Part 9

[Sidenote: Job 7:20, 21] If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as thy target? And why am I a burden to thee? And why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity? For now I shall lie down in the dust, When thou shalt seek me, I shall not be.

[Sidenote: Job 8:1-2] Then answered Bildad the Shuhite and said,

How long will you speak these things? And the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind? Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?

[Sidenote: Job 8:3-6] If your children sinned against him, And he delivered them to the consequences of their guilt; You should earnestly seek God, Let him take his rod away from me, And let not his terror make me afraid, Then would I speak and not fear him, For in myself I am not thus fearful.

[Sidenote: Job 10:9-15] Remember that as clay thou hast fashioned me, And wilt thou again turn me into dust? Hast thou not poured me out as milk? And curdled me like a cheese? Thou hast clothed me with a skin and with flesh, And knit me together with bones and with sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favor, And thy care hath preserved my breath. Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; I know that this is thy plan: If I sin, then thou watchest me, And if I be just, yet I cannot lift up my head!

[Sidenote: Job 10:20-22] Are not the days of my life few enough? Let me alone, that I may have a little cheer, Before I go whence I shall not return, To the land of darkness and of gloom, The land dark as blackness, Gloom without a gleam or ray of light.

[Sidenote: Job 11:1, 7-9] Then answered Zophar, the Naamathite, and said:

Shall the multitude of words be unanswered? Can you find the depths of God? Can you reach the perfection of the Almighty? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than Sheol; what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth, And broader than the sea.

[Sidenote: Job 11:13-15] If you set your heart aright, And stretch out your hands toward him; If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, And let not unrighteousness dwell in your tent. Then you shall lift up your face without spot; And you shall be steadfast, and have no fear. And make your supplication to the Almighty. If you are pure and upright, Then he will prosper your righteous habitation.

[Sidenote: Job 9:1-7] Then Job answered and said: Verily I know that it is so, But how can a man be made just with God? If he be pleased to contend with him, He cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in mind and mighty in strength; Who has defied him, and remained unharmed? He who removeth mountains and they know it not, And overturneth them in his anger, Who shaketh the earth out of its place, So that its pillars tremble, Who commandeth the sun and it rises not, And on the stars placeth his seal.

[Sidenote: Job 9:16-20, 24] If I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he had heard my voice. He who crusheth me with a tempest, prey of And multiplieth my wounds without cause. He will not permit me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness, If we speak of the strength of the mighty, lo it is he! And if of justice, Who will summon him? Though I am righteous, my own mouth condemns me, Though I am perfect, it would prove me to be perverse. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covereth the faces of its judges; If not he, then who is it?

[Sidenote: Job 9:31-35] If I wash myself with snow, And cleanse my hands with lye, Yet thou plunge me into the filth, prove And mine own friends will abhor me. For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, That we should come together in judgment, There is no arbiter betwixt us, To lay his hand upon us both.

[Sidenote: Job 12:1-3] Then Job answered and said:

No doubt but you are the people, And wisdom shall die with you! But I have a mind as well as you, And who does not know these things?

[Sidenote: Job 13:7-12] Will you speak what is wrong for God? And will you talk deceitfully for him? Will you show favor to him? Will you contend for God? Would it be well, should he search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him? He will surely reprove you, If secretly you show favor. Shall not his majesty overawe you, And dread of him fall upon you? Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, Your defences are defences of clay!

[Sidenote: Job 13:13-18] Hold your peace that I may speak, And let come to me what will. I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hand. Behold he will slay me; I have no hope, But I will defend my ways before him. No godless man would come before him. Give careful heed to my speech, And let my declaration be in your ears. Behold now, I have prepared my case, I know that I shall be justified.

[Sidenote: Job 13:21-25] Withdraw thy hand far from me; And let not thy terror make me afraid. Then call and I will answer, Or let me speak, and answer thou me. How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why dost thou hide thy face, And regard me as thine enemy? Wilt thou harass a wind blown leaf? And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

[Sidenote: 14:7-10] For there is hope of a tree, If it will be cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its shoot will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth, And its stock die in the ground; By the scent of water it will bud, And put forth its branches like a plant. But man dies and is laid low: Yea, a man expires, and where is he?

[Sidenote: Job 14:13-15, 18, 19] Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in Sheol, That thou wouldst keep me in secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldst appoint over me a time, and remember me! If a man might die, shall he live again! All the days of my hard service would I wait, Until my release should come. Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. But the mountain surely falls, And the rock moves from its place, The water wears away the stones, Its floods wash away the dust of the earth.

[Sidenote: Job 15:4-6] Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said:

Verily, you do away with the fear of God, And hinder devotion before God. For your wickedness inspires your speech, And you choose the tongue of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; And your own lips testify against you.

[Sidenote: Job 16:1-3a, 4b] Then answered Job and said:

I have heard many such things; Troublesome comforters are you all. Is there no end to vain words? If you were only in my place, I could join words together against you!

[Sidenote: Job 16:11-13a] God delivereth me to the ungodly, And casteth me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, and he shattered me, He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces, He hath also set me up as his target, His arrows encompass me round about.

[Sidenote Job 16:18-21] O earth, cover not my blood, And let my cry have no resting place. Even now behold my witness is in the heaven, And he who voucheth for me is on high. He will be found to be my friend, To God my eye pours out its tears. And he will maintain the right of a man with God, And between a man and his neighbor!

[Sidenote: Job 18:1, 5-7] Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

The light of the wicked is put out, And the flame of his fire does not shine, The light is darkened in his tent, And his light above him is put out. The steps of his strength are shortened, And his own counsel shall cast him down.

[Sidenote: Job 19:13-16] Then Job answered and said:

My brothers keep far from me, And my acquaintances are like strangers to me. My kinsmen have ceased to know me, Even the guests in my house have forgotten me. My maids regard me as a stranger, I am an alien in their sight.

[Sidenote: Job 19:23-27] Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron pen and lead They were engraved in a rock forever! But I indeed know that my Vindicator liveth, And at last he will stand upon the earth: And after this, my skin, is destroyed, Then I shall behold God, Whom I myself shall see on my side, Mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger.

[Sidenote: Job 20:1-4] Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:

Not so do my thoughts give answer to me, Because of this my haste is mine! I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame; But with wind void of understanding you answer me. Have you not known this from of old, Since man was placed upon the earth, That the exulting of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment?

[Sidenote: Job: 21:1, 7-8] Then answered Job and said: Why do the wicked live, Grow old, and attain great power? Their descendants are established in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes. Their households are secure from terror, And the rod of God is not upon them.

[Sidenote: Job 22:1-6] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said, Is a man of any account to God? Surely a wise man is of account to himself. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to him that you are upright? Is it because of your fear of him that he reproveth you, That he entereth into judgment with you? Is not your wickedness great? And there is no end to your iniquities.

[Sidenote: Job 22:26, 27, 28] If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents. You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, And you shall pay your vows. You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you. And light shall shine upon your ways.

[Sidenote: Job 23:1-6] Then Job answered and said,

Even now my complaint is bitter, My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his throne! I would set forth my cause before him, And fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, And understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? Verily he would give heed to me.

[Sidenote: Job 25:1-4] Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

Dominion and terror are with him; He maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number to his armies? And upon whom does not his light arise? How then can man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?

[Sidenote: Job 26:1, 27:2, 4, 5] Then Job answered and said,

As God liveth, who hath taken away my right, And the Almighty, who hath made my life bitter, Surely my lips do not speak unrighteousness, Nor does my tongue utter falsehood, Far be it from me that I should grant that you are right; Until I die I will not give up my innocence.

[Sidenote: Job 27:7-9] [Then Zophar answered and said]:

Let mine enemy be as the wicked, And let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the godless, When God requireth his life? Will God hear his cry, When trouble comes upon him?

[Sidenote: Job 29:1-5] And Job again took up his parable and said,

Oh, that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me, When his lamp shined upon my head, And by his light I walked through darkness; As I was in the prime of my life, When God put a covering over my tent, When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were about me.

[Sidenote: Job 30:16-21] But now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have taken hold of me. The night bores through my bones, And my gnawing pains rest not. By reason of great wasting my garment is crumpled together; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes. I cry to thee but thou dost not answer me. I stand up, but thou dost not regard me. Thou art turned to be cruel to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.

[Sidenote: Job 31:5-8] If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot has hasted to deceit; Let me be weighed in a just balance, That God may know my integrity. If my step has turned out of the way, And my heart followed my inclination, And if any spot besmirches my hands; Then let me sow, and let another eat, And let the produce of my field be uprooted.

[Sidenote: Job 31:35-37] Oh, that there was someone to hear me! See, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it to me as a crown; I would declare to him the number of my steps, As a prince would I draw near to him.

[Sidenote: Job 38:2-7] Then Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, and said,

Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words that lack knowledge? Gird up thy loins now like a man, And let me ask of thee and inform thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who determined its measures that thou knowest? Or who stretched out the line upon it? On what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its corner-stone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

[Sidenote: Job 38:8-11] Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it broke forth, and issued out of the womb; When I made clouds its garments, And thick mists its swaddling-bands, And marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors, And said, Here shalt thou come, but no further; And here shall thy proud waves stop?

[Sidenote: Job 38:39-41] Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, And abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth at evening his prey, When his young ones cry to God, And wander to seek for food?

[Sidenote: Job 40:8,9] Will the fault-finder contend with the Almighty? He who argueth with God, let him answer it. Wilt thou even annul my judgment? Condemn me, that thou mayest be justified, Or hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

[Sidenote: Job 42:1, 2, 3, 5, 6] Then Job answered Jehovah and said:

I know that thou canst do all things, And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. Therefore, I have uttered that which I did not understand; Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, But now mine eye seeth thee, Therefore I loath [my words], And repent in dust and ashes.

I. The Structure of the Book of Job. Like most of the books of the Old Testament, Job is, without reasonable doubt, the work of several different writers. The prose introduction (1-2), with its corresponding conclusion (42:7-17), was probably once an independent story. The words of Jehovah in the epilogue (42:7) clearly implies that, as in 1 and 2, Job had endured the test and had meekly submitted to the afflictions which Satan, with the divine approval, had sent upon him, and that on the other hand his friends, like his wife, had urged him to curse God and die. The language and phrases of this prose story are radically different from those in the poem which constitutes the main body of the book. The unique explanation of why Job was afflicted that is given in the opening chapters is also completely ignored in the poetic dialogues (3-31). Likewise the problem of whether or not Job fears God for naught, raised in the prologue, is not taken up again except in the concluding prose epilogue. In the prose story Job's piety conforms to the popular standards, while in the poetic sections he is measured by the loftier ethical principles laid down by the pre-exilic prophets (cf. chap. 31). In form, therefore, in aim, and in content, the prose story differs fundamentally from the great dramatic poem which constitutes the real book of Job. The main body of the book is found in chapters 3-27, 29-31, 38:1-40:14, and 42:1-6. At a few points the original order has apparently been disarranged and later hands have frequently supplemented the older sections, but the literary unity of the whole is obvious. In three cycles of speeches the problem of innocent suffering is fully developed and the current solutions presented. In conclusion the voice of Jehovah comes to Job calling him forth from himself to the contemplation of the larger universe which manifests the divine wisdom and rulership.

The Elihu speeches in 32-37 are evidently from a still later author or authors who wished to rebuke Job's seeming impiety and the failure of his friends to bring forth a satisfactory explanation of the suffering of the innocent. Its independence is shown by the presence of many Aramaic words, by the lack of literary vigor, and by the frequent repetitions, which distinguish it sharply from the writings of the author of the main body of the book. Elihu and his contributions are also completely ignored in the rest of the book and at points where, if they were original, certain references would be almost inevitable. These speeches, in fact, are simply a fuller development of the argument of Eliphaz found in the fifth chapter. They also incorporate many suggestions drawn from the speeches of Jehovah in chapters 38 and 39.

II. Dates of the Different Parts. The classic Hebrew style and the absence of Aramaic words indicate that the prose story is the oldest section of the book. It also reasserts in modified form the dogma current far down into the Persian period, that if the righteous but patiently bear affliction they will surely in the end be richly rewarded. It contains a message well adapted to the needs and beliefs of the Jewish people during the calamities of the Babylonian period. Its conception of Satan as the prosecuting attorney of heaven, and of Jehovah as a transcendental ruler surrounded by a hierarchy of angels, is closely akin to that which first appears in the second chapter of Zechariah. The references to Job in Ezekiel 14:14,20, as one of the three heroes of popular tradition famous for their piety, implies the existence during the exile of a story closely akin to if not identical with the one found in the prologue and epilogue of the book of Job. Such a story was probably current long before the days of Ezekiel, but in its present form it was not committed to writing until the latter part of the Babylonian or the beginning of the Persian period.

The first part of this story was evidently used by the author as an introduction to the great dramatic poem. He thereby deliberately protested against the solution of the problem of innocent suffering suggested by the ancient story. The poem itself cannot be dated earlier than the middle of the Persian period. In it the great ethical and social standards of the pre-exilic prophets are fully accepted. Its marvelous breadth of vision also implies an advanced stage in Israel's thinking. The problem of suffering with which it deals is not merely that of the nation but of the individual or of a class within the Judean community. It is precisely the problem that confronted the author of Malachi and to which he refers in 3:13-16. It is the same problem that bulks largely in the psalms of this period and finds its noblest solution in Isaiah 53. All its affinities, therefore, confirm the conclusion that it comes from the middle of the fifth century B.C. and is probably slightly older than Isaiah 49-55, which presents a more fundamental treatment of the problem of human suffering. The author still holds the old, prophetic conception of the universe (38:4-6), and is unaffected by the priestly thought and tendencies which became especially prominent during the closing years of the Persian period.

The Elihu speeches and the supplemental poem in description of wisdom in 28, and of the behemoth and leviathan in 40:15-41:34, probably come from the Greek period.

III. The Prose Story. In the prose story Job is pictured as a man of superlative piety and prosperity. According to the popular standards of the earlier day he lived a blameless life. His afflictions came simply as a means of demonstrating the unselfish character of his piety. In rapid succession he is stripped of all his possessions and afflicted by the vilest of all diseases, apparently the loathsome tubercular leprosy. Even his wife tempts him to curse God and die, but he fully meets the test, and, according to the testimony of the concluding epilogue, receives Jehovah's approval and is restored to the joys of family, reputation, and riches. It is obvious that, as in the stories found in the opening chapters of Genesis, this is a popular narrative freely adjusted to the ends which the story-teller wished to attain. The incidents recorded are not in keeping with the ordinary experiences of life, but belong rather to the realm of popular fancy. As a reference in Ezekiel implies, it was probably, like the similar stories regarding Noah and Daniel, a heritage from the common Semitic lore. In fact, a recently discovered Babylonian tablet tells of a famous king of Nippur, Tâbi-utul-Bêl by name, whose experiences and spirit corresponds closely to those of the hero of this prose story.

The message of the prose story of Job, as it was sent out to the Jewish race, was that it was not always possible to understand the reason why the righteous were afflicted, but that if they faithfully met the test restoration to Jehovah's approval, with the honor and reputation that necessarily follow, were assured. To the nation such a message was not without its practical application and value, but it failed completely to meet the individual problems that became pathetically insistent during the middle of the fifth century B.C.

IV. The Poem of Job. In the later poetic version of the story (which begins with the third chapter) Job himself is the embodiment of the problem of innocent suffering. His friends' suppositions and condemnations add still another burden to his weight of woe. More intolerable, however, than loss of possessions, health, and reputation is his sense of being forsaken and condemned by Jehovah. Job cannot shake himself entirely free from the belief, which had been inculcated in his mind from earliest infancy, that calamity was a sign of divine displeasure, and therefore of sin on the part of the victim. In the series of monologues and dialogues between Job and his friends he voices every phase of the great problem and makes it concrete and objective. With marvellous psychological truth and insight the author has presented the different phases of feeling through which an innocent sufferer in Job's position naturally passes. At times Job is intemperate in his speech and at other times he yields to despondency; again his faith overleaps all obstacles and he holds for the moment a clear belief in the ultimate vindication not only of himself but of Jehovah's justice.

His friends, on the other hand, formulate at length the current Explanation of suffering. Job in his sharp retorts makes clear the Inapplicability of the arguments and the limitations of the dogmas which they constantly reassert. In the concluding speeches of Jehovah the author with masterly skill takes Job out of his little circle into the larger world of nature, and brings him face to face with the evidences of Jehovah's might, wisdom, and gracious rulership of the great universe and of the complex life of those who inhabit it. Above all, Job learns to know God, not through the testimony of others, but by direct personal experience, and this knowledge begets humility and trust.