Oekland, Stella (2009). Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts of the Book of Job. Brepols. ISBN 2-503-53232-2.

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Book of Job Wisdom literature
Preceded byProverbs Hebrew Bible Succeeded bySong of Songs
Preceded byEsther Protestant
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Succeeded byPsalms
Preceded by2 Maccabees Roman Catholic
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Preceded by3 Maccabees Eastern Orthodox
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