Book of job suffering analysis meaning

Except when you look at the book of job, hes anything but patient when you read it. Introduction the book of job is a book that tells a story about a reach man who lived in uz. Job recognizes his mistake of falling into distress because of his suffering. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. The book of job discusses why god allows pain and suffering. I was almost immediately captivated by father richard rohrs energy and fascinating insight into the real meaning of the book of job for people today.

When suffering hits, it not only affects the individual but also the family and community. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. In the meaning of the book of job and other biblical studies. List of books and articles about book of job online. The chief purpose of the book of job through careful analysis and thought poses the main purpose of the book of job. Job had a very large family with seven sons and three daughters. Its subject matter is the allimportant question, why, in a world over which yahweh has jurisdiction, should innocent persons have to suffer when at the same time the wicked escape suffering and are permitted to have comfort and security. How could job say, though he slay me, i will trust in him. Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. He saw that it led to a dead end, that it had no way to cope with the suffering of godly people.

Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer. The goal is to demonstrate how tthe author of job utilized certain key themes in developing the purpose and message of the book. In this paper well look for a response from the christian and muslim scriptures to the question of human suffering through the story of job, and examine it for validity and coherence. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. Moreover, the book of job is unique among the hebrewchristian canonical texts in the manner of its concern with law. God returns jobs health, providing him with twice as much property as before, new children, and an extremely long life. The book of job is classified as a work of hebrew literature, but some scholars have pointed to evidence of arabic influences within the hebrew text.

At the same time, it also asks the question we rarely. Gustavo says that this disinterested religion alone is true religion. The book of job is one of the most celebrated pieces of biblical literature, not only because it explores some of the most profound questions humans ask about their lives, but also because it is extremely well. The subject of the book of job is gods dealings with mankind in his governmental ways in a world in which satan, the adversary of god, has introduced sin, suffering and death.

His friends speak in more or less three rounds, with each speech followed by a reply from job. For anyone unfamiliar with the account, i would suggest at least a cursory reading of the same. The book of job challenges the simple equation of suffering with punishment, by telling the story of one righteous mans confrontation with overwhelming misfortune. In fact, god designed this book as a pattern to aid us for the testing and strengthening of our faith. The one account in the bible, which deals almost exclusively with suffering, is the book of job. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. Gustavo sees jobs authors as emphasizing jobs faith which is disinterested, for nothing. The book of job takes us on a journey through suffering that helps us engage and view it from multiple perspectives. He was a faithful servant of god, he owned thousands of animals, and had many servants and friends. Job had a very large family with seven sons and three. Nevertheless these ways of god with mankind have always a good purpose romans 8. Jobs burden, reconciling unimaginable suffering with the idea of a just god, is a task one that few preachers or academics are bold enough to tackle. Jobs suffering, the suffering of a just man who bears it patiently and continues to seek mercy and forgiveness, acquires its fullest meaning in the new testament.

Job cursed the day of his birth and longs for death that does not come to relieve the suffering. We read his complaint, but because the prologue reveals the heavenly court scene, the readers have insight unknown to job. Fittingly, job gives us the opportunity to reflect on suffering and faith from multiple perspectives. Job speaks of foundational themes every human being contends with, especially in times of suffering. We are not to assume god has rejected all those that suffer. Reflections on suffering from the book of job 3 undeserved suffering, therefore, serves as a dependable, useful model12 for the believer of any generation in dealing with the problem of theodicy.

But this story is about more than just mass destruction. An examination of all of the stories, fables, proverbs, and histories of the bible, the book of job is one of the most compelling due to its unique literary style and the complex treatment of the issue of suffering. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. These characters are all about asking questions to get their listeners thinkingthey dont really want an answer. He therein discovers love, because an essential aspect of love is obedience. The book of job tells us that only total recognition and acceptance of the truth of god and good as the ultimate meaning will overcome human suffering. But the story isnt about what job had and what he lost. Jobs first response to the words of eliphaz were to complain about the greatness of his suffering, because eliphaz only made his suffering worse, with his wellintentioned but wrong analysis of jobs problem. Its clearly based on some kind of a folktale of a man who was extremely patient in the face of suffering. Rather, the focus is on what job learns from his suffering. Rabbi breitowitz responds to these fundamental issues based on the book of job. This time, job is arguing that by the rules of that logic, god shouldnt be punishing him. The entire book opens up a new perspective, that of the reward which awaits, in heaven, those who do gods will on earth.

This begins a long section in the book of job where jobs friends counsel him and he answers them. The meaning of law in the book of job by herbert fmgmierm p he law, its themes, concepts, images, and language, permeates the book of job. John paul ii and max scheler on the meaning of suffering i. The book of job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering. Gustavo gutierrez, a leading liberation theologian, in on job. At the heart of this sacred triduum is the mystery of an unbounded love, namely, the mystery of christ who, having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to.

The new element in the second cycle is that elihus speech is interrupted by the dramatic appearance of god himself job 38. Jobs three friends had taken the position that the severity of jobs suffering must be the sign of some grievous sin in his life. The book of job does not specifically name its author. The basic concept of wisdom has always been connected with skill and knowhow,15 for wisdom was the art of achieving, and the emphasis was on. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a. The most likely candidates are job, elihu, moses and solomon. At last, god fulfills jobs desire for a facetoface encounter.

So the patience of job is often mentioned, even in the new testament. In the story of job suffering and misfortune become a test to check up jobs obedience. In this series of blogs i shall revisit the book of job, the personality and some of its meaning for contemporary society. Is god to be held to a strict set of regulations based on human interpretations of his relationship with mankind. Jul 22, 2011 in the bible, the bestknown wrestling with the problem of suffering comes to us in the book of job. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. 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 man. Second, the book of job recognizes that the problem of suffering is better understood as an unresolved tension amongst not three but four factors, the fourth being our assumption that the outworking of gods righteousness is going to look a particular way meaning it will be more or less. Righteous suffering at first glance, it would appear that the book of job simply asks the question, why do bad things happen to good people. Of course, he is human and he did realize his faults at the end of the book, but his reactions to the death and suffering around him just amaze me. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. Godtalk and the suffering of the innocent sheds light upon some of the various meanings of the book of job. It is what job learns about god through his suffering.

The book is of unknown authorship and date, although many scholars assign it to a time between 600 bc and 400 bc a lament in narrative form, the subject is the problem of good and evil in the world. It could only deny the reality of the experienced anomaly and add to the pain and inner turmoil of the sufferer. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. Christ told his apostles that, if they loved him, they would keep his. Job with book summary versebyverse bible commentary.

The story itself, read from the bible, is quite easy to understand and makes for a few hours of light, entertaining reading. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a wartorn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of gods allcontrolling will. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. Gods purpose in suffering an introduction to the book of job. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. A comparative and critical analysis of the story of job as. This faithfilled statement has challenged countless believers through the centuries to strive for a similar trust in the lord in the face of trials. Suffering and the book of job essay 1690 words bartleby. Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies. Why would god, in all of his omnipotence and righteousness, cast evil upon those who devote every aspect of their life to adhering to the word of the divine. Job showed us a great model of what we should all look like in the face of the storms and tragedies of this life. The date of the authorship of the book of job would be determined by the author of the book of job.

Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of job. The book treats two major themes and many other minor ones, both in the narrative framework of the prologue chapters 1 and 2, and epilogue 42. This passage highlights one of the book of job s best style choices. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. Theodicy and the book of job the cambridge orthodox forum. The book of job, in the old testament, opens with words both majestic and onceuponatimeish. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. In the books first cycle, jobs friends speeches were halted by the revelation of gods wisdom. Selected bibliography of the book of job related media.

Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. Job and the problem of suffering groundwork bible study. While it is true that suffering is a major theme in the book of job, suffering is not the real meaning of job. A critical analysis of suffering from the book of job the v. Apr 28, 2020 job s three friends had taken the position that the severity of job s suffering must be the sign of some grievous sin in his life. It is also, a book of almost endless endurance in the face of great stress. We will also see that in some of our darkest hours, the battle must be our own. The author of the book of job broke out of the tight, logical mold of the traditional orthodox theology of his day. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. But job silences these three by showing that is no correlation in this world between righteousness and prosperity or between wickedness and suffering.

The suffering of job and divine justice part 1 posted on march 2, 2010 by claude mariottini the book of job has fascinated readers over the years because the book deals with the problem of suffering, a problem that sooner or later will touch every human being. Now, job will answer the words of eliphaz the temanite. Introduction during his wednesday audience at the end of lent in the year 2001, pope john paul ii said. Oct 12, 2015 despised and utterly forlorn, we see job suffering. The only satisfaction we can have relating to suffering is the overcoming of it. This passage highlights one of the book of jobs best style choices. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. Jobs sufferings get new meaning in this book of the old testament. The book of job teaches the same lesson that god tests his people that they may learn to rely upon him, and him alone for all things. Reflections on suffering from the book of job 439 job is truly a wisdom book. Job s suffering, the suffering of a just man who bears it patiently and continues to seek mercy and forgiveness, acquires its fullest meaning in the new testament. Literary structure the unity of the book of job will be assumed in the analysis of its literary structure. Waters ritten by an unknown author, possibly the most ancient literary account in the bible,1 the book of job is a mixture of divine and human wisdom that addresses a major life issue. The book of job and the problem of suffering bitesized.