YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE BOOK OF JOB Commentary by BOB UTLEY PROFESSOR OF HERMENEUTICS (BIBLE INTERPRETATION) STUDY GUIDE COMMENTARY SERIES OLD TESTAMENT, VOL. 9A BIBLE LESSONS INTERNATIONAL MARSHALL, TEXAS 2014 www.BibleLessonsIntl.com www.freebiblecommentary.org 1 2 I would like to dedicate this commentary to my friend of 40 years Arlano Funderburk. He has encouraged me to write this volume. I pray it is a blessing to him as he has been to me and so many college students through all these years! 3 Copyright ©2014 by Bible Lessons International, Marshall, Texas All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any way or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Bible Lessons International P. O. Box 1289 Marshall, TX 75671-1289 1-800-785-1005 ISBN 978-1-892691-37-8 The primary biblical text used in this commentary is: New American Standard Bible (Update, 1995) Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation P. O. Box 2279 La Habra, CA 90632-2279 The paragraph divisions and summary captions as well as selected phrases are from: 1. The New King James Version, Copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright ©1989 by the Division of Christian Education of National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 3. Today’s English Version is used by permission of the copyright owner, The American Bible Society, ©1966, 1971. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 4. The New Jerusalem Bible, copyright ©1990 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.freebiblecommentary.org 4 5 The New American Standard Bible Update — 1995 Easier to read: } Passages with Old English “thee’s” and “thou’s” etc. have been updated to modern English. } Words and phrases that could be misunderstood due to changes in their meaning during the past 20 years have been updated to current English. } Sentences beginning with “And” have often been retranslated for better English, in recognition of differences in style between the ancient languages and modern English. The original Greek and Hebrew did not have punctuation as is found in English, and in many cases modern English punctuation serves as a substitute for “and” in the original. In some other cases, “and” is translated by a different word such as “then” or “but” as called for by the context, when the word in the original language allows such translation. More accurate than ever: } Recent research on the oldest and best Greek manuscripts of the New Testament has been reviewed, and some passages have been updated for even greater fidelity to the original manuscripts. } Parallel passages have been compared and reviewed. } Verbs that have a wide range of meaning have been retranslated in some passages to better account for their use in the context. And still the NASB: } The NASB update is not a change-for-the-sake-of-change translation. The original NASB stands the test of time, and change has been kept to a minimum in recognition of the standard that has been set by the New American Standard Bible. } The NASB update continues the NASB’s tradition of literal translation of the original Greek and Hebrew without compromise. Changes in the text have been kept within the strict parameters set forth by the Lockman Foundation’s Fourfold Aim. } The translators and consultants who have contributed to the NASB update are conservative Bible scholars who have doctorates in Biblical languages, theology, or other advanced degrees. They represent a variety of denominational backgrounds. Continuing a tradition: The original NASB has earned the reputation of being the most accurate English Bible translation. Other translations in recent years have sometimes made a claim to both accuracy and ease of reading, but any reader with an eye for detail eventually discovers that these translations are consistently inconsistent. While sometimes literal, they frequently resort to paraphrase of the original, often gaining little in readability and sacrificing much in terms of fidelity. Paraphrasing is not by nature a bad thing; it can and should clarify the meaning of a passage as the translators understand and interpret. In the end, however, a paraphrase is as much a commentary on the Bible as it is a translation. The NASB update carries on the NASB tradition of being a true Bible translation, revealing what the original manuscripts actually say—not merely what the translator believes they mean. —The Lockman Foundation INTRODUCTION TO JOB I. NAME OF THE BOOK A. The book is named after its chief character. Job (BDB 33, KB 36) is a very common name in the ANE. Its meaning has been interpreted as 1. “where is Father” (northwestern Semitic name, W. F. Albright) 2. “an enemy” (Hebrew root, cf. Job 13:24; 33:10) 3. “one who repents” (Arabic root, cf. Job 42:6) B. This book is powerful, artistic, and theologically significant. 1. Luther said it is “magnificent and sublime as no other book of Scripture.” 2. Tennyson said it is “the greatest poem whether ancient or modern.” 3. Carlyle said, “There is nothing written in the Bible or out of it of equal merit.” II. CANONIZATION A. It is in the Writings section of the Hebrew canon, which contains all Wisdom Literature (see Special Topic: The Hebrew Canon (Hebrew) and Special Topic: Wisdom Literature. B. It appears in some Hebrew MSS after the book of Deuteronomy because both Job and Abraham fit into the same historical period (i.e., the second millennium B.C.). C. The current placement of Job among the poetic books of the Bible began in the Vulgate and was fixed by the Council of Trent (i.e., the twenty-five sessions took place between A.D. 1545-1563). III. THE TEXT OF JOB A. Job has more textual issues than any other OT book. B. There are several issues. A, and B have ,א The MT, compared to the oldest Septuagint (the 4th century A.D. LXX, MSS .1 about the same number of verses), has about 400 fewer poetic lines (according to Origen and Jerome). The two Targums of Job found in the DSS are a combination of both the MT and LXX (but closer to the MT). 2. The apparent structure a. the threefold cycle between Job and his three friends breaks down in the last cycle (chapters 22-27) b. the contextual disjointedness of chapter 28 (which may be the author/editor/compiler’s addition) 3. The use of over 100 hapax legomena (i.e., words used only once in the OT) and far more rare words than any other OT book 4. The use of Aramaic words, especially in Elihu’s speeches (chapters 32-37) 5. The use of unusual Hebrew grammar which seems to reflect Ugarit usage (Ras Shamra Texts) 7 6. There are 18 places where the Talmud’s rabbinical authors purposefully change the MT (i.e., the Massora notes). 7. In this commentary I will try to deal with some of the textual and lexical issues. However, it must be remembered that the overall message is more significant than the poetic details or unusual grammatical features. In this book, like Ecclesiastes, one must not turn the details into doctrines! IV. GENRE A. Job is part of a literary genre very common in the Ancient Near East called “wisdom literature.” See the Special Topic: Wisdom Literature and Special Topic: Hebrew Poetry in II. A. above. B. Because the book is primarily poetry with a prose introduction (Job 1-2) and ending (Job 42:7-17), there has been much discussion among scholars about its genre. 1. historical narrative (see Special Topic: OT Historical Narrative) 2. a dramatic presentation of a philosophical/theological theme (see Intro. to Jonah online) 3. a parable (the Talmud and some rabbis) C. Job has some literary (but not theological) similarity to: 1. a Babylonian writing called “I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom.” It is sometimes called the “Babylonian Job.” 2. a Babylonian writing called “Dialogue About Human Misery.” It is sometimes called a “Babylonian Theodicy.” 3. an Egyptian writing called “Protest of the Eloquent Peasant.” 4. an Egyptian writing called “Dispute with His Soul of One Who is Tired of Life.” It is also called “Dispute Over Suicide.” For a good brief discussion of the similarities and differences see John H. Walton, NIV Application Commentary, Job, pp. 31-38. D. The book contains several types of genres. It does not fit into any one category. V. Authorship A. The book is anonymous, like most OT books. B. Baba Bathra 14b (Talmud) asserts that Moses wrote the book. Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Peshitta place it after Deuteronomy. C. It is possible that a Jewish philosopher (Judean court sage) took the historical life of Job and modified it to teach a philosophical, theological truth (the same is true of Jonah). The prose sections use the covenant name (i.e., YHWH) for God, but Job and his friends, in their speeches, always use the general names for God (i.e., El and Eloah, see Special Topic: Names for Deity). This option is my best guess. D. Some scholars would assert that the poetic section, Job 3:1-42:6, was written by an ancient author, while the prose prologue (Job 1-2) and epilogue (Job 42:7-17) were added by a later editor. 8 However, it needs to be remembered that we, in our modern, western culture, do not fully understand the writing patterns and techniques of the ANE.