Ancient jewish tradition credits the authorship of the book of job in the hebrew bible to moses. Elihu, isaiah, hezekiah, jeremiah, and ezra have also been suggested as possible. Since elihu offered wise counsel to job, if the book was written by one of his counselors, elihu is the best choice. And then he takes it upon himself to spend about five chaptersan eighth of the entire bookspouting off his thoughts. Elihu was one of job s friendsnot one of the three who had come to comfort job at the beginning of the book, but one who arrives later and offers the last and longest single speech to job. Job himself, who could have best recalled his own words. Book of job overview insight for living ministries. Literary and theological function of the elihu speeches in the book of job ph. Introduction the book of job is widely regarded as one of the great written masterpieces of history, equally impressive for the depth of the issues it wrestles with and the great literary quality it displays. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. Other than his long speech, elihu is never mentioned. Stedman believes that there are four reasons that elihu is an integral part in the book of job. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date.
Some scholars point to seemingly different features of the elihu speeches job 3237 to argue that he was a later. Theorists just eat this stuff up because it helps them decide what was written down when. The book of job was also found among the dead sea scrolls. Several suggestions have been put forth as plausible authors. Jobs three friends eliphas the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite were gulity before god because of what they said to job. Jobs answer to his own suffering is that he is the victim of fate, until his friend elihu finally convinces him otherwise. Elihu, the fourth friend who spoke toward the end of the story. God ignored elihu in the final analysis, as god was making clear what. In the book of job, it becomes clear that the first three of jobs friends eliphaz, blidad, and zophar speak wrongly. The authenticity of the elihu speeches in job 3237 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. At its beginning, job seems to be a book about human suffering. An introduction to the book of job faithlife sermons.
Job lived out his additional years as a happy, contented man. Elihu is identified only as the son of barakel the buzite, of the family of ram job 32. According to albert barnes, lightfoot and others believed that the book of job was written by elihu. The lengthy, detailed conversations recorded in this book suggest they may have been written by an eyewitness to all that transpires. Some of the hebrew prophets attempted to deal with this question insofar as it affected the nation as a whole, but the writer of the book of job deals with it on an individual basis. Before the character and role of elihu in the book of job can be considered, the question regarding whether or not the elihu speeches are an original part of the book of job must be addressed. Weve just written essays on the book of job, and ive been looking at whether or not the text answers questions of suffering. But this claim is rejected by many modern scholars and instead they suggest that elihu, solomon, and ezra could be the authors of the book. The date of the authorship of the book of job would be determined by the author of the book of job. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him. Elihu, in the hebrew bible, a comforter of job, the biblical prototype of undeserved. Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one. The author of the book of job incorporated the folk book into his work in a manner still showing traces of the component parts.
As a whole, the book appears to have been written as a direct challenge to the timehonored doctrine that people are rewarded or punished according to their merits. If you were to fit it chronologically, it should be place in the early chapters of genesis. If the author of the book of job is in fact job, then the inclusion of elihus discourses may have been especially pertinent to job because of the close affinity of elihus thoughts and sentiments to jobs own thinking, prior to this his change. We are continuing our study in the book of job and today, you know, i spent more time studying the book of job this year than any other time in my life. A comparative and critical analysis of the story of job as. Job is wrong to accuse god of injustice, as god is greater than human beings, and nor are the. Copeland this study guide is from the executable outlines series, a collection of sermon outlines and bible study lessons by mark a. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. When the debate between job and his friends is brought to a close, elihu for the first time makes his appearance, and delivers his opinion on the points at issue job 3237 37. He isnt mentioned as one of jobs friends, but apparently he was there listening in on their conversation, because he knows all about it when he chimes in. Elihu gives several speeches that carry with them many elements of biblical wisdom, but the final wisdom to be found in this great book comes not from jobs friends or from elihu, but from god himself.
If moses was the author, the date would be around 1440 b. Put simply, many scholars believe that the elihu speeches as we have them now were not part of the original book of job. Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, i should save job. It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended. The most likely candidates are job, elihu, moses and solomon. Elihu by arthur davis on 28 march 2010 10 comments.
The revised version, as well as many other of the more accurate translations, renders verse 23, if there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him. The book of job does not specifically name its author. Elihu tells job that he too is one of gods sons 33. Interpretations of elihu in job biblical hermeneutics. Literary structure the unity of the book of job will be assumed in the analysis of its literary structure. In greek lxx the name is transliteration of the hebrew consonants iwb. Elihu concluded that the friends had condemned job without finding an answer for him and elihu was angered against job for justifying himself rather than god job 32. Unfortunately, two erroneous interpretations of jobs theses are by far the most popular. According to biblical scholars, the book of job is the oldest book in the bible. The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that joba particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. The role and character of elihu in the book of job the.
The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. A comparative and critical analysis of the story of job as found in the bible and the quran. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. In the following general summary of the arguments employed by elihus. Typology study on elihu blessed hope baptist church. The book, in its present form, loosely divides into five parts. At a recent pastors conference on the book of job, a leader asked the. Elihu, the forgotten prophet of job the book of job is one of the most important of the entire bible, and is a prerequisite to all discussions of christian theology, particularly theodicy.
First, the name elihu is a variant spelling of the name elijah, and elihus actions in the book of job suggest a strong connection to the great prophet. The work is grouped with proverbs and ecclesiastes as a product of the wisdom movement, even though it contains what might be called an antiwisdom strain in that the hero. Evidence that elihu prepared job for god the bible meditator. Elihu was one of jobs friendsnot one of the three who had come to comfort job at the beginning of the book, but one who arrives later and offers the last and longest single speech to job. Commentary on the book of job chapter thirtytwo by wm w wells. Jobs counsel reaches a higher level with some deep insights by elihu. The book of job asks us to look beyond blame, accept ambiguity and uncertainty, and trust god for what we cannot see or control.
Ancient scribes didnt usually sign writings in the ancient world. Curtis, why were the elihu speeches added to the book of job. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. In the book of job of the bible why is elihu not guilty. Trying to say that one of the characters in the book wrote one of the chapters is as ridiculous as saying that princess leia wrote attack of the clones. Elihu is the fourth friend who spoke to job in chapters 32 37. These verses are the heart of the theological message of the book of job. Elihu wrote all of jobs book, yet pride in his work. The goal is to demonstrate how tthe author of job utilized certain key themes in developing the purpose and message of the book. Unlike today, ancient people didnt listen to a story and think. The book of job 4 author and date of writing who wrote the book, and when.
When we concluded our readings on the book of job in the bible meditator, we wondered about the messages of elihu, the young man who listened to the debate between job and his friends. All that can be said with certainty is that the author was a loyal hebrew who was not. Job lived after the whole troubles some period another 140 yrs. In the book of job of the bible why is elihu not guilty before god. The book of job is not only the finest expression of the hebrew poetic genius. Then the book closes with the birth of more sons and daughters and jobs rise to a position of even greater wealth and prominence. Seeing that jobs three friends remained silent, unable to answer him, elihu takes their place.
The third and best understanding of elihus role in the book of job is that he helps to prepare job for gods appearance in the whirlwind. Where did the biblical story of creation come from. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. Who wrote the book of job and how did they know about the conversation between god and satan. Jewish tradition attributes the book to moses, and other authors have been suggested job, elihu, solomon, isaiah, hezekiah, and baruch, jeremiahs scribe. In addition, were clearly told that elihu is young job 32. The book of job introduction the book of job has long been praised as a masterpiece of literature.
Before we begin a conceptual analysis of this holy book it will be helpful to clarify four things. Pdf elihus contribution to the thought of the book of job robert. In job 32 elihu focuses his response on rebuking jobs three. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. He is said to have descended from guz who may be from the line of abraham genesis 22. The babylonian talmud claims, moses wrote his own book, and the passages about balaam and job baba bathra, 14b, 15a.
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