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The Authenticity of the Elihu Speeches in Job 32-37

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The Authenticity of the Elihu Speeches in Job 32-37 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA 156 (January-March 1999): 28-41 Copyright © 1999 by Dallas Theological Seminary. Cited with permission. THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE ELIHU SPEECHES IN JOB 32-37 Larry J. Waters A unique perspective on the dilemma and suffering of Job is presented in Job 32-37 by a man named Elihu.1 These six chapters, covering five separate speeches2 attributed to this young "wise man," seem to hold an exceptionally important position in the overall argument of the book, specifically in understanding ~ Job's struggle with undeserved suffering. If the speeches in these six chapters are not deemed authentic, their contribution to the subject of Job's suffering and the overall argument of the book is in question. However, if it can be demonstrated that Elihu's speeches are genuine and that their place in the Book of Job is integral, then the reader may confidently conclude that the message Elihu offered is applicable to the purpose and argument of the book. It is impor- tant to deal with the question of the genuineness of Elihu's - speeches because of (a) the extent of the textual material that is ") Larry J. Waters is Professor of Bible Exposition, International School of Theology- Asia, Quezon City, Philippines. 1 The proper name xUhylix< means "He is my God" or "My God is He." The latter is adopted by E. W. Bullinger (The Book of Job [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1990], 161). Elihu is similar to the name Elijah, "Yahweh is my God." Elihu's name bears wit- ness to lxe as the highest God. Elihu's name may even be "an expression of his theo- logical program": It is Yahweh who speaks through his speeches. Wisdom says that as it turned out, "the message epitomized in his name became an integral part of Elihu's message to Job (e.g., 33:12-13; 34:18-19, 23,31-32; 35:2-11; 36:26; 37:22-24)" (Thurman Wisdom, "The Message of Elihu: Job 32-37," Biblical Viewpoint 21 [1987]: 29). Elihu's identity is also connected with three other names, Barachel, Buz, and Ram. Elihu is therefore the only character in the book with a recorded genealogy, which "may point to his aristocratic heritage" (Robert L. Alden, Job, New American Commentary [Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 19931, 316; also see David McKenna, Job [Dallas, TX: Word, 19821,225). 2 Job 32:6-22; 33:1-33; 34:2-37; 35:2-16; 36:2-37:24. Scholars differ in their opinion on the division of the speeches. For a detailed representation of this five-part divi- sion see David Allen Diewert, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches: A Poetic and Structural Analysis" (Ph.D. diss., University of Toronto, 1991), 576-79. The Authenticity of the Elihu Speeches in Job 32-37 29 allotted to Elihu (in comparison to the four chapters assigned to Eliphaz, the three to Bildad, and the two to Zophar), (b) the placement of the Elihu speeches in the book, and (c) the reaction the speeches have drawn from critical circles on the question of authenticity. OPPONENTS OF ELIHU'S AUTHENTICITY Before the nineteenth century both Jewish and Christian scholars held a number of differing opinions on the Elihu speeches.3 The negative opinions suggested that Elihu was a figure inspired by Satan,4 or that he was a false prophet like Balaam.5 By the end of the eighteenth century the structure and authenticity of the Elihu speeches were still the focus of diverse opinions. Elihu, his speeches, and his importance suffered severely at the hands of critics.6 In the nineteenth century Stuhlmann, whose evaluation was based on the sudden appearance and subsequent disappear- ance of Elihu in the book, was the first to suggest that the speeches of Elihu were a later addition.7 He was followed by Ewald in 1836 and a considerable number of scholars after him.8 Stuhlmann, however, set the stage for research that culminated with a thor- ough and influential critical analysis by Nichols in 1911. Nichols approached the Elihu speeches largely from the standpoint of authenticity. She cited over forty authors from Stuhlmann to Peake, who considered them secondary additions, and twenty-seven others from Jahn to Posselt, who defended the 3 Although a full examination of this question cannot be presented beyond the needs of the topic here, three thorough investigations have been made: Robert V. McCabe Jr., "The Significance of the Elihu Speeches in the Context of the Book of Job" (Th.D. diss., Grace Theological Seminary, 1985), 1-36; David Arvid Johns, "The Literary and Theological Function of the Elihu Speeches in the Book of Job" (Ph.D. diss., Saint Louis University, 1983), 1-9; and Diewert, "The Composition of the .Elihu Speeches: A Poetic and Structural Analysis," 1-23). Also see Helen Hawley Nichols, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches (Job Chaps. 32-37)," American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 27 (January 1911): 97-186. 4 Testament of Job 41:5; 42:2; 43:4-17. See R. P. Spittler, "Testament of Job," in The at Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Garden City, NY: of Doubleday, 1983), 1:861-63. 5 Otto Zockler, "The Book of Job," in Commentary on the Holy Scrcptures, ed. John Peter Lange (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1960), 562-63. 6 For example J. G. Eichhorn, Einleitung in das Alte Testament (Gottingen: Rosenbusch, 1780-1783), 3:630. 7 Matthias H. Stuhlmann, Hiob, ein religioses Gedicht aus dem Hebraischen neu ubersetzt, gepruft und erlautert (Hamburg: Friedrich Perthes, 1804),14-24, 40- 44. 8 Heinrich Ewald, Commentary on the Book of Job, trans. J. Smith (Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate, 1882). 30 BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / January-March 1999 speeches as part of the original work.9 Even Nichols, who did not accept the Elihu speeches as original to the poem, admitted that "those who have defended Elihu in the critical debate have usually found in his words the positive solution of the problem [of Job's suffering], which the poem without them fails to give, and a preparation for the Theophany."10 In regard to recent investiga- tions "it would be fair to say that the studies of Job 32-37 since Nichols have also been chiefly dominated by this issue of their re- lationship to the rest of the book."11 Janzen lists four objections to the authenticity of the speeches. "(1) Elihu is mentioned nowhere else, not even in the epilogue, his long speeches interrupt the continuity between chapters 31 and 38, and he contributes little if anything to the content or dramatic movement of the book; (2) the literary style is diffuse and preten- tious, inferior to that of the rest of the book; (3) the linguistic usage differs from that in the rest of the poetry; and (4) the speeches offer an alternative resolution to Job's problem from that of the (baffling) divine speeches."12 Although Janzen views the speeches of Elihu as taxing on the reader, he states that "the Elihu speeches present no critical prob- lem," and he sees "no cogent reason to view them as other than integral to the book."13 In addition to the objections summarized 9 Nichols, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches (Job Chaps. 32-37)," 99-103. Also see Arthur s. Peake, Job: Introduction, Revised Version with Notes and In- dex, Century Bible (Edinburgh: Clark and Jack, 1904); Johann Jahn, Einleitung in das Alte Testament (n.p., n.d., cited in Nichols, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches (Job Chaps. 32-37)," 99; and Wenzel Posse It, "Der Verfasser der Elihu- Reden," Biblische Studien (FreiburgJ 14 (1909): 1-111. 10 Nichols, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches (Job Chaps. 32-37)," 101. 11 Diewert, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches: A Poetic and Structural Analysis," 4. Also see McCabe, "The Significance of the Elihu Speeches in the Con- text of the Book of Job," 1-36; Nonnan C. Habel, "The Role of Elihu in the Design of the Book of Job," in In the Shelter of Elyon, ed. W. Boyd Barrick and John R. Spencer (Sheffield: JSOT, 1984); and Johns, "The Literary and Theological Function of the Elihu Speeches in the Book of Job," 7-9. 12 J. Gerald Janzen, Job, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: Knox, 1985), 217-18. Cf. Johns, "The Literary and Theological Function of the Elihu Speeches in the Book of Job," 2. William T. Davidson gives three similar reasons why many commentators reject Job 32-37 as original to the text of Job and he also states that the Elihu speeches confuse rather than clarify the poem (The Wisdom-Literature of the Old Testament [London: Kelly, 1900],52). Also see John Briggs Curtis, "Why Were the Elihu Speeches Added to the Book of Job?' Proceedings 8 (1988): 93-99; and Robert Gordis, "Elihu the Intruder," in Bibli- cal and Other Studies, ed. Alexander Altmann (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer- sity Press, 1963),60-78. Zockler, after citing nine different arguments, which he at- tempted to refute, finally accepted the Elihu speeches as secondary, describing the linguistic argument as "the most weighty of all" ("The Book of Job," 272). 13 Janzen, Job, 218. The Authenticity of the Elihu Speeches in Job 32-37 31 by Janzen, other scholars maintain an intermediate position by holding to one original author who made an addition to his book in later life.14 Others do not reject the authenticity of the Elihu speeches but simply maintain either that they are a later addition by an unknown author,15 or that they are a compilation by a later author, editor, or series of editors.16 Once the authenticity or position of the speeches of Elihu was doubted, it seemed only logical that the next critical step was to dissect them,17 rearrange their position, 18 or reject all or portions 14 Diewert, "The Composition of the Elihu Speeches: A Poetic and Structural Analysis," 4.
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