Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project

Aungel Williams

L26925355

BIBL 104

February 15, 2015

Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project:

Book

The Book of Job is a wisdom of literature. Some of the wisdom literature is from Ancient Near East that deal with the same philosophical questions as Job. The similarity of Job with the Mesopotamian pieces with the use of dialogue (Job 4-27), soliloquy (Job 3), discourse (Job29-41) and narrative (Job 1-2). The poetic skill may argue against Job being a stage play event though it may have been used in this way later on in history. The author is unknown and it’s more likely there were more than one author. The Book of Job does not equally state when it was written but there are three theories about the time of writing 700 B.C; 550 B.C; and 400-300 B.C; the place of writing is unknown. The three theories about Job are a historical figure who spoke all the words attributed to him, a literary creation by the author as teaching parable, and historical kernel adapted by the author to address certain issues. The key themes of Job is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central character, Job who attempts to understand the sufferings that surround him. The purposes of Job is to show the proper relationship between God and man that was based solely on the sovereign grace of God and man’s response of faith and submissive trust.

Person

Job is to be the earliest book of the bible. Job was born 500 B.C. in Uz, Ancient Arabia. Job is set during the times of the patriarchs. Job lived about 140 years after the book took place (42:14). Job wealth is measured in terms of livestock (1:3, 42:13) rather than silver and gold. He is the “blameless” and upright always careful to avoid going evil (1:1). Job uses the characteristic patriarchal name for God, “Shaddai” which is the Almighty. The Book of Job tells of a man who lost everything his wealth, his family, and his health. Job wrestles with the great question “Why.” The Book of Job deals...