Job
Date
The date of the story remains a problem, and opinions on this range from the time of the patriarchs in the second millennium BC to the Persian period in the fourth century BC; the seventh to the fifth centuries BC has also been proposed. Job is mentioned as an ancient hero (with Noah and Daniel) in , . Noah is the flood hero from the time before Abraham (), and Daniel (Danel) is known from the Late Bronze Age (1350–1190 BC) Ugaritic story of Aqhat, which indicates that the story might go back to the international lore of the Bronze Age or second millennium BC, although it could have been written down later and edited in (say) the sixth to fifth centuries BC. The point is that the time period of the events need not be considered the time period of the composition.
Theme
Central to the book of Job is the question of human suffering—especially why people who are seemingly innocent suffer, which in turn raises the question about the righteousness of a loving God. Job deals with the question of retribution, the popular theology according to which the righteous prosper but the wicked suffer, as well as the justice of the deity (so-called theodicy). Job’s suffering but also his perseverance (e.g., see ) have become proverbial in everyday speech. The problems addressed by the book of Job are truly part of universal human experience and therefore of world literature.
Wisdom accounts of pious and presumed innocent sufferers have surfaced across the ancient Near East (see the article “
Key Concepts
• The fallen world does not operate by justice.
• There is such a thing as disinterested righteousness, and it is the ideal to be pursued.
• Believing that God is wise, we can trust him to be just.
• In situations of suffering, it is better to focus on the future (what purpose God has) rather than the past (what the cause of suffering is).