Job 19:25–27 contains what are perhaps the most famous words of Job. They are included in Handel’s Messiah and found in other Christian music as well. For many, these words by Job are understood as an indication that Job’s faith continues despite all that has happened to him: Job’s redeemer is God and Job, fundamentally,…
Category: job
job’s wife
February 8th is International Septuagint Day. In celebration, this year I thought I’d post one of the two major differences between the LXX and MT in the Book of Job, the details of Job’s wife. For those unfamiliar with her, this is all we hear of and from Job’s wife in the MT: ותאמר לו…
Was Elihu Right?
JESOT 3.2 is now live and includes my article entitled “Was Elihu Right?” In it I discuss the contribution of Elihu in the Book of Job, so check it out: http://jesot.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/M.-Shields-JESOT-3.2.pdf The “prequel” to this article (entitled “Malevolent of Mysterious”) is also available for download from Tyndale Bulletin: http://www.tyndalehouse.com/Bulletin/61=2010/5%20Shields.pdf
david penchansky — understanding wisdom literature
Eerdmans have recently published a new volume by David Penchansky entitled Understanding Wisdom Literature. This is a book which examines the biblical and post-biblical wisdom literature and raises questions and issues which are sometimes uncomfortable but are nonetheless (or perhaps I should say “are thus”) important. Below is my review of Penchansky’s book. [scribd id=94409490…
malevolent or mysterious? god’s character in the prologue of job
My latest article on Job will appear in the next volume of Tyndale Bulletin with the above title. Here’s the synopsis: Readers of the Book of Job often believe that the prologue reveals the entire reason for Job’s loss and suffering and so the full background for all that transpires throughout the remainder of the…
job’s perfection and paul’s objection
Job, we are told in the opening verses of the book which bears his name, was תם וישר וירא אלהים וסר מרע — “blameless and just, fearing God.” Much of the point of the book rests upon the veracity of this assertion. Job did not deserve to suffer as he did. David Clines claims that…
the prayer of job?
Andrew Barry has suggested that Job 42:7, which reads: חרה אפי בך ובשני רעיך כי לא דברתם אלי נכונה כעבדי איוב ought to be rendered thus: My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken to me what is right, as my servant Job has. The significant difference to…
does the story of job reflect a national tragedy?
The book of Job contains no explicit dating information and so determining its precise historical context is difficult. Although the implied date of the story is widely acknowledged to be in patriarchal times (when wealth was measured in goods and chattels, where people reputedly lived well past 100 years of age, and where there was…
job 42:3 — too marvellous or too difficult?
In English translations, Job 42:3 is usually rendered as follows: “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. The reference to “things too wonderful for me” appears to be a little odd given the context, following…