Reading: Historical Setting (Video Slides)

#4 Introduction to the Book of Job: The Historical Setting

 

The Historical Setting of Job

• Location:

Somewhere in Mesopotamia (“Land of Uz,” “people of the east”)

Where is the
 land of Uz?

• • • “Mesopotamia”

“Between the Rivers”
Tigris & Euphrates

• • • Could also be:

Yemen?
Sinai Peninsula?

 

• Time of Occurrence:

Probably during the Patriarchal period of Genesis (+/-2000 B.C.) (agrarian patriarchal society)

Events

• Job is Described:

Location: “Land of Uz” (1:1)

Character:

Blameless (1:1): “feared God and shunned evil”

Rich (1:2-3): many children, much possessions

Proactive (1:4-5): initiated sacrifices even when there was no specific evidence of wrongs

• Job is Tormented:

After a discussion in heaven about Job, everything is taken from him except his life and his wife!

• • • Round 1—All his goods and children are destroyed in a single day

Interlude: Job remains stoic and godly, but Satan questions further

• • • Round 2—Job’s own physical health is sapped and pained

Interlude: Job remains stoic and godly, but his wife gets annoying and his friends get pastoral

The Historical Setting of Job

• Connection with other biblical literature:

Paul quotes Job 5:13 (1 Cor. 3:19) & 41:11 (Rom. 11:35)

Ezekiel (14:14) & James (5:11) refer to Job

Written in Hebrew and found only in the Hebrew Bible

• More meaning will emerge through the dialogues

But for now, we leave Job in his misery

And we reflect on the great misery found in this world:

• • • Who causes it?
    • Who is in charge?
    • Who sets the moral standards of human life?
    • What response ought to be made?