We may be sure that the author was an israelite, since he not job or his friends frequently uses the israelite covenant name for god yahweh. Evidence that elihu prepared job for god 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. If job wrote it himself, some of the jewish writers themselves own him a prophet among the gentiles. Jewish tradition attributes the book to moses, and other authors have been suggested job, elihu, solomon, isaiah, hezekiah, and baruch, jeremiahs scribe. Because elihu was younger in years than the three friends, he was quiet during their conversation job 32. As job proves adamant in his own defense, his friend bildad retreats to that classic catchall of total depravity. 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. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. Satan tells god that job is only virtuous because he is well off.
The following scripture is from the authorized king james version of the holy bible, now in the public domain. Elihu proclaims gods justiceelihu further answered and said. Then was kindled the wrath of elihu the son of barachel the buzite, of the kindred of ram. In the land of uz there lived a man whose name was job. Elihu condemns job as much as he does job s other friends, but for different reasons.
The book of job is the story of a good man who suffers total disaster he loses all his children and property and is afflicted with a repulsive disease. 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. Evidence that elihu prepared job for god the bible meditator. In a verse which is representative of the entire speech, elihu says in job 34. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. Then the wrath of elihu, the son of barachel the buzite, of the family of ram, was aroused against job. In several sentences he beautifully expresses his faith in the pardoning and restoring grace of god towards sinners, job 33. The book starts with god and satan discussing job, a perfect and upright man who feared god and eschewed evil 1. Job is the last of the three books that explore these themes of biblical wisdom. Interpretations of elihu in job biblical hermeneutics. The date of the book leans toward a patriarchal age. While no one knows for sure, the most frequent opinion ive heard is that the book of job was probably written during the time of the patriarchs abraham, isaac, jacob.
The book of job in the bible s old testament is a long poem. Neil simon wrote gods favorite which is a modern retelling of the book of job. 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. 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. 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. Elihu was born to a man named barakel and he was a descendant of buz in the family of ram. Nevertheless these ways of god with mankind have always a good purpose romans 8. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil.
He goes on to assert that god justly governs the world without exception job 34. The book of job asks us to look beyond blame, accept ambiguity and uncertainty, and trust god for what we cannot see or control. Elihu had agreed with his 3 cocounselors that job had sinned, if nowhere else, in the way he questioned god 33. This suggests that there were many stories about job in the ancient world, and what we find in the bible is only one of them. As with other books of the bible, job bears the name of the narratives primary character. In job 32 elihu focuses his response on rebuking jobs three. Some believe solomon may have written it, but it could well have been moses because the people mentioned in the book of job were living around the time of abraham, so we know moses wrote genesis so this was the time. The most popular bible verses from job top verses bible.
Watch our overview video on the book of job, which breaks down the literary design of the. This can be explained by the suggestion that elihu was the man who wrote the book of job and these verses are inspired words of elihu which he inserted into the record to tell the reader how the friends reacted to him. The role and character of elihu in the book of job the. Job bible study outlinecontents by chapter and verse. Job with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. This unknown author probably had access to a tradition oral or written about an ancient righteous man who endured great suffering with remarkable. All that can be said with certainty is that the author was a loyal hebrew who was not strictly bound by the popular creed that assumed suffering was always the direct result of sin.
The babylonian talmud claims, moses wrote his own book, and the passages about balaam and job baba bathra, 14b, 15a. Scholars are fairly confident that several hands, at least, are responsible for the book of job. Question 19 what is contained in the various books of the bible. It was 7 minutes and this year im turning 30 years old. In job 3237 elihu offers a response to job that lifts up the lord, condemns jobs three friends, and rightly. Most scholars believe it was job himself or a contemporary of job, like elihu. However, a lot of people who try and use the book of job to justify their accusation of god havent really read through it. And god will help them, although sometimes they must be patient. He said, naked i came from my mothers womb, and naked i shall return there the lord gave and the lord has taken away. I turned to a random page and was led to scripture in the book of job.
He is said to have descended from guz who may be from the line of abraham genesis 22. The book of job discusses why innocent people suffer. Elihu the prophet, son of barachel the buzite, family of ram. Due to this and elihus presence throughout the whole conversation, many suggest that elihu wrote the book of job. Elihu dictionary definition, verses and bible references on the topic of elihu using smiths bible dictionary online.
So these three men ceased answering job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. In the end, god himself, whose dealings with humanity have been a prominent part of the discussion, appears to job. 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. Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one.
Elihu was a man living in the land of uz during and after the trials and consolation of job. However, elihu also sees that god brings bad things on people to preserve them from going into the pit. Ancient jewish tradition credits the authorship of the book of job to moses. In job 3237 elihu offers a response to job that lifts up the lord, condemns jobs three friends, and rightly confronts job. His dialogue with job parallels the discourse between job and his friends in chapters 427.
Book of job read, study bible verses online bible study tools. This name might have been derived from the hebrew word for persecution, thus meaning persecuted one, or from an arabic word. Elihu smiths bible dictionary online search, find verses. Moses uses the name of yahweh often whereas job uses other names, job uses arabic words unlike moses, moses would not have been familiar with arabic customs, opinions, and manners. The link above should take you to the rest if youre interested.
Job chapter 36 explained discover the 66 books of the bible. Then in three series of poetic dialogues the author shows how job s friends and job himself react to these calamities. According to elihu, the new element is that he is inspired to speak the wisdom job s friends lacked. Copeland this study guide is from the executable outlines series, a collection of sermon outlines and bible study lessons by mark a. But we do know some things about how the biblical book was written. Though evil is sweet in a wicked man s mouth, and he hides it under his tongue it will turn sour in his stomach and become the venom of serpents within him. He is present and witnesses the long dialogue between job, eliphaz, bildad, zophar recorded in the book of job. He is said to have descended from guz who may be from the line of abraham. At this point, a young bystander named elihu enters the discussion. Elihu basically accused job s sins of his calamity, when god states plainly that is not the reason. Job introduction, good news bible gnb the bible app. Satan kills his children, destroys his house, bankrupts him and gives him a terrible skin disease. The book of job is the first book of the wisdom literature of hebrew scripture, and. This article is also available and sold as a booklet.
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