Book of Job final

BOOK OF JOB (1400 B.C AUTHOR ANONYMOUS /UNKNOWN)

• Book of Job was one of the five poetical books in The Bible
• In Bible there are 66 books in total, out of that 66, 39 books come under Old Testament, 27 Books come under New Testament
• Job was God fearing and Upright man, He was the chief of Eastern region
• The land of Job was called UZ, it was between Palestine and Euphrates
• Job had 7 sons and 3 daughters, the daughters name were 1) Jemimah 2)Keziah 3)Keren Happuch
• The Friends of Job were Eliphaz – he was Temanite 2)Bildad – He was Shuhite 3)Zophar – he was Nana Mathite 4)Elihu –he was Bystander/Intervener
• In the beginning Job had 7000 sheep, 3000 camels , 500 oxen, 500 she asses
• In the Book of Job , God is called as Yahweh
• Theodicy , it means the question of Why God permits evil
• 7 days and 7 nights
• In the beginning there happens Satan and God challenge
• In a day, Job received four news
• 1)Oxen and She-asses of Job were killed by Sabeans attack
• 2)Sheep and Servants were killed by the fall of fire from Heaven
• 3)Camels were taken by 3 parties of Chaldeans
• 4)Sons and Daughters were killed by wind
• The wife of Job is Sitidos, second wife is Dinah
• Total chapters of Book of Job was 42 chapters
• 1 & 2 chapter Prologue in Prose(The first scene was on the Earth and the second scene was on the

Heaven)

• 3 to 41- full poem in verse
• 42- last chapter in Prose
• Out of 42 chapters in total, 39 chapters were in Verse and 3 chapters were in prose
• God’s first speech was in the chapter 38 and 39
• The second speech was in the chapter 40 and 41
• Dialogue between Job and God was in the 40^th chapter
• Job lived 140 years and Job saw 4 generations
• Book of Job was part of the Old Testament of Bible, it was a book in the Ketuvim(writings) section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)

Out of 66 books in Bible, only five were poetical books 1)Book of Job 2)Psalms 3)Proverbs 4)Ecclesiastes 5)Song of Solomon

• The first poetical book out of the five poetical books was Book of Job and it was the 18th book in the Old Testament
• Book of Job was great mystery of Human sufferings .Job was example for Adversary(Misfortune)
• Opposite of Job character in Bible was Solomon, He was example for Prosperity(Fortune)
• Job was referred in the other books in Bible 1)The Book of Jeremiah 2) The Book Ezekiel
• The Book of Job is in the form of Poetic Drama/Verse Drama
• The Book of Job has three parts 1)Prologue – 2 chapters (1&2) in prose 2)Full poem/ Debate- from 3 to

41, total 39 chapters are in prose 3) Epilogue – the last chapter 42, it is in Prose

• 39 Chapters in Verse and 3 chapters are in prose
• Tennyson said , “Book of Job is one of the greatest poems of ancient and modern times”
• Job is an eastern chief, he lives in the land of Uz, the land was between Palestine and Euphrates
• Job was an “God fearing and Upright man”
• Job has 7 sons and 3 daughters 1)Jemimah 2)Keziah 3) Keren Happuch
• In the beginning of Prologue, the first scene was in the earth, Job lives happily with his family and cattle
• In the beginning Job had 7000 sheep, 3000 camels , 500 oxen, 500- she asses
• The second scene in the prologue was in the heaven, it was discussion between God (Yahweh) and

Satan(at this time, satan has not become one of the fallen angels, satan was one of the angels of God)

• God boasts of Job’s loyalty to Satan
• Satan says , it is because of the blessings of God, “Skin for skin, A Man will give anything to save his life”-said by Satan
• Satan challenges God to test Job’s “sincerity and faith”
• Job’s sons usually drink and merry make in one of their houses, Job thinks it was unholy and so sanctifies them daily by giving a burnt offering /sacrifice for each child
• In a day Job receives four messages
• 1)Oxen and she asses were killed by Sabeans attack, a messenger escaped and told the news to Job
• 2)All sheep and servants were killed by fire , that was fallen from heaven , One of the messengers escaped and told the news
• 3)All the camels were taken by the 3 parties of the chaldens , one of the messengers told the news
• 4)7 sons and 3 daughters were drinking at the Oldest brothers house, the wind collapsed the house and killed them, one messenger told the news

Hearing these tragic news, Job worshipped the lord, then Job tore his dress, shaved his head and said.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked will depart”

• Inspite of all these sufferings, Job didn’t speak against God
• At the same time, In the Heaven God praises Job’s loyalty to Satan, Satan asked one more chance to test the loyalty of Job
• God accepts the request of Satan , and insisted Satan, he can test Job but he should not take his life
• This time satan, gave a cruel skin disease to Job, Job gets soreboils from foot to head
• Job scratched his sores with broken pottery
• The three friends of Job 1)Eliphaz –Temanite 2)Bildad- shuhite 3)Zophar – Nana Mathite
• These 3 friends came there to comfort and stay with Job , they stayed with Job for 7 days and 7 nights(Mourning without speaking any word)
• On the 7^th day, Job breaks the silence and speaks first ,Job curses the day he was born, comparing life and death to light and darkness
• Then Eliphaz says no one is righteous, wicked people suffer, he says he got this revelation from dream, everyone has sinned, Job also sinned, He says to Job to seek God’s favour
• Bildad says God doesn’t punish Justice nor act unrighteously, so he punished Job in right manner,

Job’s children brought their deaths upon themselves because of their sins

• Zophar says whatever he suffered is the least , he deserves more punishment
• Zophar says Job has to put away his wickedness and iniquity (immorality)
• “If he cut off and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him” quote from Book of Job- it was spoken by Zophar, here Zophar rebukes Job
• “And thine age, shall be clearer than the noonday thou salt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning” – said by Zophar
• Job got irritated by their advice and called them “Worthless physicians who white wash with lies”
• Job on the 7^th day says that he curses his birthday and wants to meet God, Job compares birth to light and death to darkness, when he was born, the darkness might have surrounded him at once
• Job said that if his misery could be weighed, Misery would be heavier than sand of the seas
• After the dialogues of Job and his friends , there is a poem, “Hymn to wisdom” in the form of monologue. It asks “where is wisdom to be found” and the poem ends “Wisdom is hidden form Man”
• In Greek version of Bible , Job’s wife name is Sitidos, the second wife name is Dinah
• Job wants to meet God or a mediator to talk otherwise he wants to be sent to Sheol(place of dead)
• Another friend Elihu intervened in the middle of the poem and says God forewarned Job against committing sin.

Elihu speaks at the last because he was younger(Junior) than others

• Elihu said God communicates with human in 2 ways 1)Visions 2)Physical pain(suffering)
• Elihu comes between the chapters 32 and 37
• “He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor” said by Elihu
• The God appears in the form of Whirlwind
• In which part of “The Book of Job” does God show Himself through the presentation of a panorama of

His creation? The Speeches of the Lord from the Whirlwind(PG TRB 19)

• Job could not see the God
• Elihu is just a bystander, not talking anything in the meeting between God and Job
• First speech of almighty appeared in 38 and 39 chapters
• God praised about his creations, especially two creations 1)Behemoth-Big animals 2)Leviathan – See monsters(Whale,Shark)
• The second speech of Almighty comes in the 40^th and 41^st chapters
• Dialogue between Job and Almighty appears in the 40^th chapters
• God’s questions are rhetorical (it is the effective way of using language)
• God is upset with , Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar for giving poor and theologically unsound advice
• Job interceded on their behalf and God forgives them
• Through out the sufferings Job believed there is a redeemer or witness, that is almighty
• Quotation “I know that the redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the later day upon the earth” said by Job
• The book of Job is universal book, it speaks of universal need, the agony of human self
• The central problem/theme of the book is “Why Just are suffering and unjust are flourishing”
• It also discusses Theodicy(why God permits evil)
• There is no solution for this question in the book, It says one should not question Gods moral government
• The moral of the book is God’s ways are inscrutable
• In the book of Job there are 3 monologues 1)Poem to Wisdom 2)Job’s closing monologue 3)Elihu’s speeches
• Job invited brother and sisters to his son’s birthday