Book of job jewish commentary

Gersonides commentary on the book of job published on 01 jan 2001 by brill. The jewish bible with a modern english translation and rashis commentary english translation of the entire tanakh tanach with rashis commentary. Read job introduction commentary using commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible. I hope youll join me as we continue to look at the book of job in the coming weeks.

The use of this preexisting material very cleverly placed the problem outside of palestine, thereby excluding the possible objection of orthodox theology that such a casea perfectly righteous man persecuted by yhwh. The samaritanjewish commentary on john is a historic contexts commentary on the gospel of john written from israel. There are no references to the law of moses, the tabernacle, the priesthood, the judges or kings, etc. So these three men ceased answering job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. The heroine of the book named for her, esther is a young jewish woman living in exile in the persian lit. The book of job a widely misunderstood book jeffrey radon.

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. The date of composition of the book of job in the context. The book s theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. He saw that it led to a dead end, that it had no way to cope with the suffering of godly people. Mention must also be made of isaac arama 143094, whose aqedhah, his commentary on the pentateuch homiletical in style, was the standard book for the jewish pulpit for centuries, much esteemed by the christian world, and is still much read by the jews, especially in russia and poland. Getting biblical in daily life jewish perspective thinking for yourself.

What eliphaz did not, and seemingly could not consider, was that job s crisis had nothing to do with correction. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. The book of job and the paradox of suffering my jewish learning. Because he could not see the heavenly drama that took place in job chapters. Job, as maimonides suggests, is the book for understanding gods providence i. Job lived one hundred and forty years, seeing four generations of children and grandchildren. The complex and delicate nature of the subject matter. Although sacks commentary is intentionally allusive, his analysis is far more accesible than maimonides guide for the perplexed. If we cannot say where job originated, it is equally difficult to say when. Job 4 commentary james burton coffman commentaries on. The talmud starts with the assumption that the book of job was authored by moses, an assumption that makes sense if job lived in his time or earlier, or if the story is a parable. Job s life span was similar to that of the patriarchs prior to abrahams era job 42. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. This commentary on the controversial book of job is very different from most of the seminary and church teachings so prevalent today, for it attests to the historicity of a man named job who understood at the end of his life that god cannot be.

On the contrary, god speaks directly to job, just as he does in the patriarchal age with noah, abraham, isaac, jacob, and other heads of. The use of this preexisting material very cleverly placed the problem outside of palestine, thereby excluding the possible objection of orthodox theology that such a casea perfectly righteous man persecuted by yhwh could not occur in israel. The book of job is one of the worlds oldest, most influential, and most powerfully written works of literature. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of god shouted for joy. Be sure to join my mailing list below to stay updated on the latest posts. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. Then the wrath of elihu, the son of barachel the buzite, of the family of ram, was aroused against job. The book of job, in the old testament, opens with words both majestic and onceuponatimeish. Job 4 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, by the leading authority in the church of christ, presents a verse level look at the bible.

The book of jobnamed after its chief protagonist, job, or iyov in hebrewexplores the morality of divine justice through the experience of human suffering. 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. Esther with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. His wifes counsel, which perhaps manifested her feelings of pity and compassion, only increases job s anguish at this nadir in his life, and makes it difficult for him to withstand this test. Jan, 2016 rabbi breitowitz responds to these fundamental issues based on the book of job.

Because the book of job is so often neglected, yet presents a valuable lesson and is so highly praised by even people of the world, christians should certainly take the time to study this portion of gods word. A commentary the jewish commentary for bible readers on. An explanation of the biblical book of job jewish books. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author, but the principal character. Book of job perspectives from faith communities in practice. 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. The appearance of leong seows marvelous, eclectic commentary on the book of job is an occasion for celebration. Unlike the judaica press and soncino commentaries, the jps commentaries are producing a detailed linebyline commentary of every passage, in every book of the bible. It has been supposed by some that the book of job is an allegory, not a real narrative, on account of the artificial character of many of its statements. Ezekiel referred to job as an important person alongside. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is.

Then job arose, and a rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, a which came not from impatience, but declares that the children of god are not insensible like blocks, but that in their patience they feel affliction and grief of mind. Is the book of job a true story or a parableallegory. An explanation of the biblical book of job the book job is composed of three parts. The collectors of the revised common lectionary have a neat solution for the wouldbe preacher of the book of job. This is the message of the book of job that we must communicate effectively in the twentyfirst century.

Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. It is the first critical commentary to give proper weight to reception history along with the philological and literary analysis necessary to support judicious interpretation. Or perhaps this is an at least partially an afterward because i write this after i have completed half of the melding together of roger hahns online crivoice bible study and the excerpts from john c. The poetic section of the book of job, which makes up the majority of the text job 342, is much more theologically ambiguous. Through job 37, job has listened to three friends and elihu speak to him about why he is suffering so badly. Where did the biblical story of creation come from. The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. The samaritan jewish commentary on john is a historic contexts commentary on the gospel of john written from israel. Commentary on job 3842 job meets god tough questions. According to the talmudists, he who sees the book of job in a dream may anticipate a misfortune ber. The complete tanakh tanach hebrew bible the jewish.

In this new commentary, biblical scholar michael brown brings job to life for the twentyfirstcentury reader, exploring the raw spirituality of job, his extraordinary faith, his friends theological errors, the mysteries of god s speeches, and the unique answers to the problem of suffering offered in the book of job. Maimonides, a famous medieval jewish scholar, thought a lot about the book of job. The jewish publication society, known in the jewish community as jps, has initiated a longterm, largescale project to complete a modern jewish commentary on the entire hebrew bible. Introduction to the book of job nach yomi ou torah. Daniel is the story of the people of israel in exile, longing to return to the land of israel. Communicating the book of job in the twentyfirst century. The book of job is the first document in history to take seriously the question of why really bad things happen to really good people. You can find the best commentary on job for you using the tools on the right side. Satan tells god that job is only virtuous because he is well off. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. Much of the book is even written in aramaic, the language that was spoken in babylonia during the seventy years of exile following the destruction of the first beit hamikdash. There is also a debate as to whether job is a jew or a nonjew.

It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. In essence, job is an essay on the problem of evil. Its incredibly complex and obscure hebrew allowing for multiple translations and meanings. Perhaps the oldest book in the bible, the book of job touches on many subjects of science and history. Commentary on job 3842 job meets god june 22, 2015 bill pratt leave a comment. A quite different interpretation has been proposed by matitiahu tsevat in his essay, the meaning of the book of job. 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. Now there was a day when the sons of god came to present themselves before the lord this is generally understood of the angels, as in job 38. The high priest read the book of job for diversion before yom kippur yoma i. This begins a long section in the book of job where jobs friends counsel him and he answers them. They contain a resume of all that jewish and christian learning had accumulated on the subject up to the dates of their publication.

Of his historical and critical commentary on the old testament, with a new tr, only the following parts were published. You will also find options for commentaries on job that help pastors, teachers, and readers with application of the bible, commentaries that approach the scripture versebyverse, classic christian commentaries, and much more. Sep 28, 2017 torah readings for yom kippur in reform congregations have varied. This hebrew bible was edited by esteemed translator and scholar, rabbi a. The author of the book of job incorporated the folk book into his work in a manner still showing traces of the component parts. Holbert, preaching job, preaching classic texts st. As the commentary in the israel bible demonstrates, sometimes it is those who hashem loves most that he. It has already been said that the book of job was ascribed by the rabbis to moses. Many scholars are convinced that the prologue and epilogue are later additions to the original, the body of the tale. Job, in turn, has responded to each of them, declaring his innocence and demanding that god give him answers. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. The jewish historian josephus names mordecai as author of the book.

There are no references to jewish forefathers like abraham. 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 to concentrate on the. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. Rabbi moshe pinchas weisblum, phd delivers a fascinating lecture rich in content on the book of job, introducing the book and its key messages. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it. Other sources ascribe the book of esther to ezra or nehemiah. Read the rambans introduction to his commentary on the book of job for a deeper understanding of how jobs lot was truely just. God says to job, now i want you to pray for your friends these three dear men, so stubborn, so sure that they had all the answers, so well meaning, so sincere, so. These stories focus on jobs trials at the hands of god and how he deals with them. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date.

Its place in the canon is between psalms and proverbs b. The book opens with the exile of daniel and his contemporaries from the holy land to babylonia. His friends speak in more or less three rounds, with each speech followed by a reply from job. According to rabbi richard sarasohn professor of rabbinic literature and liturgy at hebrew union college jewish institute of religion, cincinnati, all of the major reform prayer books in europe and most of the early ones in the united states retained leviticus 16 as the morning reading until the publication of the. Job is a book that ranks as one of the most difficult books in thetanach bible, for two reasons. The jewish community, and its areas of residence, outside erez israel. The author of the book of job broke out of the tight, logical mold of the traditional orthodox theology of his day. It was a great aggravation of his sufferings that a family thus peaceful and. The distinction between yhvh and elohim is reflected in a number of important biblical sources, in talmudic sources and in traditional jewish. English translation of the entire tanakh tanach with rashis commentary.

The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is. In the meaning of the book of job and other biblical studies. Watch our overview video on the book of job, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. The opinions on this also vary based in large part upon assumptions of when job lived. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job. The last of the book is a beautiful picture of what james calls the tender mercies of god toward job james 5. Free online bible library jewish commentary on the bible. Because it is very old and the book does not identify the author, there is no way to be entirely sure who wrote job or exactly when it was written. The jewish commentary on gospel of john liteversion. The book of jobnamed after its chief protagonist, job, or iyov in hebrew explores the morality of divine justice through the experience of human suffering. The book of job is a book of the christian old testament that tells a story about job, who in jewish tradition is the son of uz, who was the son of nahor, the brother of abraham. Jan 19, 2016 assuming that job was a historical figure, he most likely would have been an israelite, though its unclear in the book of job where the land of uz where job is from is in relation to israel or judah. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite.

Designed for both jewish and nonjewish readers alike, the israel bible offers a unique commentary that seeks to explain gods focus on the land of israel alongside the original hebrew text, transliteration of select hebrew verses, and the new jewish publication society translation. Perhaps in this statement the author of the book of job means to intimate that his family lived in entire harmony, and to give a picture of his domestic happiness strongly contrasted with the calamities which came upon his household. Job introduction commentary commentary critical and. The medieval jewish scholar maimonides declared his story a parable, and the medieval christian thomas aquinas wrote a detailed. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author.