Introduction to

Job

Overview

The book of Job prefigures the purposeful sufferings of Jesus Christ. That is, the story of God’s servant Job prepares us for the story of Jesus, the suffering servant who in his passion and death exhibits how innocent suffering can show forth the justice of God.

The drama of Job opens and closes with God’s blessings upon the righteous man Job (1:1–5; 42:10–17). Between the prologue and the epilogue, Job suffers the arrows of inexplicable divine providence. In two days he loses his wealth, his children, and his health. In the days that follow he loses his closest and wisest friends’ respect. He thinks he is losing his mind, and he wants to lose his life. While Job claims his innocence, his friends debate the nature of his offense against God (see the discourses and soliloquies of chs. 3–31). Surely such sufferings are caused by Job’s sin.

It is not until God speaks—first indirectly through Elihu (chs. 32–37), then directly (chs. 38–41)—that wisdom is found. Everyone is guilty but God. Job understands, or sees, this (40:3–5; 42:1–6), as do his friends (42:7–9). In the end (and as the book’s goal), the righteous sufferer is vindicated, sinners are atoned for through a costly blood sacrifice, and the sovereign freedom and justice of God is upheld.

Title

The book is named after its protagonist, Job. Rabbinic exegesis first noted the wordplay (without the vowel markings, added later to the original) on the name Job (Hb. ʼyb, later ʼiyyob) and the word enemy (Hb. ʼyb, later ʼoyeb). Job asks God, “Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?” (13:24; cf. 33:10). Perhaps the title is a double entendre, with the final twist in the title coming at the end of the drama: Job is God’s blessed servant, not his cursed enemy.

Author and Date

The author of the book is anonymous and unknown. What is known is that this book was written by an Israelite about Job, a non-Israelite. While the names of the book’s people1 and places are likely from southern Edom or northern Arabia, the drama is set outside the Promised Land (“east” of the Jordan River), and none of the key events of Israel’s history are mentioned, nevertheless the language (Hebrew), deity (the “God” of the dialogue in chs. 3–37 is Yahweh [cf. 1:21; 12:9], the personal Creator who speaks/reveals himself to his creation, chs. 38–41), and theology (cf. Proverbs’ teaching on the blessing of the wise vs. the punishment of the fool) clearly reflect Israel’s wisdom literature tradition. Thus it is reasonable to surmise that a wisdom sage from when wisdom writing flourished in Israel (from Solomon in the 10th century BC to Hezekiah in the 8th) or someone in that same tradition at a later date (C. L. Seow argues for a late 6th- to mid-5th-century composition) was the author.2 If the latter dating is correct, the story set in the patriarchal age (with authentic language and coloring)3 retells for exiled Israel the story of a life east of Eden and their own lives east of Jerusalem. Whoever the author, whatever the date of composition, and whoever its first readers, Job undoubtedly exhibits a timelessness and timeliness to its themes that transcends its original provenance.

Occasion

While we cannot be certain of the original author’s occasion for writing, the text’s theological themes suggest that he writes against a rigid and formulaic view of the OT retribution principle. Under God’s sovereign and free rule, there is more to life than “whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7), or, as Eliphaz phrases it, “Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8). Moreover, and more broadly speaking, the author writes to address “the age-old, universal issue of human suffering in the context of the infinite wisdom, authority, and righteousness of Yahweh.”4

Genre and Literary Features

Is the book of Job a drama, epic poem, dialogue, tragedy, lament, lawsuit, or all of the above? Whatever its precise genre or mix of genres, Job is a literary masterpiece!5 Its carefully designed structure supports its majestically high themes, while its imagery (“my belly is like wine that has no vent”; 32:19a), wit (“the bushes of the earth . . . will teach you”; 12:8–9), ironic prayers of personification (“O earth, cover not my blood”; 16:18a), dark humor (Job’s digging for death “more than for hidden treasures”; 3:21), light humor (Job’s couch easing his complaint; 7:13b), clever turns of phrase (“eyes to the blind”; 29:15a), biting sarcasm (“wisdom will die with you”; 12:2b), acrostic closures (14:1 begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, while the last word of 14:22 begins with the alphabet’s last letter), and eloquently structured prose (e.g., 1:13–19) make each line soar. Job’s story of human tragedy and divine comedy is enhanced by its realistic characters, its profound poetry, its courtroom scene, and its surprise ending.

Such rhetorical flourish leads some scholars to view the book as purely fictional, as an imaginary narrative with a moral point, much like Jesus’ parables. The extremities of Job’s sufferings and the book’s persistent poetic dialogue seem to support this view. Who suffers like Job? Who speaks in beautiful parallelisms when arguing or in imaginative imagery when scraping their wounds? (And who was there to record more than ten thousand words of elevated extemporaneous dialogue?) However, it is also possible that the book is historical, or at least that it contains historical elements. Even if poetic license is allowed (and it is allowed in the Bible’s wisdom literature!), a historical narrative is implied. The use of real names and places, as well as a seemingly real-life story (a story no more dramatically unrealistic than the Evangelists’ narratives of the creatures’ killing their Creator), support this view. Moreover, the references to Job in Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and James 5:11 seem to lend their God-inspired weight to understanding him as a historical figure. It makes best sense to see the book of Job as an embellished retelling of actual people and events.

Whatever the truth regarding the book’s historicity (for more discussion on this, see Interpretive Challenges), Job’s genre is primarily that of poetry (3:1–42:6). As such, it is important to grasp that the structure, imagery, and terseness of poetry intentionally slows the reader down so he might meditate upon and feel deeply the wisdom sage’s “words of delight” (Eccles. 12:10). We will explore further characteristics of Hebrew poetry in Preaching from Job, as well as explain and illustrate such characteristics throughout the commentary.

Theology of Job

If we understand something of the nature of God, humanity, and our relationship with God, we can grasp the basic theological import of the book. However, before we explore that major theological theme, it would be remiss to neglect the minor theme of major human suffering.

The Righteous Sufferer and Suffering Rightly

Although the book of Job was not written primarily to address the problem of evil or the issue of inexplicable suffering (as will be clarified, the book is concerned primarily with divine wisdom and our access to it), we can nevertheless learn from Job about how to suffer in a manner pleasing to God. It should come as no surprise that a practical model for suffering (Job) should be included in the Wisdom Literature of the Bible, for these books cover topics as practical as love (the Song of Solomon), the meaning of life (Ecclesiastes), and a host of other everyday topics ranging from money to marriage and from politics to parenting (Proverbs). From Job we can learn patience (chs. 1–2; cf. James 5:11),6 as well as how to offer impatient protest to God (cf. Job’s speeches) because we believe that (a) God is sovereign even over sufferings and (b) he will ultimately vindicate the righteous even if he never reveals the purpose behind the providential pains. Thus, as the earliest Christian interpreters noted (e.g., Justin Martyr, Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine), Job rightly serves the Christian church as an exemplar of faith. Indeed, the righteous shall live by such faith. Moreover, we can join the NT authors in relating the theme of suffering—notably, suffering for righteousness’ sake and the gospel—to participation in the sufferings of Christ, seeing it as an impetus to turn our hearts heavenward, longing for eternal life with our ever-living Redeemer.

Divine Wisdom via the Fear of God

In his “Some Thoughts concerning the Revival,” Jonathan Edwards wrote: “There is not so much difference, before God, between children and grown persons as we are ready to imagine; we are all poor, ignorant foolish babes in his sight: our adult age don’t bring us so much nearer to God as we are apt to think.”7 As it relates to the theme of human wisdom in the book of Job, Edwards’s thought is instructive. Humans can gain enormous insight about God, and yet wise Job’s story reminds us that we should know that we know so little. Like Job’s friends, we can plumb the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God only to learn, as they did (42:7–9), that we are still but poor, ignorant, foolish babes in his sight. We can climb the mountains of his unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways only to find ourselves not as near to God as we thought. We can dig deep into the recesses of human understanding and mine diamonds from the caverns of human existence, experience, and observation, but on our own we cannot find wisdom “from above,” from the one who “is above all” (John 3:31). We have “earthly wisdom” (2 Cor. 1:12), but the Lord alone has heavenly wisdom. He alone is wise (Job 28:23–27; 37:1–42:6).

God’s wisdom wearies us if we seek to grasp it through humanly means. Saving knowledge of the Holy One cannot be found within ourselves or by climbing Jacob’s ladder to peek our heads through the clouds. We cannot wrap our minds around the one who “wrapped up the waters in a garment” and “gathered the wind in his fists” (Prov. 30:4). We can see only flickers of light in the night sky, streaks of lightning that dance in the storm. And such light—momentary light—comes only through open eyes and hands and hearts, with faces to the ground.

“Where shall wisdom be found?” (Job 28:12; cf. v. 20) is not only a question central to Job’s story; it is the foundational question of the Wisdom Literature. The end of Ecclesiastes (Eccles. 12:13) and the prologue to Proverbs (Prov. 1:7) echo what Job illustrates: “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom” (Job 28:28). This wisdom from above comes only “to those who take refuge in him” (Prov. 30:5), to those who reaffirm John the Baptist’s attitude about God incarnate: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). The wise understand what the book of Job intends to teach: wisdom of God comes from fear of God.

Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ

According to the NT, the knowledge of God’s plan of salvation—the mystery of the gospel revealed (Eph. 1:7–10)—is found in Christ and his cross. Christ, in whom are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom (Col. 2:2–3), brings “wisdom from above”; he brings God’s peaceable, gentle, merciful wisdom (James 3:17) down to earth. And such wisdom was demonstrated through Christ’s growth in wisdom and his teaching of wisdom (Luke 2:40, 52; Matt. 13:54) and ultimately through his sacrificial death:

The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor. 1:18–24)

Paul’s argument is that those who trust that God through the crucifixion made Christ to be “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30) appear foolish to the unwise—to the overly-wise-in-its-own-eyes—world. Yet he is no fool who abandons human pride and power to find the “secret and hidden wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 2:7) now revealed in “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). The seeming folly of a crucified God is God’s wisdom perfected. That is where wisdom is ultimately found.

Christocentric Wisdom

In his commentary on Isaiah, Jerome wrote, “To be ignorant of the Scripture is to be ignorant of Christ.”8 Jerome was right. If we know nothing of the Word of God, we will know nothing of the Son of God. Put positively, the more we know the Bible, the better we will know the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jerome’s statement, however, can be reversed to make another point: “To be ignorant of Christ is to be ignorant of Scripture.” In John 5:39–40 Jesus rebukes the Pharisees: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” Life does not come through Bible literacy; life comes through Jesus. And a right understanding of Scripture comes through knowledge of Jesus and trust in him. As Paul wrote, “To this day, when they [unconverted Jews] read the [Old Testament], that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Cor. 3:14–16).

Such knowledge understands that just as every book of the OT adds light to our understanding of Jesus, so the revelation of God in the person of Christ enlightens our understanding of the OT. Martin Luther put it this way: “We can only read the Bible forwards, but we have to understand it backwards.”9 Jesus demonstrates this forward-backward reading of the Word in Luke 24:44, as he teaches his disciples how every book of the OT canon—the “Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms”—attests to his person and work, notably his death and resurrection. Most significant for our study is Luke’s mention of “the Psalms,” referencing the ketuvim, or “Writings,” which comprises eleven Hebrew books, the first being the book of Psalms and the last being Chronicles (1–2 Chronicles in English Bibles). In some ways the book of Job is about Jesus. In what ways, this commentary seeks to show. May Christ open our minds to understand Job Christocentrically.10

OT Salvation History

From Genesis to Esther, the Bible speaks of God’s saving presence in the world. In Job, however, notable references to that story are missing. There is no mention of the patriarchs, the exodus, the covenants, the Torah, or the tabernacle. Why? It is not that this book does not belong in our Bibles.11 Rather, the answer lies in a consideration of the genre of Job: it is wisdom literature (cf. Genre and Literary Features). As such, it joins Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon in addressing a covenant audience that knows God’s workings in the world but needs encouragement in walking “in a manner worthy of the Lord,” being “filled with . . . all spiritual wisdom” (Col. 1:9–10). In this way, the Wisdom Literature complements the salvation story. It provides practical theology and kingdom ethics for the redeemed. It teaches us who God is (more than what he has done) and how (more than why) we should live wisely.

Preaching from Job

Grappling with the Text

While the book of Job remains one of the most popular books of the Bible for artistic expression,12 media reference, and private devotion, it is neglected in the pulpit. There are valid reasons for this: its story is straightforward, but its text is complex. Job requires the modern preacher to understand ancient Near Eastern customs, poetry, theology, and language.13 And while there are a growing number of resources to help fill the knowledge gap,14 the task remains daunting.

Perhaps three simple suggestions will help the preacher tackle this tricky text. First, if one seeks to preach a short series on Job, then 1:1–2:13; 19:23–29; 28:1–28; 38:1–11; 42:1–6; 42:7–17 are six recommended pericopes for effectively encompassing the storyline, covering key themes, and diving into some of the profound poetry. A verse-by-verse exposition of the entire book is possible, but perhaps not profitable in a congregational setting. (Even John Calvin, in his 159 sermons on Job, did not cover every chapter!) That said, with Job’s linear storyline, this book can be preached in a linear fashion, beginning to end, section by section. For this reason, the material of this commentary is organized in possible preaching units along with possible sermon titles (cf. Outline), with many of the titles taken from the text itself.

Second, preachers should note the book’s narrative bookends. The beginning and end of the book of Job are key for rightly interpreting the characters’ words and actions. For example, because we know from chapter 1 that Satan, not Job, is to blame for Job’s calamities and from chapter 42 we know that Job has spoken rightly about the Lord, we are to read Job’s story and speeches sympathetically.15 Moreover, with the prologue and epilogue as our interpretive lens, we know we are not to read every word in the three friends’ discourses as inspired truth. It would be wrong to preach some of Zophar’s zings as direct applications to our contemporary contexts.

Third, expositors must preach the poetry with poetic sensibilities and a basic understanding of how Hebrew poetry works. Other than the prologue and epilogue, the book of Job joins the Psalms, the Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Lamentations in being a wholly poetic work.16 Thus, if we are to preach the book of Job, we must understand how to do so.

We must understand common poetic structures used in biblical poetry. For example, throughout Job there are hundreds of “couplets” (two-line units) and “triplets” (three-line units), along with a variety of parallelisms in which words, phrases, syntax, and even sounds (in the original Hebrew) correspond with each other, usually opposing or contrasting each other and often building thematically upon one another. For example, note the various grammatical and lexical parallels (synonyms and antonyms) in Job 5:18–20 (e.g., the similarity of the verbs “he wounds” and “he shatters”; v. 18):

    For he wounds, but he binds up;

    he shatters, but his hands heal.

    He will deliver you from six troubles;

    in seven no evil shall touch you.

    In famine he will redeem you from death,

    and in war from the power of the sword.

At times throughout the commentary, we divide the text to highlight parallel words or lines. For example 8:11, will be displayed like this:

Alongside poetic structures, we must also understand poetic imagery. The characters in Job use a variety of images to make ideas concrete, precise, memorable, lively, and engaging. Images expressed through the use of poetic devices—such as metaphor, simile, alliteration, apostrophe, assonance, personification, and hyperboles—add color and texture. If the poetic structure can be likened to the frame of a painting, then the picture painted by such poetic devices is the painting itself. And, like the frame-painting combination, no matter how artistic the frame might be, it is the painting and not the frame that is the focus. Our job in preaching the poetry in the book of Job is to recognize these images, sense them, understand them, and explain them.17

Preaching Christ

Most experienced preachers grasp how to preach Christ from the OT, but when it comes to the book of Job, even those most experienced among us have no idea how to travel from the text to “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1). Part of the difficulty is the lack of apostolic hermeneutical help. Job is quoted only twice in the NT (table 4.1),18 and these quotes offer no simple pattern of movement, as predictive prophecy does. Rather, they merely affirm OT ethics as they exalt God’s greatness.

The story of Job, however, does provide us with a narrative that relates typologically to the metanarrative of Jesus. The two “passion” narratives are strikingly similar:

TABLE 4.1: NT Quotations of Job

• There was a righteous man.
• This man, by God’s set purpose, was handed over to Satan-inflicted sufferings.
• This man, in his suffering, was mocked and mistreated.
• This man prayed for his enemies—for those who persecuted him.
• This man, after a costly and substitutionary blood sacrifice, became a priestly mediator between God and sinners.
• This man was fully and publicly vindicated by God.
• This man, in the end, was exalted, receiving honor and glory and power and wealth, even (seemingly) to a greater extent than what he first had.

The final chapter of Job reinforces this gospel-centered reading of the whole drama. Job 42:7–8 reads like a traditional gospel tract. In summary:

• Man has sinned against God. While Job’s friends thought themselves to be in the right, they were very much in the wrong.
• God is angry at sin, and rightfully so, for it is an assault on his name and glory.
• In his mercy, God deals with these sinners not according to their folly. It is through a blood sacrifice and an innocent man’s mediation that their sins are forgiven.

These typological connections have been recognized throughout the church’s history. For example, by the fourth century AD, the prologue to Job was used in readings for Holy Week. In fifth-century Syria, Severian of Gabala preached four sermons during the evening services on Job’s “passion” as foreshadowing Christ’s, and in sixth-century Constantinople, Leontius the Presbyter did likewise.19 The thirteenth- or fourteenth-century picture Bible Speculum Humanae Salvationis (“Mirror of Human Salvation”) and William Blake’s famous Illustrations of the Book of Job (1826) also depict Job as a type of Christ. Perhaps a modern liturgical, sermonic, and artistic recapitulation is in order.

Moreover, we see possible linguistic/theological connections between Job 42:7–8 and Jesus (Matt. 12:17–21//Isa. 42:1–4) in regard to the Isaianic “servant.” Certainly, lines in Job resemble some of Isaiah’s servant texts (Job 9:8a = Isa. 44:24d; Job 12:9b = Isa. 41:20c; and perhaps Job 16:17a//Isa. 53:9c; Job 26:12a//Isa. 51:15b).20 Based on such evidence, the question naturally arises in the Christian mind: Is what Isaiah foretold about the servant illustrated in Job and embodied in Jesus? Does Christ crucified demonstrate how an innocent man could suffer and yet God—in it and through it—could show forth his justice? Elsewhere I wrote on this possibility:

Job’s friends were not too far removed from those who cried out to our suffering Savior, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:40). The last picture they could imagine was a suffering servant. How could a suffering servant demonstrate the blessing of God? How could a suffering servant bring peace between God and man? How could a suffering servant defeat Satan and his schemes? How could a suffering servant be perfectly innocent and yet God perfectly just?21

Beyond typological connections, we can also make thematic connections, usually from—but not limited to—the teachings of Jesus. If we are struggling to find a way to Christ through a fulfillment scheme or a typological connection, perhaps there is something Jesus taught that can (a) summarize or (b) shed further light on a text from Job. After all, Jesus is the supreme wisdom teacher, both in person and method. So, for example, if a preacher is addressing a passage from “Job’s Third Test,” as we have labeled the ridicule of Job’s friends (Job 3–31), perhaps a good connection would be between the “steadfastness of Job” (James 5:11) in this final test and Jesus’ teaching on the necessity of Christian perseverance. In Revelation 1:10–3:22, Jesus speaks to the church then and now of patiently enduring (2:2), conquering (2:11), holding fast to his name (2:13), keeping his works until the end (2:26), and so on. We might also take such a theme a step further by relating it to Christ’s perseverance for our salvation (cf. Heb. 12:2).

A final way of making thematic connections is through contrast. For example, whereas Christ willingly suffered, Job did not; Christ’s sufferings and vindication conquered death, Job’s did not.

Interpretive Challenges

Is the Story of Job Historical?

Was there really a man named Job? Did he live in a land called Uz? Was he perfectly righteous with a perfectly blessed life? Did he in one day lose everything but his troublesome, unnamed wife? Did he have friends who sat silently for seven days? Did he then suffer the accusations of Eliphaz, the blame of Bildad, the zings of Zophar, and the admonishments of Elihu? Did God hold a heavenly chamber room conference with Satan at which he granted permission to afflict Job? Did God really speak audibly to Job? Are Leviathan and Behemoth real creatures? Put simply, did the author of Job create the whole drama out of whole cloth, much like Shakespeare did with his characters from foreign countries who speak in poetry?

The answer is not easy, and by no means should we be dogmatic. Who can know for certain? While Uz appears to be an ancient region, the names of Job’s daughters provide a tinge of historic realism (42:14), and Ezekiel mentions Job alongside Noah and Daniel (Ezek. 14:14, 20; cf. James 5:11), such clues do not solve the riddle. Authors often set fictional works in real places (e.g., the Canterbury of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales), and Ezekiel and James could be referencing Job as a literary figure (similar to our saying, “We should not emulate the Wife of Bath’s lusts”).22 Tremper Longman offers a helpful balance:

The truth may be between the view that Job was a historical character, with the book describing events of his life in detail, and the view that Job is a purely literary figure. Job could have been known as a particularly righteous person who suffered. His story would then lend itself to further elaboration for the purposes of discussing the issue of an innocent sufferer and wisdom. Indeed, the highly literary nature of the prose and poetry . . . would suggest that this at least is true. The genre signals help us to see that the book of Job is certainly not a precise historical report. It is either the elaborated story of an actual historical figure or of a literary figure.23

My view is that Job was a historical person, not a fictional character, someone whose legendary sufferings were the historical ground on which the author of Job built with magnificent literary flair. Thus, while I give poetic license to how the author retells the narrative (e.g., I do not take the speeches as verbatim reports of the interchange between Job and his friends), I take all of the characters named (including Satan) and the details of the story told (including the amazing catastrophes) to be historically accurate.

How Do We Read and Apply the Three Friends’ Advice?

In the end (Job 42:7–9), since God judges the friends’ words about Job to be wrong, this raises the question: Is all of what they say inapplicable to kingdom life? Put differently, is it possible to hear the inspired voice of God through the uninspired voice of tradition? While Calvin is correct that “there is nothing in their speeches that we may not receive as if the Holy Spirit had spoken it” (On Job 1.1), we must discerningly apply how much of it was intended to make us wise unto salvation and to train us in righteousness.

Certainly, parts of their anthropology are orthodox (Eliphaz in 4:17; 15:14–16; Bildad in 25:4) and thus worth echoing today.24 Moreover, much of their theology is God-saturated and God-centered. For example, when Job continues to bemoan his personal sufferings, Zophar seeks to turn Job’s eyes heavenward—to the infinite God and his mysterious workings (11:5–7). More to the point, Paul quotes Eliphaz’s words about God as truthful (Job 5:13 in 1 Cor. 3:19). So we ought to preach their lines on God’s incomprehensible nature, manifold wisdom, and great works, as well as his love for the righteous, punishment of the wicked, and corrective discipline toward his people. We can display the nuggets of gold found in the rumble of the wisdom of these fools.

What Is the Role of Elihu?

The character of Elihu is of special interest. As with the three “wise” men, we wonder if none, some, much, or all of what he says is true. Is he a long-winded, arrogant buffoon pushed on stage for comic relief, a wise prophet whose words we should heed, or something in between? If we misinterpret his four uninterrupted speeches (Job 32:6–33:33; 34:2–37; 35:2–16; 36:2–37:24), then obviously our instruction will be off. When we get to his monologue in the commentary, we will explore his role in greater detail (cf. esp. Response section on 32:1–37:24). For now, it is important to grab hold of three foundational facts.

First, neither Job nor Yahweh replies to Elihu. This is the only silent response in the book. Does God like what he hears? Does Job agree? We do not know for certain. However, since God offers no rebuke and Job offers no sacrifice on Elihu’s behalf, we should perhaps lean in a positive direction. Also, it is worth noting that Elihu is the only one of the four “comforters” to engage with Job’s actual claims and arguments (cf. 33:9–11; 34:5–6; 35:2–3), and, moreover, some of Elihu’s views are reiterated in Yahweh’s speeches. Therefore, might Elihu be like young Joseph (Gen. 41:38) or Daniel (Dan. 5:12, 14), offering his wisdom only after the world’s “wise” men (Job 34:2, 34; 37:24) have failed? Or does he more resemble a Jonah-like prophet—arrogant, angry, and eccentric—but one who nevertheless speaks with divine inspiration (32:8; 33:4)? Thus, does Elihu truly possess special revelation or divine wisdom (33:33)? And, despite his false accusations against Job (e.g., 34:36–37), does he rightly defend the justice of God (e.g., 37:23) and lead us forward to the fear of God (37:24)?

Second, what is certain is that Elihu shifts the focus from Job’s problem to God’s power. In this sense Elihu is an Elijah-like figure who prepares the way for the Lord. He prepares Job, as he also prepares the reader, to hear from God (chs. 38–41) concerning divine transcendence, an inexplicably mysterious providence, and absolute moral freedom. Such revelation is in a sense mediated (or at least introduced) in some of Elihu’s lines. Perhaps it would help to picture him as a talking temple. Before Job enters the presence of God, Elihu speaks to him of God’s awesomeness. Or, to borrow another OT image, he asks Job to take off his shoes before Job hears the awesome theophany.

Third, Elihu offers a unique theological contribution to the discussion. He introduces the idea of suffering as preparatory for purity (avoiding future sin). Moreover, and more importantly, he offers a theodicy (a defense of God’s justice) as he introduces the idea of Job’s sufferings as a divine test. In this way, he has stuck his head into the heavens. While he is not privy to the agreement between Satan and God in the prologue, he alone introduces the possibility of divine purposes beyond retribution for sin. Similar to Joseph’s sufferings under Pharaoh, it is possible that Job was not punished by God for any sin but that the sufferings were used by God ultimately to bring about a greater good. Elihu’s speeches, like Yahweh’s, offer no explanation for human suffering, and, like Jesus’ explanation of the blind man’s suffering in John 9:1–3, they point to the need to lean on God’s wisdom, not human understanding, and to believe that even through severe human sufferings “the works of God” might very well “be displayed” (John 9:3).

Outline

  I.  Prologue (1:1–2:13)

A.  Introduction: Once Upon a Time . . . There Was a Man (1:1–5)

1.  Job’s Person (1:1)

2.  Job’s Possessions (1:2–3)

3.  Job’s Patriarchal “Priesthood” (1:4–5)

B.  God’s Servant Given into Satan’s Hand (1:6–12)

1.  Into the Heavens (1:6)

2.  A Curious Conversation (1:7–8)

3.  The Challenger’s Challenge (1:9–11)

4.  Into Satan’s Hand (1:12)

C.  Job’s First Test (1:13–22)

1.  A Disastrous Day (1:13–19)

2.  Job’s Godly Response to the Loss of His Wealth (1:20–21)

3.  An Inclusio of Approval (1:22)

D.  Job’s Second Test (2:1–10)

1.  Into the Heavens, Take Two (2:1)

2.  Another Curious Conversation (2:2–3)

3.  The Challenger’s Challenge: Skin for Skin! (2:4–5)

4.  Into Satan’s Hand (2:6–7)

5.  Job’s Godly Response to the Loss of His Health (2:8–10)

E.  Introduction to Job’s Third Test (2:11–13)

1.  An Appointment to Show Sympathy (2:11)

2.  Sympathy, Solidarity, and Silence (2:12–13)

  II.  Job’s Third Test (3:1–31:40)

A.  Why Is Light Given to Him Who Suffers? (3:1–26)

1.  Let That Day Be Darkness! (3:1–10)

2.  Why Did I Not Die at Birth? (3:11–19)

3.  Why Is Light Given? (3:20–26)

B.  God Is Just; Are You, Job? (4:1–5:27)

1.  Get That You Are Guilty (4:1–21)

2.  Go to God (5:1–27)

C.  Three Arrows (6:1–7:21)

1.  The Arrows of the Almighty—into Job (6:1–13)

2.  The Arrows of Job—into His Friends (6:14–30)

3.  The Arrows of Job—into Yahweh (7:1–21)

D.  New Singer, Same Old Tune (8:1–22)

1.  A Concise Summary of the Retribution Principle (8:1–7)

2.  Such Theology Is Grounded in Tradition (8:8–10)

3.  Such Theology Is Supported by Observation (8:11–19)

4.  The Benefits of Submitting to the System (8:20–22)

E.  Can I Get a Witness? (9:1–10:22)

1.  Contending with God (9:1–35)

a.  Two Impossible Obstacles (9:1–10)

b.  The Problem with God’s Power (9:11–12)

c.  How Can I Answer Him? (9:13–21)

d.  He Destroys the Blameless and the Wicked (9:22–24)

e.  Unsatisfying Alternatives (9:25–35)

2.  Pleading to God (10:1–22)

a.  Five Questions (10:1–10)

b.  Order in the Court (10:11–17)

c.  Leave Me Alone (10:18–22)

F.  Some Zings from Zophar (11:1–20)

1.  An Exacting God (11:1–6)

2.  A Wise God (11:7–12)

3.  A Rewarding God (11:13–20)

G.  Hope for God’s Vindication? (12:1–14:22)

1.  Job’s Answer to His “Wise” Friends (12:1–2)

2.  The Hand of the Lord Has Done This (12:3–13:2)

3.  As for You (13:3–12)

4.  Job’s Hope and Prayer for Salvation (13:13–27)

5.  You Destroy the Hope of Man (13:28–14:22)

H.  Empty Words (15:1–35)

1.  Eating Away the Fear of God (15:1–6)

2.  Drinking In Sin (15:7–16)

3.  The Consequences of Such a Diet (15:17–35)

I.  Where Then Is My Hope? (16:1–17:16)

1.  Job’s Friends Are against Him (16:1–6)

2.  God Is against Him (16:7–17)

3.  Even Hope Will Not Lay in the Grave with Him (16:18–17:16)

J.  Bad Things Happen to Bad People (18:1–21)

1.  You Shut Up; We Will Speak (18:1–4)

2.  Indeed, the Light of the Wicked Is Put Out (18:5–21)

K.  Have Mercy on Me, Have Mercy on Me, O You My Friends (19:1–29)

1.  Tormented by Friends (19:1–6)

2.  Stripped of His Glory (19:7–12)

3.  Unloved by Loved Ones (19:13–22)

4.  A Glimmer of Hope (19:23–27)

5.  A Warning to the “Wise” (19:28–29)

L.  Heaven Reveals the Iniquity of the Wicked; the Earth Rises Up against Him (20:1–29)

1.  Zophar’s Understanding on the Matter, Revisited (20:1–3)

2.  The Short-Lived Joys of the Wicked (20:4–11)

3.  The Wickedness of the Wicked (20:12–19)

4.  The Prosperity of the Wicked Will Not Endure (20:20–29)

M.  The Inexplicable Blessedness of the Wicked (21:1–34)

1.  Mocking the Mockers, with a Tear in His Eye (21:1–6)

2.  The Wicked Prosper, You Idiots! (21:7–21)

3.  Will You Teach God Knowledge? (21:22–26)

4.  There Is Nothing Left of Your Answers but Falsehood (21:27–34)

N.  Accusation and Exhortation (22:1–30)

1.  Does the Almighty Concern Himself with Your Cause? (22:1–3)

2.  Job’s Ethical Iniquities; God’s Holy Judgments (22:4–11)

3.  Job’s Theological Naivety (22:12–20)

4.  Repentance and Restoration (22:21–30)

O.  Why Are Not Times of Judgment Kept by the Almighty? (23:1–24:25)

1.  A New Beginning; an Old Complaint (23:1–2)

2.  Looking for the Judge (23:3–7)

3.  Terrified about a Possible Encounter (23:8–17)

4.  What the Wicked Do; What God Does Not Do (24:1–12)

5.  Two More Hideous Sins to Add to the List (24:13–17)

6.  The Fortune and Fate of the Wicked (24:18–25)

P.  Bildad’s Brief Barb (25:1–6)

1.  God Is Too Good and Great (25:1–3)

2.  Man Is Too Bad and Small (25:4–6)

Q.  A Last Bout with Bildad (26:1–27:23)

1.  Some Sarcasm to Start (26:1–4)

2.  The Outskirts of God’s Awesome Power (26:5–14)

3.  The Stubborn Innocent (27:1–6)

4.  The Stupid Wicked (27:7–23)

R.  Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? (28:1–28)

1.  The Wisdom of Man (28:1–11)

2.  The Inaccessibility of Wisdom (28:12–22)

3.  The Wisdom of God (28:23–28)

S.  Let God Know My Integrity and Answer Me! (29:1–31:40)

1.  Back in the Days of Friendship with God (29:1–25)

2.  But Now . . . the Days of Affliction (30:1–31)

3.  If . . . Then (31:1–40)

  III.  Enigmatic Elihu (32:1–37:24)

A.  A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (32:1–33:33)

1.  The Angry Young Man Who Must Speak (32:1–22)

2.  Speech One: Job Rebuked (33:1–33)

B.  Preparing the Way for the Lord (34:1–37:24)

1.  Speech Two: Asserting God’s Justice (34:1–37)

2.  Speech Three: Extolling God’s Greatness (35:1–16)

3.  Speech Four: Announcing God’s Majesty (36:1–37:24)

  IV.  The Unexpected Trial of Job: God Speaks! (38:1–42:6)

A.  God Calls His First Witnesses (38:1–40:2)

B.  Repentance of the Righteous, Part 1 (40:3–5)

C.  God Calls His Final Witnesses (40:6–41:34)

D.  Repentance of the Righteous, Part 2 (42:1–6)

  V.  Epilogue: Job’s Vindication and Restoration (42:7–17)

A.  The Lord’s Rebuke (42:7–9)

B.  The Lord’s Restoration (42:10–17)