Some scholarship has the Book of Job written between the 7th
and 4th centuries before Christ. (1) Their reasons for doing this
show two things; one is a rejection of God’s inspiration of the Bible in that
they regard any similarity with later writings as proof that it was written
later thereby denying that similarity is a natural consequence of God’s
ultimate authorship of all books of the Bible. Two has to do with more of an
arrogance that comes from drawing conclusions from insufficient information.
There are
good reasons to believe that the Book of Job was written before Moses wrote the
first five books of the Bible starting with Genesis. It contains no reference
to Hebrew culture, Job is offering sacrifices that the priests would have
offered under the Mosaic Law, and Job’s lifespan indicate a much earlier age of
writing than some modern scholars presume. (2) It is safe for a Christian to
assume that it was written anywhere from 2000BC to 1500BC.
There are
many difficulties in trying to place Job in a known historical context. Most
historical evidence lies buried in the dirt and all the spades and shovels of
archaeology will never dig that evidence up. Scholars are left with what they
have. Here is a primary source of history, written by a man who witnessed the
events written about, with no countering documentation to argue that it was a
fraud, a fantasy, or political propaganda. Those who deny its authenticity or
the truth of its statements only have their own prejudices, assumptions, worldview,
and unwillingness to accept any of the Bible as written by men who were guided
by the Holy Spirit to go on.
Having
answered generally when it was written, let’s examine who wrote it. Internally,
from the text it is clear that Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite wrote it.
Beginning in chapter 32, he writes of himself in the third person and then in
the first person, verse 16 giving us the needed clue as to the authorship of
the book.
Job 32;16 When I had waited, (for they spake not, but
stood still, and answered no more;)
The Book of
Job has a great deal to say about human suffering and science. It is unlike any
other book of its time and very important for Christians to study and
understand. Many of our deepest questions about life are answered in it, while
for some questions we are explicitly told that we will never have an answer
satisfactory to us in this life.
(1) Robert
Kugler & Patrick Hartin, An
Introduction to the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 2009), 193.
(2) Hugh
Ross, Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 32.
1 ¶ There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name
was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and
eschewed evil. 2 And there were born
unto him seven sons and three daughters. 3
His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of
oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man
was the greatest of all the men of the east.
The land of Uz is said to be in the region of the Biblical
Edom. In Job 2:11, one of Job’s friends is said to be a Temanite, or descendant
of Teman, a descendant of Esau and a duke of Edom. Teman, the location, was
thought to be a place of wisdom as shown by this statement.
Jeremiah 49:7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is
their wisdom vanished?
We are not given definite information on the lineage of the
other friends.
The upright man keeps himself from iniquity and sin.
2Samuel 22:24 I was also upright before him, and have kept
myself from mine iniquity.
Job is said to be “perfect and upright.” In the Bible’s
self-defining method when words are connected by “and,” we see that, in this
context, perfect and upright are synonyms. Three times in the first two
chapters of Job, he is called perfect and upright, the last two times by God
directly in speaking to Satan.
Also see;
Psalm 37:37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:
for the end of that man is peace.
Proverbs 2:21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and
the perfect shall remain in it.
At other times, perfect is said to be complete or finished.
2Chronicles 8:16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto
the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished.
So the house of the LORD was perfected.
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of
Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye
may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Noah was said to be “a just man and perfect in his
generations,” which seems to refer to him lacking any taint of corruption in
his genetic line from the rebellious sons of God who came to earth and mated
with human women. Notice that if perfect stood alone against being a just man
they would have been synonymous but perfect in this context is qualified with,
“in his generations.”
Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a
just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Genesis 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men
that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…4 There were giants in the earth in those days;
and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men,
and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old,
men of renown.
So, Job was perfect and upright, further defined in the text
in that he feared God and eschewed evil. Eschew is not such an archaic word,
although little used, as I have read it in news articles recently meaning to
avoid or refrain from something. We learn what eschew means in the Bible by
looking at it elsewhere, as it is not defined in the text here.
1Peter 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good
days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no
guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do
good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
In these verses you see that, “eschew,” is surrounded by, “let
him,” and, “evil,” in verse 11. In verse 10, “let him,” and ,”evil,” surround, “refrain
his tongue from,” giving us the definition.
We will see that Job not only feared God in the sense of awe
and reverence…
Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot
be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear:
But we will learn that Job was terrified of God with a
dread-like fear.
Genesis 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you
shall be upon every beast of the earth…
Exodus 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them…
Deuteronomy 2:25 This day will I begin to put the dread of
thee and the fear of thee upon the nations…
Deuteronomy 11:25 There shall no man be able to stand before
you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon
all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
Isaiah 8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let
him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
We also will learn that Job refrained his tongue from
speaking evil about God, though his wife recommended it.
He is said to have had wealth in the form of a large family
and in great substance, as wealth was recognized in his day. It is so much that
he is said to be the greatest man of the east. Let’s assume Job is the
wealthiest guy around. All eyes would be interested in what was going on with
him. If he lived today he would be interviewed and photographed often, I
assume. He was influential and important, as people of great wealth are.
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