Job 1 King James Version (KJV)
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Commentary
Among the many different types of books in the Old Testament are those known as the wisdom books. These are the books of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, though certain psalms and parts of other books might also be classified as wisdom literature.
Wisdom writings
God used various kinds of preachers and teachers to instruct and guide his people. He used priests to teach and supervise his law (Lev 10:8-11; Deut 33:10; Mal 2:7), and prophets to bring messages that would reveal his purposes and turn people from sin to obedience (Ezek 2:3-5; Amos 3:1,7-8; Micah 3:8). He also used wisdom teachers. These people, sometimes known as ‘the wise’, constituted a distinct category among the teachers of Israel (Jer 18:18; cf. Isa 29:14). They did not claim to receive revelations from God, but examined the everyday affairs of life and, as people of faith, instructed others in right living (Eccles 12:9-10).
The biblical literature that comes from the wisdom teachers is of two main types. One of these, represented by the book of Proverbs, deals mainly with the general principles of right and wrong as they apply to life in general; for example, the righteous will prosper but the wicked will perish (Prov 11:5-8; 12:6-7). The other, represented by Job and Ecclesiastes, looks at the exceptions to these general principles; for example, the righteous sometimes have all sorts of troubles, but the wicked enjoy peace and prosperity (Job 12:4; 21:7-13; Eccles 7:15; 8:10,14).
These features do not indicate that the wisdom teachers had conflicting interpretations of life. They show rather that wise people were able to look at various aspects of life in different ways. The same teacher could consider important issues from a variety of viewpoints. The writer of Proverbs, for example, acknowledges that an acceptable general principle may not apply equally in every case (Prov 26:4-5), while the writers of Job and Ecclesiastes recognize that, in spite of the exceptions, general principles are still the basis for wise teaching (Job 28:20-28; Eccles 7:1-13).
Wisdom teachers were godly men who looked at life with all its consistencies and inconsistencies, so that they might help God’s people find meaning and purpose in the life God had given them. Though they were aware of an afterlife (Job 19:26), their main concern was to deal with the issues that people faced in the present life.
Understanding Job
Job was a wealthy, learned, God-fearing man who lived in Uz, a land somewhere in the region east of Palestine. When he was overcome by a series of disasters, his friends argued that his troubles must have been because of his secret sins. Job denied this. He knew that he was not perfect, but he also knew that the traditional views, such as those held by his learned friends, did not explain everything. The long and bitter argument that followed takes up most of the book.
The reader of the book, however, knows what neither Job nor his friends knew. Satan had made the accusation that people serve God only because of the good things they can get from him. If they get only suffering and hardship they will curse him (Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5). God allowed disasters to fall upon Job to prove the genuineness of Job’s faith and enrich his experience of God (cf. James 5:11). Job’s sufferings were proof not of God’s judgment on him but of God’s confidence in him.
In insisting that suffering must be the result of personal sin, the friends drove Job to the point where he almost lost patience with them completely; but they also drove him to God, whom Job saw as his only hope. In making his protests to God, Job may have been guilty of using rash language, but at least he took his protests to the right person.
Job was finally satisfied, not through having all his questions answered, but through meeting the God to whom he had cried. He may not have understood God’s purposes, but he learnt that God’s wisdom was beyond human understanding and he was worthy of a person’s total trust. God was not answerable to anyone; he could do as he pleased.
In announcing his approval of Job, God showed the friends to be wrong in asserting that suffering was always the result of personal sin. He also showed Satan to be wrong in asserting that people worship God only because of what they can get from him. Job remained true to God though he had lost everything, but in the end God blessed him with greater blessings than he had before.
Writing of the book
There is no certainty concerning the era the story of Job belongs to, nor does the book say who wrote it. However, lack of information on these matters is no hindrance to an understanding of the book. The important considerations when reading the book of Job are not those relating to its authorship and date, but those relating to its literary character. The book is a piece of Hebrew wisdom literature and, apart from its beginning and ending, is written in poetry.
We should not read the book of Job as we would those books of the Old Testament that consist mainly of prose narratives, legal commandments, or challenging sermons. This is not only because the book has the characteristics of wisdom literature already considered, but also because it is in a stylized form. This is evident throughout the – in the narrative introduction, in the successive rounds of debate, and in the dramatic conclusion.
As in all poetry, the language and word-pictures are often striking, and the writer does not expect his readers to interpret everything literally. Nor has he designed the book to be read as a word-by-word study. Often one verse, or several verses, may be used to express one basic thought. These features are typical of Hebrew poetry, and the more we understand such features the better we will understand Job. (For more about the characteristics of Hebrew poetry see introductory notes to Psalms and Proverbs.)