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Book of Job

(johb)

General Information

The Book of Jobis a Book in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is about innocent suffering and God's justice. Job was a pious Jew afflicted with disease and stripped of all his goods.

Throughout the drama, Job asserts his innocence of wrong, thereby rejecting the traditional view that suffering is the result of sin. The humble and patient Job who bears his sufferings as proofs of piety, however, becomes the raging and insistent Job pressing relentlessly for divine vindication in Chaps. 3 - 31. The argument is pursued through three cycles of speeches in which Job's three friends - Eliphaz, Bilbad, and Zophar - chide the hero and he, in answering them, challenges God. Job's final self defense and call upon the deity is answered by God's speech from a whirlwind in which Job is invited to trust in the divine omniscience and power.

This direct experience of the mysteries of God leaves Job at peace with himself. Although no final solution to the problem is offered, the author clearly rejects traditional explanations of suffering.

Book of Job

Brief Outline

  1. Prologue (1-2)
  2. Job's complaint (3)
  3. Debates between Job and three friends (4-31)
  4. Speech of Elihu (32-37)
  5. Voice of God (38-41)
  6. Job's submission and restoration (42)


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