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New Testament
Job
The events reported in the book of Job seem to have taken place in the land of Edom during patriarchal times, perhaps while Israel was in Egypt between 1800 and 1500 BC. The book may have been composed around the time of Solomon, 950 BC, when the other wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon) was composed. The author is unknown.
The Hebrew is exceptionally difficult. It seems to be a dialect different from standard biblical Hebrew. Some of the challenging passages are identified and discussed briefly in the footnotes. The meaning of a difficult word or line can often be deduced from the context or from the synonymous poetic parallelism with the neighboring lines. Though many of the Hebrew words are difficult, the message of Job comes through clearly.
Job's Happy Life
11There was a man in the land of Uz[] whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and turned away from evil. 2Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3His possessions included seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys. He also had a very large retinue of servants. This man was the greatest of all the men of the East.
4His sons would regularly arrange feasts, each one in his own house on his assigned day, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5When the days of the feast were complete, Job would send for them and consecrate[] them. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them. Job would say, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed[] God in their hearts.” Job did this regularly.
Job's First Test
6There came a day when the sons of God[] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[] also came into their midst. 7The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming the earth and walking around on it.”
8Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and turns away from evil.”
9Satan answered the Lord, “Is it without cause that Job fears God? 10You have put a protective hedge around him and his household and everything that belongs to him, haven't you? You have blessed the work of his hands. His livestock has spread throughout the land. 11But just stretch out your hand and strike everything that is his, and he will certainly curse you to your face!”
12So the Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then. Everything that he has is in your hand. But you may not stretch out your hand against the man himself.” So Satan left the presence of the Lord.
13One day when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their oldest brother, 14a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys were grazing nearby, 15when the Sabeans[] swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to death with the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16While he was still speaking, another servant came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the flocks and the servants and consumed them, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17While he was still speaking, another servant came and said, “The Chaldeans[] formed three raiding parties and plundered the camels and took them away. They put the servants to death with the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18While he was still speaking, another servant came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and were drinking wine in the house of their oldest brother. 19Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it collapsed on the young people, and they died, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshipped. 21Then he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be blessed.”
Footnotes
- 1:1 Most of the evidence points to the southern part of the territory east of the Jordan River as the location of Uz, but there is some evidence that points to a more northerly location.
- 1:5 Or seek forgiveness for
- 1:5 The Hebrew text reads blessed, a euphemism for cursed. See also Job 1:11; 2:5, 9.
- 1:6 The term sons of God often refers to believers. Here it refers to angels.
- 1:6 The Hebrew word satan is a common noun that means adversary or accuser. In the book of Job this title still is written as a common noun with the article, the satan, that is, the Accuser. In later books, as it becomes established as a proper name for the leader of the evil angels, the article is dropped and it is simply Satan.
- 1:15 People from Arabia, south of Uz
- 1:17 People from Syria, north of Uz
- 1:22 Or attribute any impropriety to God