Job

Job's third prayer, like the second, appealed to God to cease tormenting him. In the second prayer, however, Job pleaded on the grounds that he was God's creation (10:8-12). Here he emphasized more his mortality and weakness. This led him to consider the doctrine of resurrection and to wonder if it would be best for him to die and thus rest until the day when the dead rise. Even so, he was tortured by his pain and the brevity of life and concluded this prayer in bleak discouragement.

Some assume that the Book of Job cannot possibly have a true concept of resurrection, but that assumption is groundless. Job 14:14-15 begins with a question, not a confession of faith. Job's sufferings forced him to think about God's ways on a deeper level than ever before. Here the idea of resurrection entered the discussion and gave Job reason to hope (the friends never considered the idea of resurrection).

The term the NIV translates "renewal" may be rendered "transformation." Job here combined the pleas of his two prayers—Job was both mortal and God's creation. The resurrection would both answer his need for immortality and make the creation understandable. God did not make people just to watch them die off. But Job had only begun to deal with this question.

Eliphaz's Second Response (15:1-35). Eliphaz now directly accused Job of sin and threw Job's own words back into his face (see 9:20). He was alarmed that Job's attitude might under-mine piety and once again claimed that Job needed to recognize his limitations and return to traditional wisdom.

He repeated the argument that since all people are sinful God is justified in punishing whenever He chooses. Another poem on the fate of the wicked was no doubt meant to convict Job and persuade him to repent of whatever sin he had committed.

Does the Book of Job deny the universal sinfulness of humanity? Texts like 15:14-16 give an orthodox if somewhat harsh statement of universal depravity. On the other hand, this text is put in the mouth of Eliphaz, who would be shown to be in the wrong. The characterization of Job as "blameless" (1:1) also seems to contradict universal depravity.

Nevertheless, the book does not claim that some people are sinless. The prologue does not say Job had never committed any sin. It only stresses that he was righteous and that his suffering had nothing to do with any past or potential guilt on his part. Job confessed to having sinned in life (14:16-17) although he was certain he had not deserved what had befallen him.

The book does not imply that everything the three friends said was wrong. Most of what they asserted fully agrees with the rest of the Bible (see Prov. 6:12-15). But they misapplied the biblical teachings. The doctrine of universal sin made them cynical about people (and even about God, although they did not realize it). And the doctrine of retribution made them judgmental. The book does not deny that all have sinned, but it forces the reader to think in terms other than a simple equation of guilt and punishment.

Job Laments and Prays (16:1-17:16). Job vented his frustration over his pain, his confusion about what God had done to him, and his anger at the empty words of his "comforters." But the careful chiasm (a pattern repeating ideas in inverted order) shows that there is more here than an emotional outburst, and a confession of hope stands at the very center of the whole.

That confession returns to the theme of the heavenly Arbitrator or Intercessor. Job was now certain of the reality of the Intercessor. He had previously only wished that such an Intercessor existed (9:33-34). Job had already far surpassed his friends in the understanding of God's ways, and his sufferings would drive him deeper still.

Bildad's Second Response (18:1-21). Bildad angrily replied and gave Job another fairly conventional poem on the fate of the wicked (18:5-21). Most significant is the point in 18:20 that men from east and west would be appalled at the fall of the wicked. Surely no one was more famous than Job (1:3), and Bildad here took up Job's own words (17:8). Bildad's slightly concealed meaning was that Job had not only sinned but was one of the proverbial wicked. Job's friends were progressing in bitterness toward him.

Job Laments and Hopes (19:1-29). Job again bemoaned his fate and called attention to how those who formerly loved him had abandoned him. He first spoke of God's antagonism to him and then of the contempt he had received from relatives, friends, and sub-ordinates. He pleaded for pity from his friends and warned them that they too might face judgment for their hostility.

In the middle of this cry for love, Job made his most profound confession of hope. The somewhat obscure Hebrew may be translated: "I know that my redeemer lives and that the final One will arise against the dust. After they have done away with my skin, from my flesh I shall have a vision of God. I will have this vision for myself; my eyes will see that He is no stranger. My heart yearns within me!"

The term "the final One" refers to the divine Redeemer (the Hebrew word is translated "the last" in Isa. 44:6 and 48:12). "Done away with" translates a word elsewhere used of cutting away underbrush (Isa. 10:34). Job assumed his tormented body would soon die and be thrown out like garbage. The phrase "have a vision" ("see") translates a Hebrew word often used of seeing God or a vision (Exod. 24:11; Isa. 1:1).

Job's yearning for an Intercessor and hope for a resurrection came together here, in the middle of deep dejection, in a triumphant assertion of faith. Job's "Redeemer" would arise against the dust. In other words, He would conquer human mortality. Job was therefore sure that he too would rise from the dead and in his body behold God. At the same time, we note that Job's problems were not over. He still did not understand why God treated him as an enemy.

It is pointless to deny that Job looked for a resurrection and a Redeemer. The book, through the sufferings of its hero, points to the two universal human needs: the need for a Deliverer and the need for release from mortality. No one is competent to stand before God, and everyone longs to escape death (in that sense the three friends were correct in their estimate of human sin and divine power). These needs, poignantly portrayed in Job, are dramatically fulfilled in the New Testament.

Zophar's Second Response (20:1-29). As Zophar rehashed the fate of the wicked, it is clearer still that Job was the subject. Job had said his Redeemer would arise against the dust (19:25); Zophar said Job's vigor would lie dead in the dust (19:11). He accentuated the unrepentant attitude (19:12-19) and fleeting wealth (19:20-23) of the wicked, which was exactly how the friends regarded Job.

Job's Response (21:1-34). All at once Job challenged his friends' tedious sermons on the fate of the wicked. How often, he demanded, had they ever really seen it like this? Far more often the reverse was true: the wicked prospered. Rather than parrot traditional doctrine, the friends should have been dumbfounded. Job's case had undermined the precepts by which they lived. The question remained, Why should we serve God?

Eliphaz's Third Response (22:1-30). Eliphaz now hit Job with a frontal assault. He directly accused Job of being a great sinner and particularly charged him with greed and oppression. But the attack began and ended on ironic notes, although Eliphaz did not know it. He sarcastically asked Job if God had rebuked him for his piety, when in fact that was the precise reason for Job's misfortune. He also promised that if Job would repent, he would be able to intercede for sinners. And Job would intercede—for Eliphaz.

The friends had nothing more to say. They repeatedly made their point on the lot of sinners. Their accusations against Job could hardly become any more brutal. Job now began to turn from them.

Job Looks for Justice (23:1-24:25). Job mourned here first for himself and then for all the oppressed and suffering. Behind this was a plea for God to vindicate the righteous and punish sinners. The book gives its deepest expressions of struggle in chapter 24. Job voiced the sorrow and bewilderment of believers of every generation. He had not abandoned the faith, however, and returned to traditional expressions of God's justice.

Bildad's Third Response (25:1-6). Bildad began a third discourse in which he returned to the idea of God's holiness against human lowliness. His very short speech appears to have been cut off. Job likely interrupted him.

Because Bildad's third speech was so short and Zophar had none at all, many scholars suppose that 26:5-14 concludes Bildad's speech and 27:13-23 is Zophar's missing third speech.

This approach is unnecessary. The friends really had nothing more to say, and Job had no intention of listening to them anymore. Having interrupted Bildad, Job in effect gave Bildad's and Zophar's speeches for them. He did this for two reasons. First, Job somewhat sarcastically showed that he knew their theology better than they. Second, Job suggested that he agreed with them in principle but was dumbfounded by what had happened to him. He knew he was innocent.

Job's Last Address (26:1-27:23). Job interrupted Bildad with bitter sarcasm. He described the power of God and the end of the ungodly, but he defiantly maintained that he deserved nothing of what had happened to him. He had nothing more to say to them.

Hymn to Wisdom (28:1-28). This poem may be regarded as Job's own words or the author's own transition. It differs from its context and does not begin with the phrase "And Job said." The text does not, however, suggest that these were not Job's words. Either way the interpretation of the chapter is only slightly altered.

The poem contrasts human technical skill in mining out precious metals and gems with the inaccessibility of wisdom. The human condition is indeed pitiful. Although adept at tunneling into the deepest recesses of the earth for treasure, humans are neither willing nor able to penetrate the mysteries of life itself.

The poem concludes with what may be called the heart of biblical wisdom, "The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom." For Job this became far more than a cliche. The former, calm assurance that he understood life had been shattered. The old order of his life was in ruins. He now had to look to God and not to his own wisdom about God.

Job's Final Discourse (29:1-31:40). This discourse is in three parts: (1) Job's former glory, (2) Job's present humiliation, and (3) a negative confession.

Job remembered his former glory especially as a time when he was respected and loved by one and all. He now looked upon his former belief that all was secure as mistaken, although in fact those words would come true (42:12-16).

Chapter 29 begins and ends with the term "light." In chapter 3 Job cursed the light, but here he remembered when he blessed God's light and others blessed the light of his own face (see Exod. 34:29-35 and Num. 6:25-26).

From a position of highest renown, Job had fallen to complete infamy. He once enjoyed universal respect. Now even the sons of the dregs of society mocked him. His physical pain was more than he could endure, and he awaited death. He voiced another prayer of complaint to God.

Ancient Egyptian literature preserved examples of the "negative confession," a text in which a deceased person's spirit, facing divine judgment, claimed not to have committed sins described in a detailed list. Job 31 is similar to these. Here Job claimed he was not lustful or adulterous, a swindler, or an unjust employer. He was not uncharitable, greedy or idolatrous, or vindictive and cunning. This negative confession, coming as it does at the end of his speeches, implies that Job believed death was near and wanted to end his life with a protest of innocence. He had nothing more to say.

Elihu, who is mentioned neither before nor after these six chapters, suddenly appeared and made a particularly wordy speech. Some consider his words to be the high point of the book and claim he resolved the dilemma, but this interpretation is hard to justify.

First, Elihu was overconfident of his own wisdom, especially in 36:4: "Be assured that my words are not false; one perfect in knowledge is with you"). For all his bravado, however, Elihu said nothing that had not already been said: God inflicts pain on people to prevent them from falling into sin; God is the wise and all-powerful Ruler of the world; and the wicked will be destroyed but the repentant will prosper. What Elihu said was not wrong, but everything he proclaimed had already been explored in great detail.

He also wrongly assumed Job was being punished for something. Finally, and most significantly, Elihu was ignored by everyone else in the book. Surely this would not be the case if he were the fount of wisdom he claimed to be.

Some scholars consider the Elihu speeches to be a later insertion by a pious Israelite who was distraught at Job's remarks and sought to correct them. This view also must be rejected. A pious scribe would certainly not put his words into the mouth of such an arrogant young man as Elihu. His speech does provide a transition to God's reply to Job (see 38:1). More importantly, the Elihu speeches perform a special function for the reader.

As we progress through the Book of Job, we feel the same distress Elihu voiced. We are sure there is something wrong with Job's comments but are aware that the three friends failed to answer him. We try to find an alternative answer. Perhaps, we think, God afflicted Job to keep him from falling into sin. We thrash about for a solution much as Elihu did and repeat old arguments without knowing it. And if we are not careful, we fall into the same vain certainty. We think we are wiser than Job and his friends put together.

Job and his friends were each wrong in his own way, but so are we. We need to hear the voice of God.

The divine speech falls in two parts divided by Job's first response. The first portrays God's dominion over creation, and the second focuses on behemoth and leviathan.

Many interpreters are frankly confused if not disappointed by God's speech. Instead of giving a profound explanation of Job's sufferings, God gave him something of a lesson in natural history. What is the reason for this? Again we must recall that the central question of the book is not why the righteous suffer but whether Job served God for nothing (1:9-11). Both Job and his friends had assumed that life and prosperity were the benefits from service to God.

The meaning of God's reply now begins to appear. Nowhere does He say that Job's affliction was a punishment for sin or even, as Elihu suggested, a way of keeping Job from falling into sin. God did accuse Job of having attributed injustice to God, which Job certainly had. And Job's repentance shows that he came to realize that God had not been unfair. What did God say that so thoroughly convinced Job of his error?

God's words focused entirely on His work in creation (and on the fact that Job was not there). In chapter 3 Job had wanted to bring creation crashing down, but God, in terms that often recall Genesis 1, challenged Job to rethink what he had said.

God repeatedly spoke of the creation of the earth, the morning, and the stars (Gen. 1:1,14-19); the separation of light from darkness and of sea from land (Gen. 1:3,9-10); and the formation of clouds (Gen. 1:6-8). God then called attention to the wild animals such as lions, goats, eagles, and ostriches (Gen. 1:20,24). He emphasized the powerful and wild forces of nature.

In addition, God showed that He has placed all these forces in an order and controls every one. He keeps the sea in its place, separates day and night, feeds the lions, and provides all the animals with what they need to survive. The powers that otherwise would destroy one another and fall into chaos are kept in an ordered balance.

God told Job he had to show he could crush the proud and the wicked if he wanted to be on equal footing with God. Then He turned to the creatures called behemoth and leviathan. The former, behemoth, may have been the elephant or hippopotamus. A powerful creature who dwelt among the lotuses and poplars, he was only the prologue to a much more awesome creature, leviathan.

Leviathan is sometimes interpreted as the crocodile but, even allowing for poetic license, this makes God guilty of considerable exaggeration. For leviathan is invulnerable to human weapons, his eyes and nose flash with light, and fire pours out of his mouth. He is covered with armor and is lord of all creatures. This is more like a terrible dragon than a crocodile.

The Bible and other ancient literature speak of leviathan as a terrible, supernatural creature. Ugaritic texts speak of a serpent with seven heads called "lotan," and Psalm 74:14 says God crushed the heads of leviathan. Isaiah 27:1 calls leviathan a serpent and a sea monster. And in Job, God repeatedly pointed out Job's inability to subdue this monster. What was this beast?

Readers are often confused that although Satan is the prominent adversary of Job 1-2, he seems to disappear after that. Also we note that although the book often speaks of creation and the fall, it has until now said nothing about the agent of the fall, the serpent. A likely solution is that Satan has not been forgotten but has reappeared at the end as the serpent leviathan.

Job had challenged the justice of God, and God had responded that only He, and not Job, is able to control and destroy the chaotic and evil powers. Just as God uses all the natural powers in His creative purpose, even so He allows evil to thrive for a season but always governs it by His providence to bring about the final destruction of the evil one. Therefore it was not for Job to challenge God's moral governance of the world. God knows what He is doing.

Job Repents (42:1-6). Against this address from God, Job's complete repentance is not surprising. It is important to see, however, that he repented of having challenged God's justice in his speeches. He did not do as his friends wanted and confess that he had done something to deserve his sufferings.

Job's vindication was complete. God told the friends that they had not spoken what was right, "as my servant Job has." Job's words, however rash, were far better than the hollow defense the friends gave of their religion of rewards and punishments. Job's intercession for them and the restoration of his former glory not only show that his suffering was not punishment but that he was right to refuse to make a meaningless confession of sins he did not commit.

Theological Significance. What is the answer to Satan's challenge? Did Job fear God for nothing? The answer, remarkably, is no. Job did not serve God for nothing. Job learned that the real benefit of his piety was not his health and wealth and children; it was God Himself. God, the Creator and Judge of all, is bringing about the triumph of righteousness. And Job now knew he could trust God to do all things right, even if it cost Job all he had. For he still had God.

Alden, Robert L. Job. New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994.

Andersen, Francis I. Job. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1974.

Janzen, J. Gerald. Job. Atlanta: John Knox, 1985.