It is a thorough and demanding work that supplements clines well. 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. Jobs life returns to blessing once he simply trusts gods wisdom after his great and prolonged trial. As the first poetic book of the english bible, job introduces.
The septuagint of job is about 400 lines shorter than the accepted hebrew text, and it may be that the translator s simply omitted lines he they did not understand. Brief definitions of hebrew verbal forms that impact exegesis. The language of the speeches in the book of job, the late hebraic words recurring in it comp. Study the bible online using commentary on job 1 and more. The greek septuagint also included the books of wisdom and sirach. The loss of job s property, and the death of his children. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. For those doing indepth study of the book, it is invaluable. Hartleys commentary on job is not as comprehensive or technical as clines work, but it is not written at an introductory level either. Commentary on the book of job with translation logos bible. The complex and delicate nature of the subject matter. Commentary on the book of job chapter five by wm w wells. Old testament hebrew english holy name king james version with strongs numbers. Book of job is poetry and to make matters worse it is poetry that has been translated from another language, hebrew.
It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. You can find the best commentary on job for you using the tools on the right side. The book starts with god and satan discussing job, a perfect and upright man who feared. If one tried to stubbornly oppose god, he could never prosper. He also examines the date and history of job as well.
A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. In the plain meaning of the story then not only is jobs behavior not worse. Verses 612 matthew henrys commentary bible gateway. Its incredibly complex and obscure hebrew allowing for multiple translations and meanings. Barth, beitrage zur erklarung des buches hiob, 1876, p. Job is finally satisfied, not by having his questions answered, but by a revelation of the incomparable majesty of god. Grays commentary on job, which is prefaced by a lengthy general introduction, is the first volume in a new series of commentaries on the text of. Budde, beitrage zur kritik des buches hiob, 1876, p. In the introduction, ewald gives context to the format, content, and style of the book as poem. Because of these qualities of god, no one can successfully resist him.
Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one. Read job 1 commentary using commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible. The conclusion of the book of job is that man cannot always understand the ways of god and that god does not always will to reveal them to men. For both of these principles were interpreted in an entirely external way. Job 1 commentary commentary critical and explanatory on the. Job overview james burton coffman commentaries on the bible. Job is going about his private affairs, unaware that he has suddenly become the focus of satans attention.
Top 5 commentaries on the book of job ligonier ministries. That is the startling and sublime conception of the sacred poet, that the earth is sustained by impalpable and spiritual energies. Bible commentary early church fathers medieval patristic. And so, now job needs to endure both the suffering and these unbearable friends of his all with no idea of why this is happening to him. Authorship and date jesus ben son of sira was a religious teacher and scribe in jerusalem around 200180 bcem which was a volatile time for the hebrew people.
Paul ellingworths commentary on hebrews is a massive technical commentary on the greek text. Rabbinic tradition ascribes it to moses, but scholars generally agree that it was written between the 7th and 4th centuries bce, with the 6th century bce as the most likely period for various reasons. The book of job a widely misunderstood book jeffrey radon. The book was originally written in hebrew, but it was translated into greek by the authors nephew in 117 bce. Jobs faith in god has become the object of a test by satan, in which god is planning to pull the rug out from under satan. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. Job, possibly the strangest book in the bible, is based on legends going back thousands of years, and is written in a very unusual form of hebrew. Job 5 commentary commentary critical and explanatory on the. The book of job is the first book of the wisdom literature of hebrew scripture, and is followed by psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and the song of songs. The author recounts an era in the life of job, in which he was tested and the character of god was revealed. Bob utley, retired professor of hermeneutics biblical interpretation table of contents. The translation offered in this commentary is conservative, avoiding emendation or paraphrase wherever possible. The understanding of sin presented throughout the book of job, even by jobs accusers, includes crimes of the heart, or desire, and not just physical actions. Readers will find much insight into the meaning of job here.
As with other books of the bible, job bears the name of the narratives primary character. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. The great revolution of the hebrew bible is reflected in the use of the term. Job then begins another of the sections, found commonly in both his speeches and those of the friends, in which they magnify gods character. The commentary includes the hebrew text plus an english translation of the entire book of job. Job began by praising god for his wisdom and his strength. The book of job is rightly understood to be a masterpiece of hebrew poetry and western literature. Rabbi breitowitz responds to these fundamental issues based on the book of job. This view i have presented and defended on many other grounds in my two books, the book of god and man university of chicago press, 1968 and the book of job, commentary, new translation, and special studies jewish theological seminary, 1970. Also, in the comments sections, quotations from the biblical text.
Job appears in the 6thcentury bce book of ezekiel as a man of antiquity renowned for his righteousness, and the author of the book of job has apparently chosen this legendary hero for his parable. How job is secretly wicked and so, to help his accusation to have some weight to it, eliphaz now in verses 69 is going to level several indictments against job just kind of guessing in a very confident manner what job might have done to deserve the treatment hes receiving from god. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament. Brief explanations of the technical resources used in this commentary.
What does the book of job teach us about the coronavirus. You will note that the book of job is written in the form of a drama and its main. If you find this scriptural poetry nearly impossible to read, try this. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author, but the principal character. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. Hebrew poetry is very different to the western poetry.
Commentary on the book of job by matthew henry old. He is implying that job is filled with bitterness and envy. German bible scholar georg ewald turns his attention to the book of job in this commentary. He systematically goes over each section of job as a drama, highlighting the contentions and resolutions throughout.
Also, in the comments sections, quotations from the biblical text are in hebrew not transliterated. Job is a book that ranks as one of the most difficult books in thetanach bible, for two reasons. Each section is intended to complement the others and thereby contribute to a composite interpretation of the book of job as an integrated literary and theological work. Job 1 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary is one of the most respected interdenominational commentaries ever written. I attempt to clear that up by offering a different perspective than most people know today. Paul ellingworth the epistle to the hebrews new international greek testament commentary, 1993. This name might have been derived from the hebrew word for persecution, thus meaning persecuted one.
Like anything in life, the reward for success reflects the amount of effort put. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job we have observed in the argument, that the firstborn son of nahor, abrahams brother, was called uz. Read the full text of the book of job in hebrew and english here. The book of job, in my view, is widely misunderstood it is the classic. Resources matthew henrys commentary job chapter 1 verses 612 verses 612 job was not only so rich and great, but withal so wise and good, and had such an interest both in heaven and earth, that one would think the mountain of his prosperity stood so strong that it could not be moved. Eliphaz goes on to imply that job, fits with one whose children are crushed in the gate 5. The book of job is one of the most misunderstood books in the bible. The early syriac peshitta, aramaic targum and latin vulgate translators had similar difficulties. Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. The arrangement of the commentary is also very nice. The book of job text of the hebrew bible s book of job book of. A commentary the jewish commentary for bible readers on.
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