CHAPTER 1
A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOB
Job 1–2
DIMENSION ONE: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Answer these questions by reading Job 1
1. What kind of person is Job? (1:1)
Job is "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil."
2. Why is Job called "the greatest man among all the people of the East"? (1:23)
Job is blessed with a large family and great wealth.
3. How do Job's children spend their time? (1:4)
His sons hold feasts in their homes, and their sisters eat and drink with them.
4. What does Job do continually on behalf of his children? Why? (1:5)
Job rises early to offer burnt offerings for them because he fears his children may have sinned by cursing God in their hearts.
5. Of what group is Satan a part? (1:6)
Satan is one of the angels of God.
6. How does Satan occupy his time? (1:7)
Satan roams the earth.
7. What does the Lord ask Satan? (1:8)
God asks Satan if he has considered Job — blameless, upright, God-fearing, and shunning evil.
8. What does Satan say God has done for Job? (1:9-10)
God has blessed Job and increased his possessions.
9. What is Satan's challenge to God? (1:11)
If God strikes all that Job has, Job will curse God.
10. Does God accept Satan's challenge? If so, what limitations does God place on Satan? (1:12)
God accepts the challenge but warns Satan not to harm Job himself.
11. What calamities befall Job?
Sabeans carried off Job's oxen and donkeys. (1:14-15)
Fire consumes Job's sheep and servants. (1:16)
Chaldeans raid Job's camels and servants. (1:17)
A mighty wind kills Job's children. (1:18-19)
12. What does Job do in response to theses tragic events? (1:20)
Job rises, tears his robe, shaves his head, falls to the ground, and worships God.
13. What does Job say? (1:21-22)
Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
Answer these questions by reading Job 2
14. Why does God consider Job vindicated? (2:3)
Job still maintains fast his integrity.
15. What does Satan tell God to do? (2:4-5)
Satan tells God to afflict Job's flesh and Job's bones.
16. What condition does God attach to Satan's second challenge? (2:6)
Satan must spare Job's life.
17. How does Satan afflict Job? (2:7)
Satan afflicts Job with "painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head."
18. What advice does Job's wife offer? (2:9)
She tells Job, "Curse God and die!"
19. What is Job's response to this advice? (2:10)
He calls his wife foolish.
20. Who are the friends who come to console Job? (2:11)
They are Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.
21. What do Job's friends do when they first see Job? (2:12-13)
They begin to weep aloud, tear their robes, and sprinkle dust on their heads.
22. What do Job's friends say to him? Why? (2:13)
They say nothing because they see that his suffering is very great.
DIMENSION TWO: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN?
Introducing the Book of Job
Groups working their way through the Genesis to Revelation Series will encounter material in Job that is radically different from anything else they have studied previously. The leader's responsibility is to help participants understand why Job seems so different from previous studies. He or she can do this by sharing additional background material at critical points in the study. The following information should be presented, in whatever format seems desirable, either before or during the first session on Job.
1. The Structure of Job. Stories of righteous sufferers (like Job) were in circulation through the ancient Near East from earliest times. The prose portions of Job (Chapters 1–2 and 42:7-17) provide a fine version of this universally appealing story.
No one can be certain as to either the dating or the authorship of the Book of Job. Scholarly guesses range from the patriarchal period, about 2100 BC, to the Persian or postexilic period, about 600 BC–300 BC.
To get the flavor of this simple but provocative tale, suggest that participants read Chapters 1–2 and then turn directly to 42:7-17, skipping the poetry that forms the body of the book. The prose tale is concise, vigorously told, and powerful in its impact. It describes a person of heroic fortitude and unshakable faith. But, of course, something is missing! On the basis of the prologue and epilogue alone, what would the reader expect Job and his friends to say?
Explain that the prose prologue and epilogue function as a framework for a very different type of literature (Job 3:1–42:6). In the opinion of most scholars, the poetic discourses or dialogues between Job and his friends are a much later composition. These dialogues answer the question, What did Job and his friends have to say? This explanation helps to account for the radically different picture of Job that emerges in the dialogues. Thinking of the dialogues as a response to, or commentary on, the much older tradition of the innocent sufferer is appropriate and helpful.
The chart on page 115 in the participant book will help learners visualize the relationship between the prose and poetry sections of Job. Other issues relating to the structure of the book will be dealt with as they arise, so you will need to refer to the chart frequently. Encourage participants to use a translation that presents the prose portions in paragraph form and the discourses in verse form. (The King James Version does not.) This will greatly simplify both your job and theirs.
2. Job as an Example of Wisdom Literature. Job is the first, and the most unusual, of the Wisdom books that you will encounter in this series. Others are Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. (The Apocrypha includes the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, or Sirach.) In order to understand Job, participants must be familiar with some of the basic features of classical wisdom writings. The perspective of classical wisdom (exemplified by Proverbs) permeates the Book of Job, where it is the subject of severe judgment.
Wisdom Literature is the product of a professional class of educators, counselors, philosophers, and political advisors. Intellectual elites of this sort were common, not only at the court of Israel but also in Egypt, Babylon, and other important cultural centers. Rational and philosophical in outlook, they thought of God as the creator of a well-ordered universe. The principles the universe operated by were predictable and could be discerned by careful observation.
Classical Wisdom Literature is not concerned with God's activity in historical events, specific religious practices, or prophetic pronouncements. The important biblical themes of election, grace, and final judgment have been replaced with a concern for the relatively mundane, universally shared experiences of daily living. God is revealed in the ordinariness of life. Thus wisdom writers are full of good advice on how to live long and live well.
Virtues such as self-restraint in speech and action, modesty, sobriety, patience, industry, reliability, and generosity are extolled in Wisdom writings. Conversely, drunkenness, sloth, sexual promiscuity, and other types of immoral behavior were seen to result in social disgrace and financial ruin.
Wisdom teachers (and other biblical writers) believed that moral uprightness always resulted in material and social success. This belief led to the conviction that ill health and financial reverses were evidence of unethical behavior or insufficient piety. "If you are suffering, you must have done something wrong!" Or, "If things are going well, you must have done something right!"
This rigid perspective — often referred to as the doctrine of strict retribution — is reflected in the prologue and epilogue of Job as well as in the speeches of Job's three friends. However, Job's speeches offer an angry critique of this position. For this reason, Job (like Ecclesiastes) is sometimes referred to as skeptical or anti-wisdom Wisdom.
Job 1:1. The phrases feared God and shunned evil are closely associated with wisdom traditions. The use of these terms to describe Job identifies him as the ideal wise man, so we should not be surprised at his happiness and prosperity. (Refer participants to Proverbs 1:7; 3:7; 14:16.)
Job 1:2. Those who live wisely live well! In addition to the special blessing of many sons, Job is blessed with great wealth. The ratio of seven to three that we see in relation to Job's children and livestock (seven sons, three daughters; seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels) is repeated elsewhere in the Scripture. (See 1 Kings 11:3.) The single greatest indicator of Job's wealth is the number of camels he owns.
Job 1:4-5. In patriarchal times (the probable setting of the prose tale), the father of the family functioned as a high priest on behalf of family members. Job is so scrupulous that he worries about what his children think as well as about what they say or do. Because he himself is blameless, he is an effective mediator. Like Job, the sinless status of Christ makes him the perfect mediator.
Job 1:6. Depictions of God surrounded by a host of angelic attendants are found in Canaanite mythology as well as in the Old Testament. (Refer participants to Job 38:7; 1 Kings 22:19-23; Isaiah 6.) According to Jewish tradition, the day on which this court convenes is the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. The term angels (or in Hebrew, the sons of God) is used here to distinguish angels, or superhuman beings, from the sons of men. Satan (literally, the Satan, or the Accuser) is numbered among the heavenly attendants. This figure should not be confused with the devil of later Christian theology. Satan plays an important role similar to that of a criminal investigator or public prosecutor. Suggest that participants henceforth read the Accuser whenever they encounter the word Satan in the text. How does this change of wording affect their understanding of the story?
Job 1:9-12. The question, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" is the central issue of the prose tale in particular and the Book of Job in general. The question assumes that God does indeed bless the wise person and punish the foolish. So anyone with an ounce of sense would want to be upright and blameless! Thus the Accuser contends that nothing but self-interest dictates Job's behavior.
The Accuser suggests a test and God agrees, setting clear limits as to how far the testing may proceed. Have the group members read the lengthy and very precise recital of possible blessings and curses laid out in Deuteronomy 28. Suggest that, as a follow-through activity, they list the consequences of obedience and disobedience that correspond to Job's situation.
Job 1:21-22. The "womb" to which Job returns is the earth. "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away" is a traditional saying among Arabian Bedouins. With these remarks, Job vindicates himself as the model worshiper. Blessed or cursed, he remains utterly faithful.
Job 2:1-3. The heavenly court reconvenes (this time on the Day of Atonement — Yom Kippur — according to Jewish tradition, which is about a week later). God considers Job vindicated and charges the Accuser with having made baseless accusations.
Job 2:7-8. Job's disease may be leprosy, which begins with boils; or it may be elephantiasis, which causes skin eruptions from enormous swelling. The sores render him unclean, and he is forced to isolate himself. The use of a piece of broken pottery, or potsherd, to scrape the body may be a ritual form of mourning and not simply a means of relieving itching. Saint John Chrysostom, famed orator of the Eastern Church, claimed that pilgrims used to flock to Arabia to venerate the dunghill upon which Job sat!
Job 2:9-10. Job's wife is a mysterious character who speaks only once in the book. The lack of information about her has given rise to imaginative elaborations of the story. Jewish tradition has identified her as Dinah, Jacob's daughter. The early Christians compared her role with that of Eve, seeing her as a temptress offering despair (instead of an apple). Muslim traditions picture Job's wife as faithfully devoted to Job, laboring hard to support them both. She is momentarily swayed by Satan but ultimately rewarded with renewed youth and beauty as well as twenty-six new sons.
Job 2:11-13. Job's three friends are generally assumed to be professional wise men. Flinging dust heavenward is a sign of anger and disdain. The seven days and nights they share with Job in silence are the traditional period of mourning. While silence is often the most appropriate response to suffering, the friends are actually not permitted to speak until the one who is bereaved speaks first.
DIMENSION THREE: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN TO ME?
The participant book focuses attention on three issues that need to be dealt with in beginning a study of Job: (1) the church's treatment of Job and the way our previous experiences with Job affect our expectations for this study, (2) the doctrine of strict retribution, and (3) the problem of innocent suffering. Introduce the doctrine of strict retribution and the problem of innocent suffering as issues that will be the focus of attention throughout the entire study.
To begin the Dimension Three portion of the lesson, ask the class members to consider the question, "What will reading the Book of Job mean to me?" You might begin the discussion by asking participants briefly to share their hopes and expectations for this study. What questions do they hope to see raised and discussed? Make a master list of these questions for future reference.
Explain that we all bring a set of expectations and questions to biblical passages, but these questions may not be the same set of questions the biblical writer wished to address. An important part of your collective exploration of Job will be the effort correctly to identify and then discuss those issues that concerned the author of Job.
During this preliminary discussion, you may find that some participants have attempted to study Job on their own and are thoroughly intimidated by it. Reassure them that if they (as untutored readers) found Job baffling, repetitious, and seemingly contradictory, they are in good company. Generations of Bible scholars have also found Job baffling, repetitious, and contradictory!
Job has not been an easy, comfortable, or reassuring book for either Judaism or Christianity. The patient, saintly Job of the prologue and epilogue is an admirable faith hero. Throughout the centuries he has been considered a kind of Christ figure, a model of perfect resignation to the will of God. The Letter of James points to the example of Job's perseverance as something Christians should emulate. The prophet Ezekiel ranks Job with Noah and Daniel. (See James 5:11, 16; Ezekiel 14:12-16.)
The rebellious, impatient Job of the poetic discourses (who is still the story's hero and who is ultimately vindicated) is much less attractive. He says outrageous things about God. Some would say he blasphemes, a crime punishable by death. Not surprisingly, theologians have had a hard time trying to reconcile these two pictures of Job. Is it possible that the angry Job can really mean what he says? Many theologians have tended to interpret Job allegorically (or symbolically) rather than literally.
Although the modern church is more open to the radical message of Job, it still finds the book unusually challenging, especially as preaching material. Difficult though it may be, however, Job remains a source of constant fascination to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. This study guide is one of countless commentaries, scholarly articles, and study books written in response to this powerful and most mysterious of documents. The purpose of this study is to help participants begin a long and fruitful dialogue with Job. This dialogue, in its own way, may be as faith testing as the trials of Job.
Job 1:9 — Strict Retribution
The Accuser's challenge, dropped like a bomb into the otherwise serene and stately proceedings of the heavenly council, is the occasion for all that is later to befall God's faithful servant Job. Why shouldn't Job fear God? Hasn't God blessed and protected Job at every turn? It's easy to love God when you're healthy, prosperous, influential, and admired.
The connection made by the Accuser between obedience and blessing is entirely consistent with the biblical doctrine of strict retribution. This doctrine permeates (but is not restricted to) the Wisdom Literature. Put simply, the doctrine of strict retribution states that, sooner or later, you get what you deserve. Much of the Bible assumes this point of view and rightly so. Living as morally upright, socially responsible, and compassionate people is best for all concerned. Moreover, everyone suffers when ethical standards and a concern for justice are abandoned.
