Job Commentaries ESTHER PSALMS JOB RESOURCES Commentaries, Sermons, Illustrations, Devotionals Click chart to enlarge Chart from Jensen's Survey of the NT - used by permission The Book of Job Related Blogpost Job 1-3 Job 4-37 Job 38-42 PROLOGUE: DIALOGUE: EPILOGUE: SITUATION SEARCH SOLUTION Prose Poetry Prose Conflict Debate Repentance Dilemma of Job Debate of Job Deliverance of Job Disasters of Job Dialogues with Job Deliverance of Job A Great Man A Great Discussion A Great Revelation A Great Examination A Great Vindication Controversy Between Controversy Between Communication Between Jehovah & Satan Job & Three Friends Jehovah & Job (Satan & the Saint) Cycle 1 Eliphaz & Job (4-7) Bildad & Job (8-10) Zophar & Job (11-14) Cycle 2 Eliphaz & Job (15-17) Bildad & Job (18-19) Zophar & Job (20-21) Cycle 3 Eliphaz & Job (22-24) Bildad & Job (25-31) Elihu & Job (32-37) Dialogue in Heaven Dialogue on Earth Dialogue Between Heaven & Earth Job Tested & Despairing Job Counseled Job Approved The Onset of Suffering The Reality of Suffering The Final Word from God Challenge of Satan: 1-2 Judgments Voice Complaint of Job: 3 of Men of God Takes Place: Takes Place: Takes Place: Heaven & Earth Land of Uz (North Arabia) Heaven & Earth Patriarchal Period (circa 2000 BC) Author Unknown The Problem of Pain The Blessing Through Suffering OUTLINE OF JOB - Meredith Kline The Wycliffe Bible Commentary I. Desolation: The trial of Job's wisdom. Job 1:1-2:10 Job's wisdom described. Job 1:1-5 Job's wisdom denied and displayed. Job 1:6-2:10. The enmity of Satan. Job 1:6-12. The integrity of Job. Job 1:13-22. The persistence of Satan. Job 2:1-6. The patience of Job. Job 2:7-10. II. Complaint: The way of wisdom lost. Job 2:11-3:26. The coming of the wise men. Job 2:11-13. The impatience of Job. Job 3:1-26 III. Judgment: The way of wisdom darkened and illuminated. Job 4:1-41:34. The verdicts of men. Job 4:1-37:24. First cycle of debate. Job 4:1-14:22. First discourse of Eliphaz. Job 4:1-5:27. Job's reply to Eliphaz. Job 6:1-7:21. First discourse of Bildad. Job 8:1-22. Job's reply to Bildad. Job 9:1-10:22. First discourse of Zophar. Job 11:1-20. Job's reply to Zophar. Job 12:1-14:22. Second cycle of debate. Job 15:1-21:34. Second discourse of Eliphaz. Job 15:1-35. Job's second reply to Eliphaz. Job 16:1-17:16. Second discourse of Bildad. Job 18:1-21. Job's second reply to Bildad. Job 19:1-29. Second discourse of Zophar. Job 20:1-29. Job's second reply to Zophar. Job 21:1-34. Third cycle of debate. Job 22:1-31:40. Third discourse of Eliphaz. Job 22:1-30. Job's third reply to Eliphaz. Job 23:1-24:25. Third discourse of Bildad. Job 25:1-6. Job's third reply to Bildad. Job 26:1-14. Job's instruction of the silenced friends. Job 27:1-28:28. Job's final protest. Job 29:1-31:40. The ministry of Elihu. Job 32:1-37:24. The voice of God. Job 38:1-41:34. The divine challenge. Job 38:1-40:2. Job's submission. Job 40:3-5. The divine challenge renewed. Job 40:6-41:34. IV. Confession: The way of wisdom regained. Job 42:1-6. V. Restoration: The triumph of Job's wisdom. Job 42:7-17. Job's wisdom vindicated. Job 42:7-9 Job's wisdom blessed. Job 42:10-17 Key Words (NAS): Almighty (31x), curse (10x), cry, cries (20x/18v), wicked (34x), sin (25x/23v), iniquity (21x), transgression (9x), sons of God (3x), Satan (14x/11v), how? (25x/24v), why? (22x/19v), perfect (3x), blameless (4x), righteous (12x). right (18x), righteousness (8x), just (4x), wisdom (21x/20v) Job's Secret for Survival in the Storms of Life How Could Job Persevere and Hold Fast in the face of such extreme suffering and pain? The answer may lie in the fact that Job held fast to the Word of Truth which in turn anchored him when the winds of adversity blew and the waves of pain rolled over his body and soul. Job 23:12-note he declares "I have not departed from the command of His lips. I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Note what he has just said in context - In Job 23:8-9 clearly Job cannot perceive, see or behold God! And yet he is able to confidently declare "But (contrast with not being able to see Him) He knows the way I take (How did Job know this? Job 23:12-note!). When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10-note). How could he be so confident that the testing and refining would remove the dross and bring his heart and soul forth as "pure gold"? There can be only one answer -- Job knew and believed in the character of God, especially His goodness to His children (cp 2Ti 1:12-note). And how did Job know? Because he had "eaten" and held fast to the living, active, eternal Word of Truth for soul nourishment (s"oul food"!), placing a greater value on the powerful Word of Life than he placed even on his daily intake of food necessary for physical nourishment! Many millennia later Job's Redeemer (Job 19:25) declared the same truth that "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word which proceeds from the mouth of God!" (Mt 4:4, Lk 4:4-note; cp 1Pe 2:2-note, Heb 5:14-note) See In Depth Discussion of this Pivotal Passage Job 23:12 Irving Jensen in his modern classic lists the main purposes of the Book of Job as… (1) To reveal Who God is. (2) To show the kind of trust He wants His children to have. (E.g., trust God even though you cannot fully account for your circumstances. Cp 2Cor 4:17-note, 2Cor 4:18-note) Approval by God means “tried and found true” (cf. Ro 16:10-note). (3) To reveal His favor toward His children and His absolute control over Satan. (4) To answer man’s questions about why a righteous person may suffer while an evil man may be healthy and prosperous. (Jensen, I. L. Jensen's survey of the Old Testament - recommended) Was Job a real person? What "saith the LORD?" The Word of God answers through the prophet Ezekiel "even if these three men— Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness" (Ezekiel 14:14; see also Ezekiel 14:20). If you doubt Job's existence, you also have to doubt Noah & Daniel both of whom were described as real people by Jesus (Mt 24:15, Mt 24:37-38) Theology of Job Greg W. Parsons See also Greg Parsons' excellent article on Job - GUIDELINES FOR UNDERSTANDING AND PROCLAIMING THE BOOK OF JOB from Bibliotheca Sacra 151, 1994, pages 393-413. Introduction . The reader who desires to unlock the rich theological treasures contained in the Book of Job should assume its literary unity. Also he or she must interpret each part in light of its whole. Although the Book of Job is a complex work composed of many different speeches, its almost architectonic symmetry argues for a literary unity. The prose framework (Job prologue [Job 1-2] and epilogue [Job 42:7-17]) encloses the intricate poetic body (Job 3:1-42:6). After Job's initial monologue (Job 3) a dialogue of three cycles occurs between Job and his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (Job 4:27). Since Job's response to each friend is always longer than the corresponding speech, the short speech by Bildad (Job 25) and the absence of Zophar's speech in the final cycle may indicate Job's verbal victory over his friends, who fail to refute him ( see Elihu's remarks in 32:3,5). Job 28, a wisdom interlude between the three cycles of dialogue and the three monologues by Job, Elihu, and the Lord, marks the futility of dialogue as long as Job and his friends rely on human reasoning (Job 28:12-13,20-22). Job's closing monologues (Job 29-31) ignore the friends and appeal to God for legal vindication (Job 31:35-37). Elihu's speeches (Job 32-37) foreshadow theological concepts in and prepare the way for the Lord's speeches (Job 38-41). Critics interpret the inconsistency between the "patient Job" who never complains (Job see 1:21-22) and the "impatient Job" of the poetic body who curses the day of his birth (Job 3) and considers God an enemy (Job 6:4; 16:10-14) as indicating "sloppy editing" by the final author. It is better to view these two contrasting portraits of Job as intentionally displaying that Job was no "plaster saint" who suffered stoically. Rather, he was a real person struggling with emotions and feelings believers still have today. Since most of the Book of Job contains human reasoning, one must interpret each individual unit within the contest of the book as a whole and of the main purpose of the book. The reader must pay special attention to the prologue (Job 1-2) and the Lord's speeches (Job 38:1-42:6) to avoid erroneous conclusions.