Job 28 as a Thematic Unifier Clarifying Human Responsibility through The Revelation of Wisdom and Understanding in Relationship to Yahweh PDF Free Download
1 / 252/252
100%
i
Liberty University
Job 28 as a Thematic Unifier Clarifying Human Responsibility through The Revelation of
Wisdom and Understanding in Relationship to Yahweh
A Dissertation Submitted to
the faculty of the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Biblical Studies
by
Michael G. Potter Jr.
Lynchburg, VA.
November 2024
ii
Copyright © 2024 by Michael G. Potter Jr.
All rights reserved
iii
Abstract
The goal of the project was to discern and articulate the literary relationship of Job 28 to
its larger literary context and demonstrate that the chapter serves the rhetorical purpose of the
author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation. The study argues that Job 28 functions
as a thematic unifier that clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh. The project
demonstrates that Job 28 functions as the integrative center of the book and is a figurative
interpolation, a metaphorical embellishment to the search for wisdom and answers observed in
the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27; 28:1-22) while it prepares the reader to encounter the
solution to the concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming context (Job 28:23-28; 38-41). The
project proposed a plurality of interpretive methods used conjunctively from chapters two
through five to accommodate the interpretive challenges observed in chapter one regarding
authorship, the identity of the speaking character, the lack of geographical and genealogical
indicators that complicate efforts to reconstruct the context that shaped the book, and the
proposed emendations to the final form of the book recommended by Clines and Greenstein.
Chapters two through five of the project provides a literature review (chapter two), an aesthetic,
grammatical approach to discern the compositional nature and function of Job 28 to its larger
literary context (chapter three), comparison and engagement with a sample of ancient Near
Eastern conflict myth (chapter four), and an exposition of Job 28 to balance the inherent
subjectivity of the aesthetic methodology detailed in chapter three of the project (chapter five).
The plurality of interpretive methods used conjunctively demonstrate the thesis that Job 28 can
be understood in its final form, serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the
kingship of Yahweh, and functions as a thematic unifier that clarifies human responsibility in
relationship to Yahweh.
iv
To my high school sweetheart and wife of 33 years Annora, our children: Alyssa, Caleb, Jody
Lynn, and their spouses, Joseph, Ashlynn, Harkaran, our grandchildren: Shelby, Landon, Asher,
Elliana, William, Anna, Elijah, and Harshaan. I made it in no small part because of your
exceptional love and support.
v
Contents
Job 28: Prolegomena and the Problem, Goal of the Study, Interpretive Methodology, Challenges,
and Synopsis………………………………………………………………………………………6
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... viii
1.1 Prolegomena and the Problems of Job 28 ................................................................... 10
1.2 The Goal of the Study ................................................................................................. 18
1.3 The Interpretive Methodology .................................................................................... 22
1.4 Challenges to the Study .............................................................................................. 24
1.5 A Chapter Breakdown of the Study ............................................................................ 29
Literature Review: Historical Joban Scholarship and Hermeneutics ........................................... 38
2.1 The Goal of the Chapter .............................................................................................. 38
2.2 Intertextuality as Methodology ................................................................................... 38
2.3 Intertextuality and Job................................................................................................. 41
2.4 The Patristics and Job ................................................................................................. 49
2.5 Medieval Scholarship and Job .................................................................................... 56
2.6 Reformation Era Scholarship and Job......................................................................... 62
2.7 Liberation Theology and Job ...................................................................................... 67
2.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 72
The Compositional Nature and Function of Job 28 within the Larger Literary Context .............. 79
3.1 The Goal of the Chapter .............................................................................................. 79
vi
3.2 The Speaking Character of Job 28: the Problem of Identity ....................................... 82
3.3 The Compositional Nature of Job 28 as a Figurative Interpolation ............................ 87
3.4 The Characters (Job 1-2), Literature and Purpose ...................................................... 93
3.5 The Relationship of Job 28 to the Prologue (Job 1-2): Inclusio ............................... 103
3.6 The Relationship of Job to the First Speech and Debate Cycles (Job 3-27) ............. 106
3.7 The Relationship of Job 28 to the Defense and Debate Cycles (Job 4-27) ................ 111
3.8 The Relationship of Job 28 to Yahweh’s Reply and Epilogue (Job 38-42) ...............115
3.9 Concluding Remarks on the Relationship of Job 28 to the Larger Literary Context 121
The Book of Job, the Conflict Myth and ancient Near Eastern Parallels ................................... 124
4.1 The Goal of the Chapter ............................................................................................ 124
4.2 The Comparative Challenge ..................................................................................... 126
4.3 The Methodological Challenge ................................................................................. 130
4.4 The Relationship of the Book of Job to the Category of Myth ................................. 132
4.5 Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, and Ninurta’s return to Nibru .......................................... 134
4.6 The Epic of Atrahasis ................................................................................................ 138
4.7 Enuma Elish .............................................................................................................. 140
4.8 The Keret Epic .......................................................................................................... 141
4.9 The Babylonian Theodicy ......................................................................................... 143
4.10 A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt................................................................................ 146
4.11 Comparison and Contrast ........................................................................................ 149
4.12 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 156
vii
Job 28: an Exposition .................................................................................................................. 158
5.1 The Goal of the Chapter ............................................................................................ 158
5.2 An Expositional Approach to Job 28 ........................................................................ 159
5.3 The First Strophe: Job 28:1-11 .................................................................................. 165
5.4 The Second Strophe: Job 28:12-22 ........................................................................... 177
5.5 The Third Strophe: Job 28:23-28 .............................................................................. 180
5.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 188
Concluding Observations and Synthesizing the Project ............................................................. 192
6.1 The Goal of the Project ............................................................................................. 192
6.2 Challenges to the Study ............................................................................................ 192
6.3 The Interpretive Approach and Methodology ........................................................... 198
6.4 Chapter Summaries ................................................................................................... 200
6.5 Synthesizing the Study and the Implications of the Project ..................................... 227
Mythic Influence in the Bible: Acknowledgement, Proposed Definitions, and the Interpretive
Treatment of Mythic Motifs in the Project ................................................................................. 230
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 239
viii
Acknowledgements
The benefits I received from the challenging, careful, and thoughtful feedback of Dr. Timothy
Crow and Dr. Douglas Munton are worthy of acknowledgement. Dr. Crow, during our first
phone conversation I regarded the good fortune in securing you as my supervising reader to
which you replied, “we shall see.” The breadth of knowledge, scholarship, feedback, and
encouragement provided helped to refine my critical thinking and writing which helped me
produce this project and arrive at the completion of a finished dissertation. I hope you can
discern your influence. Thank you.
ix
10
Chapter 1
Job 28: Prolegomena and the Problem, Goal of the Study, Interpretive Methodology,
Challenges, and Synopsis
1.1 Prolegomena and the Problems of Job 28
The placement and function of Job 28 within its present context is a subject of current
scholarly debate.
1
While chapter two of this study features a variety of interpretive approaches to
Job 28 throughout history without question as to its placement and function in the book, chapter
three of the project observes current concerns and debate on the identity of the speaking
character of Job 28.
2
Clines and Greenstein propose restructuring Job for rhetorical and or
philological reasons under the premise the chapter is an editorial interpolation committed in error
during the formation of the book.
3
Reyburn writes that “some scholars observe the chapter to be
markedly different because there are no accusations, complaints, or responses to the previous
comments by earlier speakers.”
4
Reyburn argues the poem is connected to the imagery of earlier
speeches like what is found in chapter eleven.
5
Anderson regards the chapter as a stand-alone that
1
William David Reyburn, A Handbook on the Book of Job, UBS Handbook (New York: United Bible
Societies, 1992), 497.
2
See section 3.2 of this study: Daniel J. Estes. “Job in Its Literary Context,” JSEOT, no 2. (2013), 155., and
John Goldingay, “On Reading Job 22-28,” The Expository Times 124, no10. (2013), 481.
3
See sections 3.2 and 3.3 of this study: David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20, Volume 17 (Nashville, TN:
HarperCollins Christian Publisher, 2015), 192., David J.A. Clines, Job, ed. D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer,
and G. J. Wenham, New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994),
481., David J.A. Clines, Job 21-37, electronic ed., vol. 18A, World Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 2006). [under, Job 37:24]., and Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2019), 8–9.
4
William David Reyburn, A Handbook On. 497.
5
Ibid.
11
is not amalgamated to the previous and ensuing content easily.
6
The scholarship featured in
chapter three is a general representation of the debate on the identity of the speaking character
and the placement and function of the chapter in the book.
7
Vicchio acknowledged an increased consensus for the interpolation hypothesis and writes
“to many scholars, the Hymn to Wisdom may have been an addition.”
8
Norman Habel writes that
Job 28 is brilliant, but scholars have viewed it as an “embarrassing poem,”
9
an “intrusion”
10
that
“differs significantly from the speeches that precede and follow”
11
since it is not addressed to
God or the friends but appears as a “self-contained, coherent poem on access to primordial
wisdom.”
12
Greenstein believes the rhetoric and condition of the text of Job is problematic and
that the chapter is likely the result of scribal error in the process of reconstitution since ancient
scribes would leave mistakes uncorrected resulting in verses that are out of place.
13
Greenstein
argues that pages of papyrus came unglued or were taken apart “for the purpose of interpolating
another text.”
14
Greenstein considered the possibility of errors in the reconstitution process and
his methodological approach to the new translation was guided by “original philological
6
Andersen and Francis I, Job: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 14, Tyndale Old Testament
Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1976).
7
Ibid.
8
Stephen J. Vicchio, The Book of Job: A History of Interpretation and Commentary (Eugene, Or: Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 2020), 182.
9
Norman C. Habel, The Book of Job (London: SCM Press, 1985), 38.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), 8–9.
14
Ibid.
12
investigation”
15
that he writes leads to new and better understanding of the book.
16
As a result,
Greenstein restructures the book so that Job 28 forms part of the fourth speech of Elihu.
17
Greenstein argues the motif of wisdom that undergirds Job 28 being out of the reach of mortals
comports with the conclusion of the appraisal of heavenly wonders in Job 37:14-24 and is
understood better from that location.
18
Clines argues that Job 28 is disjointed from the flow of
thought and the content from the character of Job.
19
Clines supports and argues for a proposal to
restructure the book with Job 28 positioned as the conclusion of the Elihu speeches (Job 32-
37).
20
Estes, Goldingay, Newsom, Lo, and this author, support the current placement of Job 28
within the book. Estes writes Job 28 “serves as the integrative center of the book … despite the
many proposed reconstructions of the book;”
21
and “the earliest textual evidence, from the
Septuagint and the Targum of Job supports the present sequence of chapters and verses.”
22
Goldingay writes Job 28 makes rhetorical sense in the immediate context (Job 22-28) because it
challenges readers who want insight to “focus on submission to God and departing from evil.”
23
Newsom argues Job 28 engages the preceding context in dialogic fashion and “is one voice in the
15
Greenstein, Job, 8-9.
16
Ibid., 19; 33.
17
Greenstein, Job, 8-9.
18
Ibid., 200.
19
David J.A. Clines, “Putting Elihu in His Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37,” JSOT 29, no.
2 (2004): 243.
20
Ibid.
21
Daniel Estes, “Job 28 in Its Literary Context,” JESOT 2, no. 2 (2013): 161.
22
Ibid.
23
John Goldingay, “On Reading Job 22-28,” The Expository Times 124, no. 10 (2013): 484.
13
polyphonic text.”
24
Lo observes Job 28 stands within the “plot development of the book.”
25
This
study argues the literary relationship of Job 28 is embedded in the preceding context and
prepares the reader to encounter the solutions to the concerns raised in the book in the
forthcoming context (Job 38-41). Thus, the chapter facilitates what this author proposes is the
rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and clarify
human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh. Chapters two, three, and five of this study
demonstrate the literary and expositional complexity of interpreting Job 28.
Aside from the placement and function of the chapter within the book, a concern with Job
28 is identifying the speaker. Several English translations of the Bible provide an implicit
acknowledgement of Job as the speaker. Alden argues the translators of the NIV do not have
closing quotation marks at the end of chapter 27 which is an implicit acknowledgement that Job
is the speaker.
26
The RSV, MLB, NASB, NKJV, ICB, and NCV versions exclude closing
quotation marks at the end of chapter 27 which lends itself to the notion that the translators
believe that Job is the speaker. To the contrary, Terrien believes “there can be little doubt that this
magnificent poem on the inaccessibility of wisdom does not belong to the discourses of Job … it
is not connected with the Joban context (either 27:2-6 or 29:1ff). If Job had uttered it, the rebuke
of Yahweh to him (chapters 38-41), would be either considerably weakened or even completely
uncalled for.”
27
Greenstein and Clines agree with Terrien’s position that Job is not the speaker.
24
Carol Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (New York: Oxford University Press,
2003), 170.
25
Alison Lo, “Introduction,” in Job 28 as Rhetoric: An Analysis of Job 28 in the Context of Job 22-31
(Leiden; Boston, MA: Brill, 2003), 20.
26
Robert L. Alden, “Introduction,” in Job, vol. 11 (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993),
n.p.
27
Samuel Terrien, Job: Poet of Existence (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004), 979.
14
Clines argues that Job 28 is “almost universally denied to Job”
28
as there is “no conceivable
reason why Job should suddenly launch into a didactic speech about wisdom.”
29
Clines
acknowledged the general opinion that Job 28 is an independent poem “not set in the mouth of
any of the speakers”
30
but writes the chapter fits best as the conclusion to the fourth speech of
Elihu.
31
The possibility Job spoke the words in chapter 28 is present because the chapter
divisions that apportion the beginning and end of literary units exist. However, Anderson argues
that using chapter divisions and missing quotation marks as an implicit acknowledgement that
Job is the speaker is problematic as a means of identifying the person behind the words because
the divisions lack authority beyond that of commentary.
32
Estes and Goldingay disagree with Greenstein and Clines on the speaker and
restructuring of the book, but for different reasons. Estes acknowledged the speaker may be
someone other than Job, but observes there is no evidence that the Masoretic Text ought to be
reordered to accommodate the proposal that Elihu is the speaker.
33
Goldingay argues against Job
and Elihu as the speaker based on the grammar between Job 27-29 and advised the chapter can
be understood as it stands as the “narrator’s reflections.”
34
In consideration of the grammar,
Goldingay’s argument on the speaker is convincing. If chapter 28 is the continuation of Job’s
28
David J.A. Clines, Job 21-37, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 18A: n.p.
29
Ibid.
30
Clines, Job 21-37, n.p.
31
Ibid.
32
Anderson, Job: An Introduction, 242. Anderson’s assertion that the chapter divisions and missing
quotation marks are not authoritative beyond that of commentary are missing the means by which he validates the
claim.
33
Estes, Job 28 in Its, 155.
34
Goldingay, On Reading Job 22-28, 481.
15
speech from chapters 26-27 then the need to identify Job as the one who “again took up his
discourse” (Job 29:1, NASB) is unnecessary.
The verb “again” yāsap
(Job 29:1) means “add”
35
which, lends itself to the notion that
Job is now adding to something previously stated—a continuation of previous responses and
reactions prior to the 28th chapter (Job 26-27). The grammatical voice relationship is “wayyiqtōl
(imperfect) hiphil, which describes the type of action rather than its timing.”
36
The action can be
viewed in the past, present, or future. As such, the verb may reference something Job continued
to do as in, he is still speaking. This observation finds support in several English Bible
translations that Job is the speaker evidenced through the work of translators who provide an
implicit acknowledgement of the identity of the speaking character evidenced by the absence of
closing quotation marks at the end of Job 27. However, given the meaning of the verb “again” in
Job 29:1 and the imperfect form of the verb, the acknowledgement that Job is the speaking
character is inconclusive. If Job is speaking, then the wording breaks from the preceding pattern
of identifying the speaking character established throughout the defense and debate cycles.
From Job 4-27 the speaker is introduced as responding or reacting to what was recently
spoken by the other. As an example, consider Job 4:1 “Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered”
(NRSV). This was the established pattern used to identify the primary speaker throughout most
of the debate cycles. Additional examples of the response and reaction pattern are provided in
these selected passages from the book: Job 6:1; 8:1; 9:1; 11:1; 12:1; 15:1; 16:1; 18:1; 19:1; 20:1;
21:1; 22:1; 23:1; 25:1; 26:1; 27:1; 29:1.
35
G. André, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren,
trans. Helmer Ringgren (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990).
36
Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology,
electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013), np.
16
There are two exceptions that are inconsistent with the pattern of identifying the current
speaker as response and reaction to a speech articulated by the previous speaker. These
exceptions are found in Job 26:1 and 27:1 which supports the notion that Job continued speaking.
There is no clear break in the speech from chapter 26 to chapter 27. The narrator however, used
the same phrase in 27:1 in chapter 29:1 “Job again took up his discourse” (NRSV). The same
Hebrew word ‘ānâ (continued) is found in each of the examples introducing the speaker as a way
of identifying a response or reaction. Job 29:1 begins as if Job is picking up where he left off
before he was interrupted by the unidentified speaker of chapter 28. Certainly, there is room for
debate on the identity of the speaking character of Job 28 which includes an argument that it is
the voice of the narrator. However, each argument and attempt to identify the speaking character
of the chapter is inconclusive. As an accommodation, this project moves beyond the interpretive
impasse of an identity centered hermeneutic. The concern of this project is the function and
relationship of Job 28 to its larger literary context. This project argues that Job 28 is embedded in
the preceding context and prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in
the book in the forthcoming context and, thus, serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and clarify human responsibility in relationship
to Yahweh through the revelation of wisdom and understanding.
Another challenge to the interpretive process is that the poetry of Job 28 appears to read
as contradiction. The poem suggests wisdom is an indiscoverable treasure, beyond the reach of
human beings (Job 28:12-13) yet the poet knows where wisdom is found (Job 28: 23-28). Unlike
precious resources mined from creation (Job 28:1-11), humans are unable to lay hold of the rare
and precious wisdom (Job 28:12-22) though they know where and how it is provided to
humanity (Job 28:28).
37
The apparent contradiction invites the reader to wrestle with its deeper
37
Lo, Job 28 as Rhetoric, 2.
17
meaning. Ryken observed that “half of the wisdom literature of the Bible is enshrined in
poetry”
38
and requires the “ordinary rules of poetic interpretation.”
39
Ryken argues it would be a
mistake to read poetry as, “expository prose”
40
sine the methodology flattens the intended
meaning.
Last, supplemental observations call into question the legitimacy of Job 28 on the
grounds of the single mention of the divine name found in Job 28:28b.
41
Greenspahn writes
the reason is unconvincing since the book contains several words that are only used once.
42
Reyburn writes such use found in Job 28:28b and is “consistent with God’s view of Job from the
beginning of the poem.”
43
This project argues that the single mention of the divine name in Job
28:28b
44
is an intentional literary strategy that moves from reference to God in the mythical
sense to the God of Israel. Thus, the single mention of the divine name in Job 28:28b lays the
38
Leland Ryken, Short Sentences Long Remembered: A Guided Study of Proverbs and Other Wisdom
Literature (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 38.
39
Ibid.
40
Ryken, Short Sentences Long, 38.
41
Biblia Hebraica Westmonasteriensis with Westminster Hebrew Morphology 4.18, ed. J. Alan Groves,
electronic ed. (Glenside, PA: Center for Advanced Biblical Research, 2013), n.p..
42
Frederick E. Greenspahn, “Words That Occur in the Bible Only Once--How Hard Are they to
Translate?,” Biblical Archaeological Society, Spring 1985, accessed June 8, 2024,
http://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/words-that-occur-in-the-bible-only-once-how-hard-are-they-to-
translate/. Greenspahn observes that Job has the second highest proportion of hapax legomena of all books in the
Bible. Specific to the book, Yahweh's reply to Job from the whirlwind contains more hapax legomena than any of
the three friends. For examples of hapax legomena in Job also see: Beeckman, Bryan. “Verba Rara Amicorum Iob:
The Greek Rendering of Hebrew Absolute Hapax Legomena in the Speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad and Elihu in LXX
Job.” Hervormde Teologiese Studies 77, no. 1 (2021), 1-8. Beeckman absolute hapax legomena as words that appear
once in the Hebrew Bible. In the speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Elihu, Beeckman observes absolute hapax
legomena in Job 4:10, 18; 15:12, 24, 27, 29; 18:2-3; 22:20; 25:5; 33:20, 24-25; 35:15; 37:16.
43
Reyburn, A Handbook On, 497.
44
Jeremy Thompson, Bible Sense Lexicon: Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2016).
The sense in which ʾādhôn appears in Job 28:28 is used 395 out of 774 times in the Hebrew Bible as a reference to
Lord God. The word appears once in Job 28:28.
18
foundation for the legitimizing of the kingship through Yahweh’s answer to Job from the
whirlwind (Job 38-42:5).
1.2 The Goal of the Study
This study will demonstrate the thesis that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the
author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier
clarifying human responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in
relationship to Yahweh. To accomplish the goal of the study, consideration will be given to the
way Job 28 serves as a thematic unifier and is the integrative center of the book. The study will
argue that Job 28 prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the book
in the forthcoming context (Job 38-41). The chapter leads the reader to discover the rhetorical
purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation.
The study argues that Job 28 defines and clarifies human responsibility through the
revelation of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh. The study aims to dispense
with the view that the chapter is an interpolation, forced upon the text because of scribal error.
45
Further, the study will demonstrate that Job 28:28 does more than make an oblique reference to
Job 1:1. The study demonstrates that Job 28:28 conceptually frames the first verse of the book
and is therefore embedded in the preceding context. The protagonist embodies the qualities of
wisdom and understanding in relationship to God articulated Job 28:28. His integrity and
character is referenced as blameless, upright, one who feared God and departs from evil (Job 1:1,
8; 2:3, 9a). The integrity of his life and righteousness would be tested through the experience of
suffering. At the end of the book, Job’s character is reaffirmed by God (Job 42:7-9).
45
Greenstein, Job, 33.
19
Compositionally, Mangum observes that Job 28 is identified as a wisdom psalm.
46
Wisdom and understanding are the principal themes of Job 28 and overall, appear to be
significant motifs in the book. In the first speech of the debate cycles, Bildad expressed the
sentiment that people die without wisdom before they have had the opportunity to contemplate
life (Job 4:21). Walton and Longman observe the search for wisdom and understanding,
energizes the debate between Job and his friends.
47
Wisdom and understanding remains the motif
of the debate cycles in the following passages: Job 11:6; 12:2, 12-13; 13:5; 15:8; and 26:3.
Walton observes the broad concern of biblical wisdom literature was to articulate the role and
responsibility of human beings in a world governed by divine providence.
48
Walton and
Longman regard the search for wisdom as the remedy to Job’s suffering, fueling the heated
debate between Job and his interlocutors (Job 4-27).
49
If these observations are accurate and the
aim of wisdom literature is to define and clarify human responsibility, the book of Job is about
living skillfully in creation through suffering as an inevitable part of human existence.
50
The function of wisdom literature as clarifying and defining the scope of human
responsibility in relationship to divine providence supports the thesis of this project. The search
for wisdom and understanding are metaphorically embellished in Job 28 as a way of illustrating
human limitations while pointing the reader toward the solution to the concerns raised in the
book (Job 28:28). The chapter transcends the concerns of evil, suffering, and disinterested
46
Douglas Mangum, The Lexham Glossary of Literary Types (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
[under, "Psalm, Wisdom"]. This type of psalm emphasizes wisdom themes like right living or the contrast between
the righteous and the wicked.
47
John H. Walton and Tremper Longman, How to Read Job (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015),
9.
48
John Walton, “Wisdom Literature,” in Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed.
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 9.
49
Walton and Longman, How to Read Job, 9.
50
Robert S. Fyall, Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job, ed. D.A.
Carson (Downers Grove, IL; England: InterVarsity Press and Apollos, 2002), 68.
20
righteousness
51
to lead the reader to a solution to human limitations in skill, knowledge, and
achievement in the struggle against chaos. The revelation of wisdom and understanding in Job
28:28, articulates human responsibility in relationship to those ways and means of God
orchestrated behind the scenes apart from human knowledge, achievement, and consent (Job 1:6-
12; 2:1-6). In this way, the study observes the aesthetic relationship of Job 28 as embedded in the
preceding context while it leads the reader to discover the answer to the concerns raised in the
book in the forthcoming context.
52
Therefore, a feature of this project is to discern and articulate the rhetorical function of
Job 28 within the context of the book. The relationship of Job 28 to its larger context will be
explored as part of the interpretive process. This study aims to demonstrate the coherent unity of
thought on wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh as human responsibility in a
world where suffering is permitted by providence. In this vein, Job 28 points the reader back to
the character of Job who embodied the wisdom and understanding articulated in Job 28:28 (Job
1:1, 8; 2:3, 9). As such, the chapter is embedded in the prologue and debate cycles. Job 28 also
prepares the reader to discover the solution to the concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming
context. Job 28:1-22 illustrates the wisdom obscured during the defense and debate cycles.
Humans possess ingenuity, initiative, and insight into the value of wisdom and understanding,
but are unable to access it because it must be revealed. The logic of the poem points forward to
the revelation of wisdom and understanding exercised by God in creation (Job 28:23-28) and
51
The phrase “disinterested righteousness” points back to Job 1:9 where the satan questions God on Job’s
motives: “does Job fear God for nothing?” On the topic of “disinterested righteousness” see: Trevor B. Williams,
“Embodying Job’s Disinterested Righteousness: A Hermeneutics of Suspicion as the Satan’s Gift to Refine Christian
Motives,” The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society, 6, no. 10 2015, 1-15.
52
Chapter 3 of the project will argue and demonstrate the aesthetic, literary, and functional relationship of
Job 28 to the preceding and forthcoming context.
21
lays the foundation for the reader to encounter God’s wisdom, prevailing power, and providence
in creation through the reply of YHWH to Job (38-41).
Previously mentioned, this study will demonstrate that Job 28 serves the rhetorical
purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation. This rhetorical strategy
of legitimizing and delegitimizing kingship is consistent with similar rhetorical strategies found
in ancient conflict myths such as The Epic of Atrahasis, Enuma Elish, and others referenced in
chapter four of this study. Ballentine argues that legitimizing and delegitimizing kingship is
common among the stock of conflict topoi in ancient narratives.
53
The legitimization of
Yahweh’s kingship is consistent with Job’s conclusion about God’s providence and purpose in
creation (Job 42:2). Brown, Driver, and Briggs comment on the meaning of “no purpose of yours
can be thwarted” (Job 42:2b) as affirming the truth that divine providence and purpose cannot be
cut off or enclosed (Job 42:2).
54
Poetically, Job 28 illustrates the capacity of human knowledge and achievement to put an
end to physical darkness by mining the depths of the earth for its resources and opening shafts in
the deep darkness of uninhabited places (Job 28:1-4). The psalm modulates from human
knowledge and achievement to ignorance and incapacity. The wisdom needed to skillfully
navigate through the darkness of struggle is prevaricated from mortals (Job 28:12-13, 20). The
psalm resolves on the wisdom searched for in the debate cycles as the solution to the experience
of suffering and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh (Job 28:23-28). The
53
Debra Scoggins Ballentine, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition (Oxford; New York: Oxford
University Press, 2015), 64. Ballentine argues for a comparative methodology circulating within the ancient West
Asian milieu that adapts the legitimizing and delegitimizing ideology of the conflict topos in service of a particular
deity. This common stock of topoi of which some scholars have argued that the Hebrew Bible shares, serves to
justify the kingship of a deity as a way of legitimizing God as victorious deity. This concept will be explored more
fully in the project and the relationship of chapter 28 within its larger literary context as potentially serving this
purpose.
54
Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs
Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 130.
22
characteristics of wisdom and understanding are divinely revealed and transmitted from God to
humanity (Job 28: 28). Wisdom and understanding revealed to humanity become the
responsibility of humanity in relationship to Yahweh and guides a person through the darkness of
suffering.
This study argues that Job 28 is a metaphorical embellishment on the search for wisdom
in the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27). The chapter points the reader back to the scene of a
conversation hidden from Job which sets the tone for the way God providentially governs (Job
1:6-12; 2:1-6). The reader learns that much of what occurs in creation is orchestrated without
human consent or knowledge. As the integrative center of the book, Job 28 offers reprieve from
the previous tone and content and lays the foundation toward acceptance of how the world is
governed which when realized, is the end of Job’s suffering (Job 42:1-6). Job 28:28 reminds the
reader to look back and “consider my servant Job,” (Job 1:8) as the embodiment of wisdom and
understanding (Job 1:1), and then, points the reader to the solution to the struggle against
chaos—wisdom and understanding exercised by God in creation and given to humanity as a
means of living in relationship to Yahweh.
1.3 The Interpretive Methodology
The interpretive method will study the text in its final form. The purpose of this approach
is to encounter and understand the text available to readers as functioning canonically as it
stands. Childs writes, “to speak of canonical function is to view the book from the perspective of
a community whose religious needs and theological confessions are being addressed by a divine
word … to allow the book to perform a variety of different roles within the community whose
23
unity is not threatened by the presence of tension.”
55
The genre and typing used to communicate
the story of Job to the reader is key to understanding the rhetorical purpose of the author. This
study regards the book of Job as falling into the conflict myth topoi as observed by Ballentine
and will offer a comparative analysis of relevant, ancient Near Eastern parallels as a means of
demonstrating the consistency of the rhetorical purpose of the author behind such a genre.
The traditional, historical-grammatical interpretation of the text of Job is difficult. Childs
observes that exegesis of the book of Job is at an impasse for a variety of reasons.
56
The
authorship is unknown. There is a lack of concrete data and consensus regarding the geographic
and historical context that shaped the book. The identity and ethnicity of Job are undetermined as
there are no tribal indicators mentioned in the text and no mention in the text of his father,
ancestors, and their lineage. The lack of textual data on Job’s tribal affiliation makes it difficult to
determine if Job is a historical person related to a historical community that can be studied as a
means of capturing and understanding the historical, social, and religious context that shaped the
book.
Given the previous concerns that Job 28 is an interpolation and disjointed from the flow
of argument in the book, the potential for multiple meanings and polyvalent functions would
complicate the effort to understand the text from a historical-grammatical approach since this
method often assumes a single meaning and structure to the text.
57
Wittig observes that in the
study of scriptural texts, meaning is often determined and limited by tradition and an interpretive
approach that is psychologically embedded in beliefs that are already held about the meaning of
55
Brevard S. Childs, “The Canonical Shape of the Book of Job,” in Introduction to the Old Testament as
Scripture, electronic ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1979), 532.
56
Ibid.
57
Susan Wittig, “A Theory of Multiple Meanings,” Semeia 9 (1977): 81.
24
the text.
58
The relationship of Job 28 to its larger context is frustrated if it is maintained that the
chapter is an interpolation and or requires restructuring the book for rhetorical and philological
reasons to make sense in the book.
59
Childs writes the hallmark of the modern interpretive paradigm for the book of Job
involves a literary critical move often requiring the reconstruction of parts of the book and or the
removal of material such as the Elihu speeches, the prologue, or the satan speeches.
60
However,
this study proposes that Job 28 participates in the preceding and forthcoming context and does
not require reconstruction or removal of any part of the book. Job 28 and the book can be
understood in its final form. To accomplish the interpretive goal of the study, an aesthetic
methodological approach will be used to demonstrate the literary relationship of Job 28 to the
preceding and forthcoming context.
1.4 Challenges to the Study
Reconstructing the context behind Job is complicated because of authorship. The author
of Job is unknown. The book is narrated by an anonymous person. As previously mentioned,
critical scholars have suggested Job 28 may be the work of a later editor, scribe, or another
author. Anderson acknowledges the canonical shape of the book of Job is a concern for some
given the assumption that Job 28 is the work of the same author and is a stand-alone poem with
nothing to do with the book because it was inadvertently forced into the text during the copying
process.
61
If Job is the product of multiple authors and editors, efforts to understand authorial
58
Wittig, “A Theory of Multiple,” 77.
59
Ibid.
60
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 532.
61
Andersen, Job, 240-242.
25
intention are complicated because the reader is faced with the challenge of discerning the
anticipated meaning a single author may have hoped for with the intended audience, whomever
that may have been.
The notion that the book has more to do with innocent suffering and theodicy than
legitimizing the kingship of Yahweh over creation is another interpretive challenge often
governed by traditional or confessional bias. Wittig observed that in the interpretive process, the
biblical text is often approached and understood by tradition and beliefs already held about the
meaning of the text.
62
The inherent interpretive bias points to the need to discern the larger
rhetorical purpose of the book as falling within the conflict myth topoi in a way that also suits the
Old Testament wisdom literature paradigm. This project assumes both to be true of the book of
Job. Theodicy and theocracy are present in the sense that suffering is permitted in creation and
the kingship and righteousness of Yahweh is acknowledged and upheld in the end. Yahweh is
acknowledged by the suffering protagonist as the legitimate ruler of creation regardless of the
presence and experience of evil and suffering (Job 42:2). Job continued to embody the
characteristics of wisdom and understanding observed in the prologue (Job 1:1; 28:28; 42:5-6).
The core of wisdom is voiced in the third strophe of the poem “and he said to humankind,
the fear of the Lord is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28, NRSV).
This study will approach the motifs of theodicy and theocracy from the view that Job 28 prepares
the reader to encounter the solution to the concern of innocent suffering through the realization
of a revealed theocracy (Job 38-41). In the forthcoming reply to Job (Job 38-41), the
interrogation challenges the reader to admit that as king of creation, Yahweh exercises wisdom
62
Wittig, A Theory of Multiple, 77.
26
and “has knowledge that surpasses human understanding”
63
thus, the book “exemplifies a
searching quintessence of the status to which the wisdom philosophy of the epoch has arrived”
64
so that “the purpose of suffering is seen, not in its cause, but in its results.”
65
Another interpretive challenge is reconstructing the geographical context behind Job
through the discipline known as “cognitive environment criticism,”
66
which endeavors to
reconstruct the context and understand the ancient world behind the text.
67
The data regarding the
geographical setting relevant to its history is complex. The precise location of Uz in Job is
speculative and may frustrate the reconstructive efforts that would shed light on the geography
and culture that shaped the context of the book. MacNicoll writes there are “two traditions
concerning the location of Uz relative to Job: Edom in the southeast and Syria in the northeast”
68
and “neither is completely persuasive,”
69
or directly shape one’s view of the genre of Job.
70
Uz is first mentioned in Scripture as being the son of Aram (Gen 10:23), the grandson of
Shem. There are two others named Uz, the son of Nahor and nephew to Abraham (Gen 22:21),
and Uz the son of Dishan, a descendent of Esau (Gen 36:28). Additional geographic indicators in
63
Humphreys Frackson Zgambo and Angelo Nicolaides, “A Brief Exposition on the Notions of Human
Suffering, Theodicy, and Theocracy in the Book of Job,” Pharos Journal of Theology 103 (2022): 10–11.
64
Ibid.
65
Ibid.
66
Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton, Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament:
Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019), 333.
67
Ibid.
68
Patricia A. MacNicoll, “Uz,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C.
Myers, and Astrid B. Beck (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 1349.
69
Ibid.
70
Ibid.
27
the first chapter mention the Sabeans
71
(Job 1:15) and the Chaldeans
72
(Job 1:17). These
geographic indicators are important in discerning Job’s affiliation or relationship with these
people groups because there is no description in the book of where the land of Uz was located
which also leaves Job’s ethnicity open. Bosserman writes that Uz had both a Syrian and Edomite
location because “the two possible locations correspond to the regions reflected in the
genealogies: Uz the son of Aram and Uz the son of Nahor is Syrian and Uz the son of Dishan is
Edomite.”
73
Seow writes the Septuagint links the land of Uz with “Ausitis,” a region between
Edom and Arabia.
74
Since there is no consensus on the actual location of Uz which may identify
Job as an Israelite, the study will consider the literary significance of Uz.
Another observation in reconstructing the context is related to onomastic sources on the
origin and meaning of the name, Job. Thomas observes Iyyob is of uncertain derivation, but the
root identifies him as someone “to be hostile to.”
75
Brown, Driver, and Briggs observe the
meaning of Job is unknown;
76
he is an “object of hostility.”
77
The name may have to do with the
71
Gary A. Herion, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday,
1992), 5:861. The author observes that in Job, Sabeans are a north Arabian group in teh vicinity of Tema (Job 6:19)
which was an oasis city often associated with Dedan (Isa. 21:3-4; Jer 25:23; cf. Gen 10:7 and 25:3). .
72
Richard S. Hess, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday,
1992), 1:886. Hess observes Chaldea as the name for Southern Mesopotamia, an area associated with Babylon.
They were associated with Ur, the location where Haran, Abram's brother died (Gen 11:28, 31:15:7). The Chaldeans
were people that Judah sought an alliance wtih and were understood to be those brought against the people of God
as judgment (Job 1:17; Ezek 23:23; Hab 1:6).
73
Christina Bosserman, “Uz,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Berry, David Bomar, Derek R.
Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy
Widder, electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), n.p.
74
C.L. Seow, Job 1-21: Interpretation and Commentary, vol. 1, Illumination Commentaries (Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2013), 264.
75
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition
(Anaheim, CA: Foundation Publications, 1998), entry 347.
76
Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver, 33. entry S347.
77
Ibid.
28
parodic nature of the book in relationship to the theology of Deuteronomy 28:1 which
incentivized obedience with reward.
78
By the end of chapter 2, Job appears to be an object of
hostility despite his blameless character, devotion, and fear of the Lord (Job 1:1).
Tribal association and genealogy are helpful components for grasping the historical,
religious, and social context that shaped the teaching of a biblical book. The lack of information
on Job’s ethnicity poses some interpretive challenges in identifying an intended audience that
possessed the interpretive skills and competencies to grasp the meaning of the text. The book
does not specify whether Job was an Israelite. There are no tribal associations or genealogy
mentioned in the book. However, the absence of this contextual data can be viewed as the tour de
force of the book since it allows the power and wisdom of the text to transcend historical
contexts and communities. Clines writes the literary significance of Uz is to “alert the reader that
Job is not necessarily an Israelite and that he might come from the east—the traditional heart of
wisdom.”
79
Clines observes that leaving Job’s ethnicity open, transcends the distinction between
Israelite and non-Israelite.
80
The wisdom of the book is relevant to Israelite and non-Israelite.
The decision to leave Job’s ethnicity open allows the wisdom of the book to transcend cultural,
geographical, historical, and social contexts. The wisdom of Job applies to all people
everywhere, always, since all people have been and are impacted by suffering, questions of
justice, and the way the universe is governed.
A final challenge in demonstrating the thesis that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier is
the large pool of available motifs contained in the book. There are several motifs in the book to
78
See Intertextuality in Job in chapter two of this study.
79
David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20, Volume 17 (Nashville, TN: Harper Collins Christian Publishing, 2015), 127.
80
Ibid.
29
choose from which complicate the effort to demonstrate the function of Job 28 as a thematic
unifier. The study will need to demonstrate how each of the concepts introduced by the author
are brought together under the motifs of wisdom and understanding articulated in Job 28. Job
provides an array of motifs for consideration such as: friendship, grief, loss, suffering, the
assumptions of why people suffer, justice, righteousness, God, the satan, and providence, all of
which are indicative of the author’s conceptual processes.
81
In consideration of the literary
relationship of Job 28 to the previous and forthcoming context, a feature of the study will
demonstrate conceptually, that each of the available motifs is unified under the theme of wisdom
and understanding featured in Job 28.
1.5 A Chapter Breakdown of the Study
Chapter two provides a survey and sampling of Christian interpretive methodology
relative to Joban scholarship with specific regard for the interpretation of Job 28 provided
throughout different periods of church history. Given the foundational position of the Bible with
respect to hermeneutics, the chapter provides a sample of intertextual quotations and allusions of
the biblical writers with respect to Job. The emphasis on intertextuality in this chapter observes
the way biblical writers may have been influenced by one another in their compositions and thus
helped to shape an early hermeneutic. The study provides samples of Joban intertextual
engagement with the Pentateuch, Hagiographa (Ketuvim), and the Prophets. The study offers
examples of the inner-biblical relationship of Job in the primeval history of Genesis 1-11 and
Job’s familiarity with the creation story. Job appears to allude to ʾādhām covering his
transgressions by his insistence that he did not act like him by “hiding iniquity in my bosom”
81
Lance R. Hawley, Metaphor Coherence in the Book of Job (Madison, WI: PhD Diss University of
Wisconsin-Madison, 2016), 16.
30
(Job 31:33, NASB). Of particular interest is the intertextual relationship of Job to the
Deuteronomistic tradition.
82
The study observes Job as a sarcastic parody toward the theological tradition of
Deuteronomy and the juridical offer of an explanation for his suffering. The Deuteronomic
theology of living an upright life failed to protect Job as promised. If Job is a commentary on the
Deuteronomistic tradition of justice, blessing, or curses for obedience and disobedience, then the
wisdom of Job 28 transcends the book by clarifying human responsibility in relationship to
Yahweh precisely because of the need to live life with the disinterested righteousness embodied
by Job and attacked by the satan in the prologue (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). This observation provides
an intriguing area for further research that falls outside the scope of the project.
Chapter two of the study also observes the allegorical, typological, and literal
interpretations of Job 28 provided by patristic and medieval theologians. This portion of the
study features the variegated approach to hermeneutics provided during the formative years of
the Christian church. The patristics appeared to rely on intertextuality as an interpretive
methodology. However, the study observes that with respect to Job 28, intertextuality is colored
at times because of the lack of methodological parameters and the imposition of subjective,
typological reference to salvation through Jesus Christ evidenced in the writings of Philip the
Priest, Gregory the Great, and Ephrem the Syrian. The study observes that the use of typology
without consideration of the meaning of the words used in their context and grammar leads to an
erroneous conclusion on the literary function of the chapter within the book. This part of the
study also features the interpretation of Job 28 from additional patristic and medieval theologians
82
See: Markus Witte, “Does the Torah Keep Its Promise? Job’s Critical Intertextual Dialogue with
Deuteronomy,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes (Camden: Bloomsbury
Academic & Professional, 2012), 54. Chapter two, section 2.3 of this study covers Intertextuality and Job with
specific mention of the book serving as commentary on the theology of Deuteronomy.
31
such as Chrysostom, Isho’Dad of Merv, Julian the Arian, Julian of Eclanum, Augustine, and St.
Thomas Aquinas.
The work of Thomas Aquinas is relevant to the thesis of this project. Aquinas presents an
interpretation and approach to theodicy that encourages understanding and acceptance of the
nature and operation of providence in creation. The human relationship and responsibility to God
appears to be articulated in the last strophe of Job 28:23-28. Further, Aquinas interprets Job 28 in
consideration of the preceding context. Aquinas observes the conceptual and functional
relationship of Job 28 to the discussion on wisdom in Job 27. Aquinas interprets Job 28
synchronically and leads the reader to experience the answers to the questions raised in the book
by clarifying human responsibility in relationship to God and acceptance of providence through
the revelation of wisdom and understanding in a world where suffering is permitted (Job 28:28).
The literature review engages John Calvin’s exposition of Job 28 to demonstrate his
acceptance of the placement and function of the chapter within the book. Calvin’s treatment of
Job 28 is a relevant adjunct to the project as he demonstrates how the chapter clarifies human
responsibility in relationship to providence. Calvin provides three sermons where he expounds
on Job 28. Calvin interprets the first strophe figuratively as pointing the reader back to the
previous search for answers. Calvin’s observations provide a relevant adjunct to the
interpretation provided in chapter three of this study—that Job 28 is a metaphorical
embellishment on the search to find answers and wisdom in the debate cycles while Job suffered
the struggle against chaos.
Last, the literature review will explore the interpretive methodology of liberation
theology in relationship to Job. The work of liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez and his
treatment of Job offers an interpretive methodology grounded in suffering as the starting ground
32
for theology. Gutiérrez observes Job 28 to function as an interlude that places the reader between
the debates (Job 4-27) and Yahweh’s answer to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41).
The variety of interpretive methodologies used to understand Job throughout church
history is relevant to the project because it laid the foundation for acceptance of the subjective
aesthetic methodology observed in chapter 3 of this study. Further, the interpretive variety allows
for the possibility that there is a larger rhetorical purpose in Job related to the conflict myth topoi
used to legitimize kingship found in chapter four. Lastly, the variety of interpretive
methodologies provide space for the objective grammatical exposition of Job 28 in chapter five
of this study that offers balance to the subjective approach of the third chapter. The author
believes aesthetics, demonstrating the relationship of Job to the conflict myth topoi, and an
objective exposition of the chapter, provides a better understanding of the function and
placement of Job 28 within the book. Seen conjunctively, the interpretive methodology of the
project demonstrates the thesis that the chapter functions as a thematic unifier and serves to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and clarify human responsibility in relationship
to Yahweh.
Chapter three will provide an aesthetic interpretation and argument on the compositional
nature and function of Job 28 within its larger literary context. The study acknowledges the
difficulty with Job 28 regarding its placement in the book as well as the speaking character. The
project proposes that the speaking character of Job 28 can be understood as one voice among
many since the book contains multiple characters and is multi-vocal in nature. The study moves
beyond the impasse brought about through the insistence of an author-centered hermeneutic to an
aesthetic paradigm that considers the genre, the meaning and relationship of words, and their
literary typing. The study argues that the chapter is embedded in the preceding context (Job 1-27)
while preparing the reader to encounter the answers in the forthcoming context (Job 38-41).
33
The study argues the genre, literary typing, and the presence of mythic motifs like the
divine assembly observed in Job, is consistent with ancient Near Eastern parallels and extant
conflict topoi that will be featured in chapter four of this study.
83
This chapter will argue the
genre of Job fits within the category of the ancient conflict myth given the presence of the divine
assembly, Yahweh and subordinates, as well as the way God’s government of the cosmos is
challenged, acknowledged, and legitimized (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; 28:23-27; 38-42:1-6). Though a
larger body of conceptual motifs are available for consideration, identifying the genre of Job as
conflict myth is important to demonstrate the thesis that Job 28 serves as a thematic unifier
because the category helps to recognize the legitimization and delegitimization strategy and
rhetorical purpose of the author.
The study will demonstrate that the focus of the challenge in Job, concerns God’s
exercise of wisdom in creation. Though Job suffers hardship, it is God’s policy on trial which in
the end, is legitimized by the protagonist. The kingship of Yahweh and his wise government over
creation is legitimized and evidenced by Job’s acknowledgement in 42:2-5. The study will
demonstrate that Job 28 can be understood in its traditional place within the book as a figurative
interpolation that is semantically connected to the preceding context between Job 1:1-3, 8; 2:3
and Job 28:28. The study acknowledges the lack of lexical and syntactical congruence ordinarily
used to identify the presence of an inclusio though there is shared meaning between the words
held in common between Job 1:1, 8; 2:3 and Job 28:28. The study argues the inclusio is formed
from the conceptual and semantic relationship between the definition (Job 28:28) and
embodiment (Job 1:1).
83
Debra Scoggins Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 64. Ballentine argues for a comparative methodology
circulating within the ancient West Asian milieu that adapts the legitimizing and delegitimizing ideology of the
conflict topos in service of a particular deity. This concept will be explored more fully in the third and fourth chapter
dealing with the literature of Job and the relationship of chapter 28 within its larger literary context as potentially
serving this purpose.
34
To discern the literary relationship of the wisdom poem of Job 28, the interpretive
methodology will focus on aesthetics to demonstrate its relationship to the prologue (Job 1-2),
defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27), and the forthcoming context of the Yahweh speeches (Job
38-41). The author will survey the prologue to demonstrate the literary relationship between Job
28 and the preceding context as being formed by an inclusio between Job 1:1, 8; 2:3, 9 and Job
28:28. The study will argue that the relationship of Job 28 to the defense and debate cycles (Job
4-27) is a figurative rather than literal interpolation, a metaphorical embellishment to the struggle
Job and his friends experienced in the search for wisdom and the attempt to understand Job’s
experience of suffering. The project will demonstrate that Job 28 prepares the reader to encounter
the solution to the concerns raised in the book regarding the search for wisdom, understanding,
and how creation is governed which is subsequently discerned in Yahweh’s reply in Job 38-41.
This author believes this approach will lead to an understanding of Job 28 as a metaphor
for the struggle to find God’s wisdom in creation and leads the reader toward the revelation of
God’s wisdom in creation articulated in Yahweh’s reply (Job 38-41). Job 28 provides
metaphorical coherence to the desperation Job and his friends experienced while searching for
wisdom and understanding through the darkness of struggle to accept what is permitted in
creation. The chapter will explore the conceptual network of thoughts regarding God, the satan,
wisdom, understanding, kingship, and providence as a way of concretizing Job 28 as a thematic
unifier into the motif of wisdom.
Chapter four will consider relevant ancient Near Eastern parallels to discern the shared
wisdom, understanding, cultural assumptions and theological framework of the ancient Near
East. This study will observe the conceptual and semantic relationship regarding the divine
assembly, the taxonomy of relationships within the assembly, the legitimizing ideology driving
the narrative, the creation and chaos motifs between the book of Job, and select ancient Near
35
Eastern parallels, e.g., Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, Ninurta’s return to Nibru, the Epic of Atrahasis,
Enuma Elish, The Keret Epic, The Babylonian Theodicy, and A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt.
The comparative analysis is concerned with linking the observations made from a study
of the selected parallels and similar motifs in the book of Job as a means of demonstrating the
thesis that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier and serves the rhetorical purpose of the author
to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation. This study observes the conceptual
relationship of the divine assembly and the taxonomy of relationships between a superior deity
and subordinates observed in Job as common among the ancient Near Eastern parallels. The
divine assembly establishes the basic structure for decisions that impact creation, societal
functioning, and religious thought. A study of the parallels is relevant to the project to
demonstrate the legitimizing ideology of identifying the true possessor of wisdom and power in a
manner that features the struggle against conventional ideas of the role of the gods, Yahweh,
creation, life, death, and justice. Further, the comparative analysis serves to balance the inherent
subjectivity of the aesthetic hermeneutic of chapter two.
Chapter five will provide an exposition of Job 28 in consideration of the literature, the
typing, and its placement within the book. The chapter will expound upon the three identifiable
strophes: Part one: Job 28:1-11, part two: Job 28:12-22, and part three: Job 28:23-28. The
exposition will consider the immediate and larger literary context to demonstrate the rhetorical
function of the chapter as embedded in the preceding context while preparing the reader to
encounter the solution to the concerns raised throughout the book in the forthcoming context.
The study provides ethnoarchaeological data from the ancient Near East relative to the
highly skilled, labor-intensive metallurgical practices. The conceptual understanding of
metallurgy relative to the poem is to demonstrate the analogous nature of the practice that
involves human skill, effort, and their limitations described in the first two strophes (Job 28:1-
36
22). The metallurgical context lays the foundation for the rhetorical power of the remainder of
the poem in the search for the place of wisdom and understanding relative to the frustration Job
and his interlocutors experienced in their search for wisdom and understanding in the preceding
context (Job 4-27; 28:12, 20, 23-28).
This exposition of Job 28 argues that the first and second strophes of Job 28 are in
juxtaposition to demonstrate that while there is an identifiable place for treasure in creation (Job
28:1-2, 5-6, 9-11), the place for the greater treasure of wisdom remains a mystery to humanity
(Job 28:12, 20). The movement of the first two strophes naturally lead the reader to the source
and place of wisdom that transcends creation (Job 28:23-28). The exposition demonstrates that
the poem prepares the reader to experience tension, sharp distinctions, and encounter the solution
to the concerns raised in the book. Job 28 lays the foundation for the discovery of Yahweh’s
power and wisdom in creation in the reply to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41). To that end,
the third strophe participates in the rhetorical strategy of the author to legitimize the kingship of
Yahweh evidenced in Job’s later acknowledgement in Job 42:5.
Chapter six summarizes the previous five chapters and aims to synthesize and conclude
the project. The chapter argues that the interpretive diversity experience in chapter two with
respect to Job 28, laid the foundation for the acceptance of the aesthetic methodology in chapter
three. To demonstrate Job’s relationship to the category of conflict myth, chapter four provides
engagement with a sample of ancient Near Eastern parallels that demonstrate the shared motifs
of a divine assembly, a challenger, a challenge, and the decisions made in the assembly that
impact creation. The chapter pointed to the legitimizing ideology of the conflict myth topoi as a
feature observed in Yahweh’s reply to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41) and Job’s subsequent
acknowledgement of Yahweh’s wisdom and possession of power in the epilogue (Job 42:2-5).
Chapter five of the project provides an exposition of Job 28 to balance the inherent subjectivity
37
of the aesthetic methodology of chapter three. Chapter five considered the literary context,
words, genre, meaning, and literary typing to demonstrate that the rhetoric of the poem is
metaphorically embedded in the preceding context (Job 1-27) observed in the first two strophes
(Job 28:1-22) and prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the book
in the forthcoming context (Job 28:23-28; 38-42:5).
Observed conjunctively, the interpretive approach to Job 28 featured in the project
recognizes the function and nature of Job 28 as fitting the preceding and forthcoming context.
Understanding the compositional nature and function of Job 28 in its literary context helped to
solidify the chapter’s placement and purpose in its final form as a figurative interpolation, a
metaphorical embellishment to the search for wisdom and understanding in the defense and
debate cycles (Job 1-27; 28:1-22) while preparing the reader for the answer to the concerns
raised in the book in the forthcoming context (Job 28:23-28; 38-41). Job’s relationship to the
category of myth evidenced by the presence of shared motifs observed in the sample of ancient
Near Eastern conflict myths and Job such as: the divine assembly, a challenger, a challenge, and
the legitimizing ideology and the chapter’s function and relationship to the book was an aid to
demonstrate the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh and
support the thesis. The exposition provided in the fifth chapter features the frustration and poetic
tension of Job 28 as an intentional way of leading the reader to discover the only source of
wisdom and understanding that comes to humanity by revelation. The revelation of wisdom and
understanding clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh. Thus, the implications of
the interpretive paradigm used for the project demonstrates the thesis that Job 28 serves the
rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions
as a thematic unifier clarifying human responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and
understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
38
Chapter 2
Literature Review: Historical Joban Scholarship and Hermeneutics
2.1 The Goal of the Chapter
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an interpretive sample and survey of Joban
scholarship throughout history. This literature review lays the foundation for the progression and
acceptance of the interpretative methodology relevant to Joban scholarship found in chapters
three and five of this project. Given the scope of the project, this chapter provides limited
intertextual allusions and quotations of Job from the Pentateuch, the prophets, and Ketuvim, also
known as Hagiographa. Last, the study surveys a limited sampling of Joban interpretation from
patristic, medieval, reformation, and liberation theology writers and scholars.
2.2 Intertextuality as Methodology
Chou observes modern biblical interpreters often apply the literal-grammatical, historical
hermeneutic to understand authorial intent and logic, and writes the “Bible becomes foundational
for our hermeneutic.”
1
Chou argues that a Christian hermeneutic is bound by moral necessity
articulated in the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy to an accurate interpretation that matches
the author’s ideas.
2
This author agrees with Chou on the need to come to the Bible as the
foundation for Christian hermeneutics. As a means of understanding authorial intention,
intertextuality formed an early Christian hermeneutic. The study on intertextuality will observe
1
Abner Chou, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the Apostles
and Prophets (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2018), 13–14.
2
Ibid.
39
how biblical writers relevant to Job may have been influenced by one another. This study is
limited to an observation of intertextuality or “inner-biblical interpretation”
3
as one way Job
engages with the biblical writers either through a direct quote or an allusion and thus, offers an
interpretation and application of the text relevant to the intended audience. Fishbane observes
ancient rabbis used the term aggadah to refer the type and range of inner-biblical exegesis which
was unconcerned with scribal, legal, prophecies and future oracles, and applied this framework
to “moral and theological homilies, didactic expositions of historical and folk motifs, expositions
and reinterpretations of ethical dicta.”
4
As a valid hermeneutic, intertextuality is met with opposing thoughts. For example,
literary critic William Irvin, argues against intertextuality and describes it as a term should be
“shaved off”
5
since “jargon that does not illuminate or elucidate but rather mystifies and
obscures should be stricken from the lexicon of sincere and intelligent humanists.”
6
To the
contrary, Moore and Sherwood observe that the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period
coupled with the New Testament usage of the Old Testament compelled biblical scholars to
address intertextuality before the post-modern principle was created.
7
Thus inner-biblical
relationships between texts as forming a Christian hermeneutic was an inevitable result of
wrestling with the language of past revelation. Chou observes that intertextuality is practiced
3
John Barton, “D Éjà Lu: Method or Intertextuality,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katherine Dell and
Will Kynes (Camden, England: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012), 2.
4
Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984), 281.
5
William Irwin, “Against Intertextuality,” Philosophy and Literature 28 (2004): 240.
6
Ibid.
7
Stephen D. Moore and Yvonne Sherwood, The Invention of the Biblical Scholar: A Critical Manifesto
(Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2011), 34.
40
today with caution given the interpretive emphasis and moral necessity to understand authorial
intent and logic.
8
Fishbane writes an issue with aggadah or “inner biblical exegesis”
9
is in distinguishing
between the origin and inherited practice given the prevalence of several trajectories of form,
terminology, and rationality, that are discerned within the Hebrew Bible.
10
Fishbane comments
the gospels and Pauline writings developed an inner-biblical exegesis of fulfillment that
“supersedes ancient Israelite traditum”
11
and provides a “new traditio continuous with the
Hebrew Bible but decidedly something new.”
12
The use of intertextuality in this sense provides a
new interpretation vis-à-vis of previous revelation that appears influenced by the writers
subjective reasoning and understanding over the meaning of words and authorial intent. In
agreement, Chou observes the prophetic hermeneutic was informed by a deep understanding of
Scripture evident in the prophets who “grappled with prior revelation and saturated their own
writings with thinking about past revelation.”
13
Therefore, an element of subjectivity is inherent
in an intertextual hermeneutic given the way past revelation was read, interpreted, and applied.
8
Chou, The Hermeneutics Of, 13-14.
9
Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient, 10.
10
Ibid., 525. Fishbane outlined the development of the Jewish exegetical tradition within the Hebrew Bible
of which, intertextuality or aggadic exegesis (see Fishbane, part three, chapter 10, page 281) is only one method
among several. Fishbane observes the development of Hebrew legal exegesis as a necessary step in interpreting and
applying the biblical text because of gaps in the scope and enforcement. Fishbane provides examples of gaps in the
scope and enforcement found in cases of criminal and civil law where legal sanctions may appeal to either a
subjective state of moral sensibility or the threat of divine punishment (Exod 22:24; Deut 15:18, 24:11, 13).
Mantological exegesis was the last form of biblical exegesis observed in the Hebrew Bible by Fishbane. This form
of interpretation is concerned with scribal elucidation of prophetic oracles and or the way they experienced aggadic
transformation through simile, metaphor, and typology.
11
Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient, 10.
12
Ibid.
13
Chou, The Hermeneutics Of, 50.
41
Relevant to intertextuality and Job, Oeming observes two separate views on the
“methodological framework”
14
that enables an understanding of the “interpretively significant
statements”
15
made about the primal man described in the book. Oeming writes one view
proposes the best interpretive resource to understand the anthropological views of the Hebrew
Bible is found in the mythopoeic literature of the ancient Near East.
16
Another interpretive view
supports an anthropological understanding of statements made about the primal man established
through intertextual connections in the Hebrew Bible that comes either through later
developments of the text or the relationship between texts that is recognized by the reader who
joins similar texts together.
17
Chapter four of this project engages a sampling of the mythopoeic
literature of the ancient Near East to demonstrate the legitimizing and delegitimizing ideology of
kingship and the relationship between Job and the conflict myth topoi. This portion of the study
is limited to observing several examples between Job and the biblical writers whether by allusion
or direct quotation as a means of featuring Joban intertextuality as an interpretive methodology
to understand the relationship of Job to earlier theological traditions and motifs.
2.3 Intertextuality and Job
This section provides several examples of the inner-biblical relationship between Job and
the Bible. Oeming observes textual connections that illumine the “dark verses of Job”
18
in the
14
Manfred Oeming, “To Be Adam or Not to Be Adam: The Hidden Fundamental Anthropological
Discourse Revealed in an Intertextual Reading of Adam in Job and Genesis,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed.
Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes (Camden: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012), 19.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid., 19-20.
18
Ibid., 20.
42
primeval history of Genesis 1-11 which he regards as written prior to Job.
19
Genesis 18:25 is an
example that alludes to the center of the book of Job in consideration of Abraham’s dialogue with
Yahweh about divine justice. The defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27) feature discussion on
divine justice as well as the issue of human morality and whether mortals can be clean and
righteous (Job 15:14). Another connection between Job and Genesis is the frequent mention of
ʾādhām (humankind) shared between the two books. The frequent mention of ʾādhām in the
Hebrew Bible signifies the shared anthropological emphasis found in Scripture from Genesis
through the prophets and Ketuvim. Oeming writes that ʾādhām occurs 554 times in the Biblia
Hebraica Stuttgartensia, forty-six of which occur in Genesis with twenty-seven occurrences
featured in Job.
20
The significance of the frequency of ʾādhām in Job lends itself to the theory
that the Joban author shares similar convictions on the origin and use of ʾādhām found in
Genesis.
Consider the comparison between Genesis 2:7 which reads “then the LORD God formed
ʾādhām, from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man
became a living being” (NRSV) and Job 10:9, “Remember that you fashioned me like clay; and
will you turn me to dust again?” (NRSV). In Genesis 2:15, ʾādhām was put in the garden to till
and keep it. In Gen 3:17, human activity in the form of work is conceptually reiterated in Job 5:7
and Job 7:1. Job 5:7 reads: “for man is born for ʿāmāl, labor (Job 5:7, NRSV) or “is not man
forced to labor on earth,” (Job 7:1a, NASB). Otzen regards the meaning of ʿāmāl (trouble) found
in Job 5:7 as a reference to “that which makes people tired.”
21
The trouble is a symptom of
19
Oeming, Reading Job Intertextually, 19.
20
Ibid., 21.
21
Benedikt Otzen, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer
Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. Davie E. Green (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 2001), 11:196.
43
exhaustion brought about through labor.
22
Another allusion is in Genesis 3:9 that regards God as
someone who searches for ʾādhām evidenced by the question “where are you?” whereas in Job
7:20, God is no longer searching but is the “watcher of ʾādhām.” In Job, everything happens
under God’s watch instead of apart from it as illustrated in the poetry of Genesis 3:9 when
ʾādhām is tempted and hides from God. A final example is found in Job’s familiarity with
Genesis with an allusion to ʾādhām while summarizing his ethical behavior: “Have I covered my
transgressions like ʾādhām by hiding my iniquity in my bosom” (Job 31:33, NASB).
Job appears to share an inner-biblical relationship with Deuteronomy. Hagedorn and
Hagedorn observe both a patristic and rabbinic opinion that Job’s law-abiding way of life was
informed by the law given to Israel at Sinai.
23
Witte writes that there is a clear “literary and
theological relationship between the book of Job and Deuteronomy”
24
given the mention of the
“Torah in the early-medieval targum of Job”
25
(Tg. Job 3:16; 5:7; 11:8; 22:22; 24:13; 30:4;
36:33; 37:21).
26
For example, in Targum Job 5:7 the Aramaic word ‘wryyh appears as the
equivalent of Torah, the written law, or Pentateuch.
27
Witte observes the connection between Job
22
Otzen, Theological Dictionary, 11:196.
23
Ursula Hagedorn and Dieter Hagedorn, Die älteren griechischen Katenen zum Buch Hiob, IV .
Patristische Texte und Studien (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2004), 37. The authors refer to the thesis of Polychronios of
Apamea who, in his prologue and commentary on the book of Job (of which only fragments remain) argues for the
timeline and placement of Job in the canon to come after the Pentateuch. Following that trajectory, it implies Job’s
character and lifestyle shares an inner-biblical relationship to Deuteronomy since his conduct appears to be informed
by the law. The commentary written by Polychronios of Apamea on Job, appears to be unavailable at this time.
24
Markus Witte, “Does the Torah Keep Its Promise? Job's Critical Intertextual Dialogue Wtih
Deuteronomy,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes (Camden: Bloomsbury
Academic & Professional, 2012), 54.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Targum Lexicon, Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College, 2004). The
author, editor, and translators are unknown. This work is an ongoing project of Aramaic texts in all dialects from the
9th century BCE to the 13th Century CE.
44
and Deuteronomy is the semantics and the function of ʾôr, (bright) and tôrâ, (Torah).
28
Each
word appears in their Aramaic form in the previously mentioned verses and illumine or point in a
direction which leads to the way of proper conduct.
29
Lopez-Garcia and Josef-Heinz writes that
while tôrâ appears in Proverbs thirteen times, it is found only once in Job 22:22 and refers to
teaching or instruction.
30
This author acknowledges the semantic and conceptual relationship between ʾôr (bright)
and tôrâ (Torah) found in Targum Job. However, chapter five of this study observes some
features of Job that are problematic to the patristic and rabbinic opinion that Job’s character and
commitments were informed by the Pentateuch. Job offers no record of his relationship with the
patriarchs or Moses. Second, the lack of specific geographic and genealogical indicators makes it
difficult to identify the protagonist as an Israelite that would have been obliged to or shown
concern for the law given to them at Sinai. However, Witte observes that traditio-historical and
redaction-historical approaches trace references to Deuteronomy in each layer as the book
developed.
31
Though Witte proposes no specific date on the final form of Deuteronomy, he
writes that Job was completed after its conclusion, between the fifth and third centuries B.C.E
“in a circle of Jewish wisdom teachers as a dialogue about the basic questions of the character of
God and human beings … as an appropriate presentation on the relation between God and human
beings.”
32
28
Witte, Reading Job Intertextually, 54.
29
Ibid.
30
F. Lopez-Garcia and Fabry Josef-Heinz, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes
Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. David E. Green, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2006), 15:632. [under, tôrâ].
31
Witte, Reading Job Intertextually, 54.
32
Ibid., 55.
45
This author observes a possible allusion to the Deuteronomistic tradition with the
juridical offer of an explanation for Job’s misfortune (Job 3:25-26). The explanation is
articulated by Job’s interlocutors during the debate cycles in a way that alludes to the
consequences of disobedience observed in Deuteronomy 28:60, 65-67. Deuteronomy 28:60 reads
“He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you”
(NIV). Further, Deuteronomy 28:65-67 reads:
Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot.
There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes, and weary you with longing, and a
despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day,
never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, “if only it were evening! and in the
evening, “if only it were morning!” because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the
sights that your eyes will see (NIV).
In Job 22:23, Eliphaz urges Job to “return to the Almighty and be restored: if you remove
wickedness far from your tent” appears to allude to Deuteronomy 30:16—the idea that living a
life of justice, social, and moral integrity leads to blessing from God and a fulfilled life. A final
example is observed by Job’s interlocutors Eliphaz (Job 15), Bildad (Job 18), and Zophar (Job
20) who also appear to have their understanding and explanation of Job’s suffering informed by
the theology of Deuteronomy 28:15-67.
The paradox in Job is that the Deuteronomic theology of living an upright life failed to
protect him. Another misfortune for the protagonist is that if Job denies the correlation between
God’s justice, human activity, and the consequences he is experiencing, it makes him an evildoer
who receives what he deserves. Job’s misfortune and protests place him at odds with the law that
informed and shaped his conduct in the beginning (Job 1:1). In this way, Job appears to function
as a bitter parody toward the Deuteronomistic tradition that living an upright life provides
protection and blessing.
33
Consider elsewhere the sarcastic parody and parallel between Job 7:17-
33
Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought, 202-203. Walton observes similarities in the legal and practical
maxims between ancient Israel, Egypt, and the Babylonians that reflect “social protocol, etiquette, and the norms of
social life,” with few statements that could be considered contrary or “unacceptable to biblical wisdom.” As an
46
18 and this tradition expressed in Psalm 8:4. Psalm 8:4 reads “what is man that you take thought
of him, and the son of man that you care for him” (NASB). Job alludes to Psalm 8:4 yet changes
the tone of respectful reverence to one of protest “what is man that you magnify him, and that
you are concerned about him, that you examine him every morning and try him every moment?”
(NASB).
Frevel argues that Job’s use of parody in reference to Psalm 8:5-6 is one that appeals to
the positive sense of the Psalm as a petition that pleads for the admiration and nobility it
attributes toward humanity, for himself.
34
Kynes writes that Job uses Psalm 8 to “appeal to the
God it presents against the God who has afflicted him.”
35
Kynes observes the closest textual
parallel with Job and the Psalms is between Job 12:21, 24 and Psalm 107:40.
36
Job 12:21, 24
reads “He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong … He strips
understanding from the leaders of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste”
(NRSV). Psalm 107:40 reads “he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless
wastes” (NRSV).
The creation motif appears as an intertextual relationship between Job and Psalm 104.
Schifferdecker writes “the longest and most detailed description of creation in the Bible is found
example, Walton refers to Any and Ur Ninurta which appear to caution against offending god by providing
instruction on proper conduct which leads to the restoration of what was lost and length of days. Also see: Jan
Assman, The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006), 132. Assman observes that
the principle of retribution is present in ancient Israel as well as the ancient Near East and reflects an understanding
of God’s actions and societal function. Assman writes the conceptual function of the universe in ancient Egypt that
“justice is what holds the world together, and it does so by connecting consequences with deeds … justice links
human action to human destiny.” According to Assman, if this type of “connective justice stops functioning,” with
punishment for evil and rewards for good conduct, the world becomes disjointed.
34
Christian Frevel, “‘Eine Kleine Theologie der Menschenwürde’: Ps 8 und Seine Rezeption im Buch
Ijob,” in Das Manna Manna Fällt Auch Heute Noch: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Theologie des Alten, Ersten
Testaments, ed. Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger (Freiburg: Herders Biblische Studien,
2004), 262.
35
Will Kynes, My Psalm Has Turned into Weeping: Job's Dialogue with the Psalms (Berlin: De Gruyter,
2012), 70.
36
Ibid., 80.
47
in Psalm 104”
37
and “bears a great deal of resemblance to the divine speeches”
38
in Job 38-41.
Compare Job 26:7, “He stretches out Zaphon over the void and hangs the earth upon nothing”
(NRSV) and Psalm 104:5, “You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken”
(NRSV). Yahweh’s reply to Job from the whirlwind
39
which demonstrates divine wisdom in
creation is like the poetry of Psalm 104:9, 11, 14, 21, 26. A final observation relevant to this
project is the frequent intertextual occurrence of the “fear of the Lord” and “depart from evil”
motif found in Job 28:28 within the wisdom tradition of the Hebrew Bible. Consider the
examples between Psalm 34:14; 110:10, Proverbs 1:7; 3:7; 9:10; 13:14; 16:17; Ecclesiastes
12:13, and Isaiah 1:16.
Chou observes the prophets were also intertextual exegetes.
40
James Hamilton observes
the prophets to be Old Testament scholars skillful with intertextuality in their own study of the
Scriptures.
41
Relevant to this project, Heckl observes a literary connection between 1 Samuel and
the prose frame of Job in juxtaposition.
42
In 1 Samuel, the reader encounters Eli’s conviction on
the impossibility of interceding for his sons who sinned against God (1 Sam 2:25a) whereas in
Job, he pleaded for his friends when God was angry with them (Job 42:7-9).
43
37
Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, Out of the Whirlwind: Creation Theology in the Book of Job (Cambridge,
MA: PhD Diss., Harvard Divinity School, 2004), 225.
38
Ibid.
39
See: Job 38:10; 27, 39, 39:5; 41:5.
40
Chou, The Hermeneutics Of, 47.
41
James M. Hamilton Jr., “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis
3:15,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 10 (2006): 40.
42
Raik Heckl, “The Relationship between Job 1-2, 42 and 1 Samuel 1-4 as Intertextual Guidance for
Reading,” in Reading Job Intertextually (Camden: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012), 83.
43
Ibid.
48
Kynes writes Job was completed between the fifth and third century B.C.E. and bears
elements of literary dependence with a sixth century B.C.E. “Deutero-Isaiah”
44
as observed in
Job 9:2-12, 12:7-25, and 16:17 that seem to allude to select passages from Isaiah 40-55.
45
To
argue for literary dependence and the relationship between Job and Isaiah 40-55, Kynes blends
diachronic and synchronic approaches in identifying intertextual relationships as a means of
moving beyond the “scholarly impasse”
46
of either wanting to understand authorial intention
through the development of the text over time or, having the ideas and concepts be part of a large
“web of meaning to be untangled by the reader.”
47
Brinks-Rea writes that Job 12:9 is a shared phrase with Isaiah 41:20.
48
The difference in
the way each book handles the phrase is that Isaiah uses it to contribute to the description of
God’s redemptive actions “the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath
created it (KJV). Job appears to use the phrase as part of a sarcastic hymn connected to God’s
destructive judgment found in Job 12:14-25.
49
Another allusion to Isaiah is found in Job 9:12 “he
snatches away; who can stop him? Who will say to him, ‘what are you doing?’ (NRSV) with
Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—an earthenware vessel among the
vessels of the earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘what are you doing?’ Or the thing you are
making say, ‘He has no hands?’ (NASB). Eliphaz appears to allude to Isaiah 44:25 in an earlier
speech “He frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands achieve no success. He takes
44
Will Kynes, “Job and Isaiah 40-55: Intertextualities in Dialogue,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed.
Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes (Camden: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012), 94.
45
Ibid.
46
Ibid.
47
Ibid.
48
Christina L. Brooks-Rea, “The Thematic, Stylistic, and Verbal Similarities between Isaiah 40-55 and the
Book of Job,” in The Thematic, Stylistic, and Verbal Similarities between Isaiah 40-55 and the Book of Job (Notre
Dame: PhD Diss., University of Notre Dame, 2010).
49
Brooks-Rea, “The Thematic, Stylistic,” 170-175.
49
the wise in their own craftiness” (Job 5:12-13, NRSV).
50
Another example is Bildad’s thematic
reference and allusion to Isaiah 45:9 observed in Job 25:2-6 to silence Job’s complaint against an
incontestable God. A final example of Job’s inner-biblical relationship with the prophets is
provided in Ezekiel 14:14. Joyce observes the intertextual interaction between Job and Ezekiel
14:14 which offers the only explicit reference to Job outside of the book that bears his name.
51
Ezekiel uses Job as an example of someone that effected deliverance for himself and his friends
through his own righteous conduct (Job 42:7-10). Ezekiel’s reference to Job intimates that the
forthcoming judgment would be so intense that even if Job were there, it would not be enough to
spare that generation.
2.4 The Patristics and Job
Bray, Glerup, and Oden write the timeframe of the patristic period is from AD 95-750
and represents an era of ancient exegesis of Scripture.
52
Oden observes that patristic models of
exegesis and interpretation relied on chains of intertextual connections as aids to thinking about
the text in relation to the whole.
53
Further, Oden observes the analogy of faith or the principle of
“scripturam ex scriptura explicandam esse (Scripture is best explained from Scripture) was often
the interpretive methodology.”
54
However, the interpretive methodology of the patristic writers
50
Also see Job 12:17 where Job appears to allude to Isaiah 44:25.
51
Paul M. Joyce, “Even If Noah, Daniel, and Job Were in It ... " (Ezekiel 14:14): The Case of Job in
Ezekiel,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes (Camden: Bloomsbury Academic &
Professional, 2012), 118.
52
Julian of Eclanum, “Intro,” in Ancient Christian Texts: Commentaries on Job, Hosea, Joel, and Amos, ed.
Thomas P. Series Editors Gerald L. Bray Scheck, Michael Glerup, and Thomas C. Oden, trans. Thomas P. Scheck
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021), 5, [Introductory notes written by the series editors].
53
Thomas C. Oden, “Job 28:1-11 Human Beings Have Knowledge of Natural Things and Wisdom Belongs
to God, Job 28:12-28,” in Ancient Christian Commentary: Job, ed. Manlio Simonetti and Marco Conti, Old
Testament: VI (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006), 34.
54
Ibid.
50
included an aim to explain and recognize the wording, grammatical structure, and the
geographical, historical, and cultural context responsible for the formation of the text.
55
The
scope of this study is limited to a sampling of patristic writing from the Greek, Latin, and Syriac
Fathers and their commentary relevant to an interpretation of Job 28.
56
Oden writes that Origen (AD 185-253) is the first Christian scholar to produce an
interpretation of Job through twenty-two homilies that were translated into Latin by Hilary of
Poitiers.
57
Unfortunately, Origen’s homilies on Job no longer exist.
58
The following examples
will demonstrate the diversity of patristic interpretation of Job 28. Chrysostom, Isho’Dad of
Merv, Julian the Arian, Julian of Eclanum appeared to interpret Job 28 in the literal sense
evidenced by their consideration of the meaning and sense of the words used. Philip the Priest,
Gregory the Great, Ephrem the Syrian appeared to utilize a typological, Christological,
intertextual methodology evidenced by their allusions and connections made from Job 28 to
other portions of Scripture to include the gospels.
With respect to Job 28, Oden writes that Chrysostom, Isho’Dad, Julian the Arian, and
Julian of Eclanum interpreted the first strophe of Job 28:1-11 philosophically—that human
beings are at the center of nature and are given the capacity to perceive something of God’s
power observed through nature.
59
Chrysostom observes that Job 28:1-3 refers to the order
established by God in the visible realities of nature.
60
Though humans put an end to darkness
55
Oden, “Job 28:1-11 Human Beings,” 42.
56
The sampling of patristic sources was restricted to specific examples of interpretation and engagement
with Job 28.
57
Oden, “Job 28:1-11 Human,” 53, [under, Introduction to Job].
58
Ibid.
59
Ibid., 298.
60
Ibid., 299.
51
through skilled efforts (Job 28:3) the plans of God remain invisible (Job 28:12; 20).
61
The
established order by God is realized as that which eludes the human eye through effort and
ingenuity must be sought after from God. Though silver and copper have a place, only God
knows the “place” of wisdom.
62
Chrysostom appears to allude to the second strophe, Job 28:12-
22 to demonstrate his understanding of the place of wisdom as the motif of the poem.
Philip the Priest appears to interpret Job 28:4 as an allusion to those who refused the
grace of Jesus Christ. Job 28:4 reads “Far from where people dwell, he cuts a shaft, in places
forgotten by the foot of man; far from men he dangles and sways” (NIV). Philip writes that “a
stream separates from the wandering people those who are out of the way and whom the foot of
the needy has forgotten … a stream of fire separates those who are out of the way, that is who
live out of the way of true religion and did not show mercy for the needy, that is, for the brothers
of Christ.”
63
Without regard to the historical context and the meaning of the words as they appear
in the text, Philip interprets the language of Job 28:4 typologically as a reference to those who
remain separated and “out of the way because they did not receive Christ, who is the way.”
64
Isho’Dad of Merv interprets the mining activity described in the first strophe and
comments on Job 28:5 “they have uncovered the earth, from which nourishment comes through
the art of agriculture, humans produce what is necessary for nourishment which the earth offers
according to the divine precept by which it received.”
65
In reference to “the divine precept by
61
John Chrysostom, “Job 27:14-28:3,” in Commentary on Job, patristische text und studien ed. (New York:
de Gruyter, 1964), 35:148.
62
Ibid.
63
Philip the Priest, Commentary on Job, ed. Jacques Paul Migne, vol. 26 (Brepols, Belgium: Patrologiae
Cursus Completetus. Series Latina, 1903).
64
Ibid.
65
Isho'Dad of Merv, Commentary on Job (Louvain, Belgium: Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum
Orientalium, 1903), 229:254.
52
which it is received, Isho’Dad appears to allude to Gen 1:11 “Then God said, “let the land
produce vegetation: seed bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it,
according to its various kinds.” Isho’Dad’s interpretive methodology appears to be both literal
and intertextual as they show concern for understanding the words as they appear in the text and
the allusions made to God’s activity in the creation story of Genesis as a story informing the
meaning of Job 28:5. Julian the Arian writes of Job 28:6 that the “earth itself generates the so-
called precious stones and the gold … they are the glory of the kings and the ornament of the
woman who love beauty.”
66
Julian of Eclanum interprets Job 28:6-7 “the path no bird of prey knows, nor has the
falcon’s eye caught sight of it” (NASB) that “although they sail through the air by their flight and
touch roads that are near heaven, yet they are unable to approach those by which wisdom
travels.”
67
Conversely, Julian writes that “men penetrate deserted places remote from birds and
wild beasts”
68
to demonstrate that collectively, such travel to remote places is rare. The
observation suggests that “neither birds nor creeping things nor four-footed creates have known
those things that reason has discovered by its rigorous investigation of secret things and by its
keen sense of inquiry.”
69
Julian’s exposition appears informed by the forthcoming context (Job
28:10). Birds of prey, proud beasts, and the fierce lion travel with greater ease to places not
immediately accessible to humanity whereas humans, channel through rocks where “his eye sees
anything precious…” (Job 28:10b, NASB). Such curiosity described by the efforts of the birds of
66
Julian the Arian, Commentary on Job, vol. 14, Patristische Texte und Studien (New York: de Gruyter,
1964), 170, [under, commentary on Job 28:14-19].
67
Julian of Eclanum, Ancient Christian Texts, 190.
68
Ibid.
69
Ibid., 191.
53
prey, the proud beasts, the lion, and humanity and what they discover, lays the foundation for the
inquiry regarding the place of wisdom and understanding (Job 28:6; 12; 20).
Gregory the Great interprets Job 28:9-10a, typologically. Job 28:9 reads “He puts his
hand on the flint” which Gregory the Great interprets as a reference to the preaching ministry of
Jesus Christ who “presented the arm of his preaching to the hardness of the Gentile”
70
and
frustrated the arrogance of the proud.
71
Gregory the Great alludes to Job 19:24 “that with an iron
stylus and lead they were engraved in the rock forever” (NASB) as a way of signifying that Job’s
suffering would be made known to the arrogant. The mountains referenced in Job 28:9b refer to
the highest powers of the world who, with inflated egos, are turned up from the roots.
72
Thus the
uprooting of the mountains is a form of redemptive judgment that exposes and empties the
hidden thoughts of the proud to fill them with heavenly gifts.
73
Gregory’s thoughts appeal to “the
prophet of watering the dryness of the Gentiles”
74
and seem to allude to Psalm 107:35, “He
changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water” (NASB).
Julian of Eclanum provides an interpretation of the closing verses of the first strophe, Job
28:10-11. For Job 28:10b, “his eye sees anything precious” as those things that are both useful
and fitting for adornment whether “clothing, fabrics, or wine from certain types of plants,
ointments, and other remedies from herbs.”
75
Last, the curious explore the depths and bring to
light what was hidden (Job 28:11). Here, Julian regards the capacity of humans as being guided
70
Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job, ed. John Henry Parker, trans. Members of the English
Church, vol. 18, A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church Anterior to the Division of the East and West
(Oxford: J.G. & F. Rivington, 1800), 358-359.
71
Ibid.
72
Ibid.
73
Gregory the Great, Morals on the, 358-359.
74
Ibid.
75
Julian of Eclanum, Ancient Christian Texts, 191.
54
by reason, to discover the usefulness of things previously unknown.
76
In essence, experience
taught humans over time the type of land suitable for growing food, the benefit of plants for food
and remedies, and the type of wood appropriate for building ships.
77
Gregory the Great continues with an intertextual and typological interpretation
throughout the remainder of Job 28:12-28. As an example, Gregory alludes to Psalm 63:1 in his
interpretation of the phrase “land of the living” (Job 28:13b, NIV) as a reference to the soul of
man.
78
In answer to the question on the place of wisdom referenced in Job 28:12, Gregory asserts
that wisdom cannot be “found in the land of those that live sweetly”
79
because that person is
“severed from the perception of eternal Wisdom.”
80
Gregory demonstrates that his interpretation
finds intertextual footing and alludes to Ecclesiastes 1:18 as a means of interpreting the location
of wisdom as obtained through the experience of pain “because in much wisdom there is much
grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain” (NASB). With respect to Job 28:23-
26, Gregory observes that God looking to the far ends of the earth and seeing “everything under
the heavens” (Job 28:24, NASB) is an allusion to Proverbs 20:8 and refers to the renewal of
things that were previously obscured, lost, and undone.
81
Julian the Arian appears to interpret the language of Job 28:14-19 both intra and
intertextually. Julian the Arian considers the meaning and implication of the words in the text by
observing the incomparable worth which “none of the most beautiful or most precious things on
76
Julian of Eclanum, Ancient Christian Texts, 192.
77
Ibid.
78
Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book, 66–68.
79
Ibid.
80
Ibid.
81
Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book, 66-68.
55
the earth can be compared with wisdom.”
82
The intertextual relationship of Julian’s interpretation
on the nature of wisdom is supported vis-à-vis Proverbs 3:15, 8:11, 16:16, 17:24, 20:15, 21:20,
and 31:10. Proverbs 3:15 reads “She is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire can
compare with her” (NIV).
Julian of Eclanum answers the question posed in Job 28:20 on the inaccessible nature of
wisdom in his interpretation of Job 28:21 “he advances to the peak of honor because it is not
touched by human knowledge, nor is it found in hidden away places, but it is located only in the
knowledge of God.”
83
Julian views the worth of wisdom to increase beyond the precious
resources obtained through human ingenuity and knowledge based on his understanding of Job
28:23. Julian argues the Joban author elevates the status of wisdom “so as to increase its worth
… by whom it has been found and by whose teaching it could be known.
84
The logic of the poem
from Job 28:24-28 leads Julian to observe that the highly valuable and sought after wisdom
“meets the eye of one who considers all the exposed spaces of the earth in every place where the
heaven extends.”
85
The precious wisdom that escaped the grasp of humanity is known by God
who after he, “established the force of the wind and measured out the waters when he made a
decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm” (Job 28:26-26, NIV), appraised wisdom (Job
28:27) and reveals it to humanity as their first duty (Job 28:28).
86
As shown, patristic engagement with Job 28 appears to be limited. The study has shown
the interpretive methodology of some the patristics to have an interest in the meaning of words as
they appear in the text and the intertextual relationship of a verse to the larger body of Scripture
82
Julian the Arian, Commentary on Job, [under, commentary on Job 28:14-19].
83
Julian of Eclanum, Ancient Christian Texts, 194.
84
Ibid.
85
Julian of Eclanum, Ancient Christian Texts, 195.
86
Ibid., 196.
56
(Chrysostom, Isho’Dad of Merv, Julian the Arian, Julian of Eclanum). Gregory the Great, Philip
the Priest, and Ephrem the Syrian, provide typological interpretation based on allusions to texts
elsewhere in Scripture. The patristics appear to be insightful and skilled at articulating the
meaning of the words as they appear in the text. Further they demonstrated familiarity with the
larger body of Scripture through typology to express the relationship of Job 28 to later events.
The patristics frequently feature the intertextual relationship between Job 28 and other portions
of relevant Scripture to support their interpretation. None of the patristic sources cited
demonstrated the aesthetic relationship of Job 28 to the preceding and forthcoming context of the
book. With respect to this last point, this project aims to show that Job 28 is embedded in the
preceding context and prepares the reader to encounter the solutions to the concerns raised in the
book in the forthcoming context.
87
2.5 Medieval Scholarship and Job
This study considers a small sampling of medieval theologians and their engagement with
Job.
88
Medieval scholarship toward the shape of orthodox Christianity covers the period from AD
600-1500.
89
The large timeframe of medieval Christianity requires the scope of the project to be
limited to two influential Christian thinkers: Augustine of Hippo, and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Kannengiesser observes that “Augustine of Hippo probably counts for as many titles as all other
87
See chapters three and five of this project. The project demonstrates that Job 28 is a figurative
interpolation, a metaphorical embellishment to the search for answers Job and his interlocutors experienced in the
defense and debate cycles while it also leads the reader to discover both the answer to their questions coupled with
the clarification of human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh (Job 28:23-28; Job 38-41). The preceding context
is Job 1-27, and the forthcoming context refers to Yahweh’s reply to Job in chapters 38-41.
88
The sampling of medieval sources for this study was restricted to specific interpretation and engagement
with Job 28.
89
Kevin Madigan, Medieval Christianity: A New History (New York: Yale University Press, 2015), 30–487.
57
Latin authors together”
90
and is considered relevant to the study because of the contributions he
made toward the development of a Christian theology of wisdom that resonates with the motif of
Job 28. Thomas Aquinas is considered relevant to the study because of his literal exposition of
Job.
Quinn and Ayres observe that Augustine employed a cluster of biblical passages that
undergird his understanding of sapientia (wisdom and discernment).
91
Sapientia appears nearly
320 times in the writings of Augustine where he mentions or alludes to Job 28:28 in such works
as Confessions, Letters, The Trinity, and A Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love.
92
Quinn and
Ayres observe that Augustine’s first allusion to Job 28 as the principal text on the worship of God
as the beginning of wisdom in humankind is found in Confessions 5.3.
93
Augustine recalled his
familiarity with the philosophers who make valid observations and discoveries in the natural
world through skill and effort. It appears the philosophers and their discoveries are reminiscent
of the skilled labor of the miners in Job 28:1-22 who discover “the place of silver,” (Job 28:1a,
NRSV) and “see every precious thing” (Job 28:10b, NRSV) but fail to lay hold of true wisdom
(Job 28:12, 20). Augustine writes:
…they could prevail so far as to make judgment of this lower world, the Lord of it they
could by no means find out … though by curious skill they could number the stars and
the sand, and measure the starry heavens, and track the courses of the planets. But they
knew not the way, Thy Word, by Whom thou madest these things which they number …
of that of Thy wisdom there is no number.
94
90
Charles Kannengiesser, Handbook of Patristric Exegesis: The Bible in Ancient Christianity (Boston, MA:
Brill, 2004), 116.
91
Benjamin T. Quinn and Lewis Ayres, Christ the Way: Augustine's Theology of Wisdom (Bellingham, WA:
Faithlife corporation, 2022), 26.
92
Ibid., 82.
93
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way., 26, 65.
94
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, The Confessions of St. Augustine, trans. E.B. Pusey (Oak Harbor, WA:
Logos Research Systems, 1996). [under, Book 5.3].
58
Augustine alludes to Job 28:28 in Confessions 5.5 to chide those who write on things
“which has no element of piety”
95
for “Thou has said to man, behold piety and wisdom.”
96
Job
28:28 appears again in an earlier translation of Confessions where Augustine writes: “Thou didst
place me where I could regain my health. For, Thou didst say to man: ‘Behold, piety is
wisdom.”
97
Bourke observes the phrase “behold, piety is wisdom” is an English translation of
Job 28:28 from the Latin Vulgate.
98
Job 28:28 from the Vulgate reads: “Et dixit homini: Ecce
timor Domini, ipsa est sapientia,” (and say to man see! Behold! Fear the Lord to be very wise).
99
In Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love, Augustine writes “human wisdom consists in
piety. This you have in the book of the saintly Job, for there he writes that Wisdom herself said to
man, “behold, piety is wisdom.”
100
Augustine explained the type of piety addressed in Job refers
to “the service of God”
101
as the “source of wisdom.”
102
Though Augustine never produced an
exposition of Job, he relied on Job 28:28 as a source text for the development of his theology of
wisdom and the way it summarizes human responsibility toward God.
103
95
Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine, [under, 5.5].
96
Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine, [under, Book 5.3].
97
Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, ed. Roy Joseph Deferrari, trans. Vernon J. Bourke, vol. 21
(Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1953). [under, 8.1.2]. This is an older translation of the
same work previously cited.
98
Ibid., [under, 8.1.2].
99
The Lexham Latin-English Interlinear Vulgate, ed. Andrew Curtis and Isaac Hoogendyk (Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [under, Job 28:28a].
100
Augustine, “The Occasion and Purpose of This "Manual,” in Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love, ed.
Albert C. Outler (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2004), 2.2, accessed March 7, 2024,
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/enchiridion.chapter1.html?scrBook=Job&scrCh=28&scrV=28#chapter1-p2.2.
101
Augustine, Handbook on Faith, [Under, Chapter 1, 2.2].
102
Ibid.
103
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way, 82.
59
Harkins writes that in Expositio super Iob ad Litteram, Thomas Aquinas grapples with
the problem of evil and sets forth a particular type of theodicy while maintaining primary interest
toward understanding and accepting providence.
104
Stump observes that while modern readers
struggle to reconcile Job’s innocent suffering with an omnibenevolent God, Aquinas interprets
the book in a way that encourages understanding and acceptance of the nature and operation of
divine providence.
105
The subject of divine providence is relevant to this project since the thesis
aims to demonstrate that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the
kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier clarifying human
responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
Chapter three of this study demonstrates that recent scholarship struggles to find a
consensus on the place and function of Job 28 within the book.
106
Relevant to this project is the
manner Aquinas handles Job 28 in relationship to the larger context. Aquinas divides Job 28 into
two lessons: 1) wisdom is not in a determined place and lesson 2) where wisdom is found.
107
Aquinas interprets Job 28 as the continuation of Job’s discourse in praise of wisdom from the
previous chapter:
Above Job had shown how frail and perishable is the lot which the wicked receive from
God. (27:13) Now he intends to show on the contrary the dignity of the spiritual good
which just men receive from God even in this world. He understands the spiritual good to
104
Franklin T. Harkins, “Chapter 6 Christ and the Eternal Extent of Divine Providence in the Expositio
Super Iob Ad Litteram of Thomas Aquinas,” in A Companion to Job in the Middle Ages, ed. Franklin Harkins and
Aaron Canty (Boston, MA: Brill, 2016), 161. [under, 6.1].
105
Eleonore Stump, “Aquinas on the Sufferings of Job,” in Reasoned Faith: Essays in Philosophical
Theology in Honor of Norman Kretzmann, ed. Eleonore Stump (Ithaca, NY: Echo Print Books & Media, 1993), 333.
106
See chapter three of this project regarding the speaker, placement, and function of Job 28 within the
context of the book.
107
Thomas Aquinas, “Chapter Twenty-Eight: Job Continues His Discourse in Praise of Wisdom,” in
Expositio Super Iob Ad Litteram: Commentary on the Book of Job, ed. Joseph Kenny, trans. Brian Mulladay (n.p.:
St. Isidore, n.d.). [under, The First Lesson: Wisdom is not in a Determined Place].
60
be arranged under wisdom. He therefore intends to prefer wisdom to all corporeal things
both as to its origin and as to its precious worth (Job 28:15).
108
Aquinas expounds upon the imagery of corporeal things such as silver, gold, copper, and bronze
described in the first strophe (Job 28:1-11) to describe where they are found and how they are
formed as well as the places inaccessible to humanity.
Aquinas appears to use the logic of the first strophe to help the reader arrive at the logical
conclusion of the second strophe regarding revelation and divine providence. The precious
resources described in Job 28:1-11, formed and found in the earth through skilled labor, and the
greater part hidden from the eyes of humans in places inaccessible to birds of prey and beasts
are, “under divine disposition and so are subject to divine knowledge.”
109
Aquinas continues
“Although these places are hidden from men, they are still not hidden from God who exercises
his power in both the mountains and the rivers.”
110
It seems Aquinas is following the logic of the
poem to lead the reader to conclude that the greater treasure of wisdom comes through divine
revelation and is provided to humanity by God.
Aquinas’s handling of Job 28 is consistent with the epistemological and theological
concerns he observes in the prologue of his exposition on Job. Aquinas writes:
…many erred in the beginning about the truth from an imperfect knowledge. Among
these, there were some who excluded divine providence and attributed everything to
fortune and to chance … This causes a great deal of harm to mankind. For if divine
providence is denied, no reverence or true fear of God will remain among men… For
nothing so calls men back from evil things and induces them to do good so much as the
fear and love of God.
111
108
Aquinas, “Chapter Twenty-Eight,” [under, Chapter Twenty-Eight: Job Continues His Discourse in Praise
of Wisdom].
109
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob, [under, The First Lesson: Wisdom is not in a Determined Place].
110
Ibid.
111
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob, [under, Prologue].
61
Harkins observes that Aquinas argues throughout his exposition that “humans may not naturally
or easily apprehend the extent of divine providence vis-à-vis human affairs.”
112
This truth is
illustrated in the first strophe of Job 28:1-11 on the limitations of humanity to grasp what is
precious beyond silver and gold through skill and effort and thus leads the reader to the same
question posed by the Joban author “but where shall wisdom be found?” This author makes
similar observations in the third and fifth chapters of this project. Job 28 serves as a figurative
interpolation, a metaphorical embellishment on the search and struggle for wisdom experienced
by Job and his friends during the defense and debate cycles while preparing the reader to
encounter the solution to their concerns, revealed to humanity in Job 28:28 which, clarifies
human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh.
In Aquinas’s second lesson on Job 28 he observes that while precious resources are found
in determined places, wisdom “is shut up in no corporeal place because it is not something
corporeal … the price of wisdom cannot be reckoned,” and “wisdom has its source in hidden
things … derived in us from the most hidden cause of all, God.”
113
In Aquinas’s view, Job has
demonstrated the incomparable worth and hidden origin of wisdom and thus leads the reader to
realize “God understands the way to it” (Job 28:23a, NRSV). Aquinas follows the rhetoric of the
poem and views God as the cause of everything—the one who “does not acquire wisdom from
creatures themselves as we do, but rather, he produces creatures according to his wisdom.”
114
God gave the “wind its weight, apportioned the waters by measure, made a decree for the rain
and a way for the thunderbolt” (Job 28:25-26, NRSV) and “then he saw it (wisdom) and declared
112
Harkins and Ayres, A Companion to Job, 165.
113
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob, [under, The Second Lesson: Where Wisdom is Found].
114
Ibid.
62
it; he established it and searched it out and he said to humankind, Truly the fear of the Lord, that
is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding" (Job 28:27-28, NRSV).
Aquinas concludes his lesson on Job 28 by observing the activity of divine providence in
revealing and supplying the enduring gift of wisdom to humanity as "spiritual goods to the just
as better goods.”
115
The true treasure of wisdom comes through divine revelation as the fear of
the Lord and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh as “to depart from evil is
understanding” (Job 28:28, NRSV). The practice of understanding as defined in Job 28:28 is the
embodiment of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is how humanity participates in divine
wisdom and arranges their life in relationship to Yahweh and appears to be at least one intention
of the book. Nutt observes that Aquinas makes it clear in his exposition that the righteous
judgment of providence and the dignity of God’s wisdom in creation over human affairs is the
emphasis of the book.
116
Therefore, Aquinas’s interpretation of Job 28 is a compliment to this
project and helps to demonstrate the thesis. Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier clarifying
human responsibility through the revelation and lived experience of wisdom and understanding
in relationship to Yahweh.
2.6 Reformation Era Scholarship and Job
Irvin observes that five centuries have passed since Martin Luther sent a copy of The
Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences and that within a few years, the
115
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob, [under, The Second Lesson: Where Wisdom is Found].
116
Roger W. Nutt, “Providence, Wisdom, and the Justice of Job's Afflictions: Considerations from Aquinas'
Literal Exposition on Job,” The Heythrop Journal, no. LVI (2015): 47–57.
63
after-effects were felt across Europe.
117
This period of Church history gave rise to influential
thinkers such as John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Thomas Cranmer, John Knox, Erasmus of
Rotterdam, and Philipp Melanchton, along with a host of others.
118
Manetsch observes the
Reformation played a key role in the development of new approaches to Bible interpretation that
emphasized the biblical languages, translation of Scripture, and the emergence of Bible study
resources.
119
This author surveyed available 16th century commentaries on Job, and it appears
that John Calvin is the most prolific. Calvin preached 159 expositional sermons through Job on
weekdays between 1554-1555 and are available in three volumes.
120
The second volume is
relevant to this study since they provide Calvin’s exposition of Job 15-30. The scope of this
study provides limited engagement with the reformers since it is restricted to consideration of
writings, commentaries, and expositions of Job 28.
Calvin’s exposition of Job 28 is found in three sermons and begins with an interpretation
of Job 28:1-9 in connection with Job 27:19-23.
121
Calvin’s interpretation of Job 28 in
conversation with the preceding context tells of his acceptance of the traditional placement of the
chapter in the book and identifies Job as the speaker.
122
Calvin observes the wicked in Job 27 are
filled with “ambition and vainglory”
123
and those that want to “be admired by everybody, must
be made detestable and God must make them universally hated so that everyone will rejoice in
117
Dale T. Irvin, The Protestant Reformation and World Christianity: Global Perspectives, ed. Dale T. Irvin
(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2017), 6.
118
Ibid.
119
Scott M. Manetsch, The Reformation and the Irrepressible Word of God: Interpretation, Theology, and
Practice, ed. Scott M. Manetsch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019), 20.
120
John Calvin, Sermons on Job: Chapters 15-30, trans. Rob Roy McGregory, ebook 2 ed., vol. 2 (Carlisle,
PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2022), [under, book description].
121
Ibid., 604.
122
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 590.
123
Ibid.
64
their destruction (Job 27:23).”
124
For Calvin, this strategy of dealing with the wicked is a
secret—hidden from humanity as the wisdom of God which is, “higher, even far higher.”
125
This
is where Calvin transitions to Job 28 and argues that Job’s intention between the pericopes is to
demonstrate that there are:
…many things in this world which are secret and for which it seems there is no reason…
We will find the things that are hidden. But as for God’s wisdom, we will never find an
end to it and men will never rise so high… it is as if Job were saying, ‘Now then, my
friends, it is very difficult for the human mind to learn where gold and silver are found or
where to find precious stones. It is true they can be found, but it can still be called a
secret of nature.
126
The human inquiries the visible things seen in the world, “but God’s wisdom is another
matter.”
127
Calvin interprets Job 28:1-9 figuratively and writes, “the Holy Spirit’s intention is not
to inform us in the art of mining… But we must be content to understand that God placed such
secrets in nature so we would magnify him… we are to know the infinite power and wisdom of
God,”
128
and that the secret places of gold and silver are to compel the human mind to appreciate
the power and work of God’s hand in nature.
129
The darkness that exists, hides everything, and
deprives humanity of their ability to see, has limitations that are both put in place and ended by
God (Job 28:3).
130
God is the one who sends the light to the miners so the darkness ends. The
illumination God provides to humanity when it is dark is like the revelation of wisdom and
124
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 590.
125
Ibid.
126
Ibid., 610–611.
127
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 610-611.
128
Ibid.
129
Ibid., 612.
130
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 619.
65
understanding in the last strophe that ends the darkness of human ignorance on the place of
wisdom and understanding (Job 28:12, 20, 23-28).
Calvin’s second and third sermon on the chapter covers Job 28:10-28. Calvin argues that
Job’s understanding of wisdom in this strophe is, “the knowledge of all things, and especially
what God keeps hidden from us until he gives us the full revelation of the things, he is measuring
out to us now in accordance with what he knows to be useful for us.”
131
Calvin observes Job’s
understanding of wisdom to be shaped by the limits of human reason and understanding which
“extend only to things here below.”
132
The realization of human limits leads Job to ask the
question in verse 12, “but where shall wisdom be found?” (NRSV). Calvin writes that “God’s
secrets are a closed treasure”
133
until we are enlightened out of the goodness of the Lord. Calvin
argues the poem progressively leads the reader to discover Job’s conclusion that God alone has
“experienced wisdom, possessed it,”
134
and according to his goodness, communicates it to
humanity as “this is the way you will be wise, which is by fearing me.”
135
Thus, God’s revelation
of wisdom to humanity encourages humans to “give the bridle to that foolish and itching longing
that is in us to know what can serve us to no purpose and to enter into God’s strict counsel and
try to determine the reason for all his judgments.”
136
This author agrees with Calvin—that the
revelation of wisdom and understanding to humanity clarifies human responsibility in
relationship to Yahweh.
131
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 619.
132
Ibid.
133
Ibid., 622.
134
Ibid.
135
Ibid., (also see Job 23-28).
136
Ibid., 627.
66
Calvin’s interpretive approach to Job 28 demonstrates an interest in literary typing,
grammar, and aesthetics. Grammatically, Calvin connects the poem of Job 28 to its immediate
context of Job 27:19-23 and considers it to be the continuation of observations made by Job.
Calvin considers the literary typing of Job 28 and argues that the language of the first strophe is
figurative.
137
Thus, the Holy Spirit intends to teach the reader something other than mining
activity which naturally leads the reader to the discovery of something infinitely more valuable
than precious resources mined from the earth through human enterprise (Job 28:12-22). Calvin
demonstrates how he follows the trajectory that the language in the first strophe is figurative
because he observes how the logic of the poem leads the reader to ask the question on the place
of wisdom in the second strophe (Job 28:12).
138
Calvin interpretation of Job 28 demonstrates an interest in aesthetics and shows
acceptance of the traditional placement of Job 28 within the book. In doing so, Calvin
demonstrates the chapter as fitting the rhetorical strategy of the author by showing its function in
relationship to the preceding and forthcoming context as part of the legitimating ideology
supported by this author in chapter three of this study. Further, Calvin identifies the speaking
character of Job 28 as the protagonist and would disagree with recent scholarship observed in the
third chapter of this study. For example, Walton writes “the wisdom hymn comes to conclusions
that do not reflect Job’s thinking as it is represented in his speeches either before or after the
hymn.”
139
Clines proposes a restructuring of the book of Job as fitting Elihu as the speaker to
137
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 611.
138
Ibid., 619.
139
John H. Walton, “Book of Job 1,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament Wisdom, Poetry, and Writings, ed.
Tremper Longman and Peter Enns (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 333.
67
accommodate the change in tone and content from the preceding and forthcoming context.
140
Greenstein also proposes the restructuring of the book as the fourth speech of Elihu based on his
interpretive methodology which emphasis on “original philological investigation.”
141
This author
agrees with Goldingay and argues in chapter three of the study that Job is unlikely the speaking
character given the basic meaning of the word “again” in Job 29:1 which intimates that Job is
resuming his speech after being interrupted.
142
Though this author argues against Job as the
speaking character of Job 28, he believes Calvin to have done a masterful job articulating the
logic of the poem in clarifying human responsibility in relationship to divine providence through
the revelation of wisdom and understanding.
2.7 Liberation Theology and Job
Chapter three of this project interacts with the contemporary scholarship of: David
Clines, Daniel Estes, John Goldingay, Edward Greenstein, Norman Habel, Michael Heiser, Ruth
Henderson, Alison Lo, Carol Newsom, Leo Perdue, John Walton, and others. These scholars
provide diverse interpretations, expositions, editorial and redaction theories, along with new
translations of Job. Absent from the current scholarship in chapter three is discussion on the way
Job may function as a sarcastic parody of the Deuteronomistic tradition that living a just life
serves to protect the innocent from suffering.
143
Suffering and oppression are significant motifs
140
David J.A. Clines, “Putting Elihu in His Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37,” JSOT 29,
no. 2 (2004): 243.
141
Greenstein, Job: A New Translation, 8–9.
142
Goldingay, “On Reading Job 22-28,” 481.
143
See section 2.3 of this study: Intertextuality and Job.
68
in Job. The system behind Job’s suffering and oppression appears to be the activity of the divine
council (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6).
Heiser observes the divine council refers to the “heavenly host, and this of divine beings
who administer the affairs of the cosmos under Yahweh, the God of Israel.”
144
Mullen observes
the “idea of a council or assembly of the gods that met to determine the fates of the cosmos is
common to the mythopoeic world of the ancient Near East”
145
and “constituted the major
decision-making body in the divine world to which all the members of the pantheon were
subject.”
146
In Job, the experience of suffering is permitted in the council. Subsequent relief from
the experience of suffering come through the revelation of Yahweh’s wisdom in creation. The
irony in Job is that the system behind his oppression is also the system that ultimately brings him
relief. In consideration of the suffering of the protagonist and the system of oppression
responsible for its cause, liberation theology provides a relevant adjunct to the project.
The interpretive framework of liberation theology is relevant because it starts with the
experience of the poor and oppressed in their social context rather than words about God. James
H. Cone perceives a problem among white theologians who are well fed and speak for the means
of production as those who never “turn to the cultures of the poor and peoples of color for
resources to discourse about God.”
147
As a result, there appears to be a prevailing regard to view
144
Michael S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press,
2016). [under, Divine Council]. The reference to Heiser is not to suggest he is a liberation theologian. The
reiteration of the divine council with respect to liberation theology is to establish the major decision-making body
and structure of power that influence and impact creation which could become the focus of critique for liberation
theology as an interpretive methodology.
145
Everett Theodore Mullen Jr., “Divine Assembly,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York:
Doubleday, 1992). [under, Divine Assembly].
146
Ibid.
147
James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997), xiv. See the Preface to the 1975
edition where Cone argues and or assumes that theologians seldom identify or engage in their work from their true
source which he identifies as “personal history,” situated in a particular sociopolitical and economic setting. Cone
believes these factors of a person’s history in this social context shapes the methodology and content of their
theology. Cone argues that a gospel that does not begin and end with the liberation of oppressed people is factually
unchristian. The impetus that shaped Cone’s theology is his experience in the black community. To craft a “Black
69
“dominant white theologians… as if they and they alone can set the rules for thinking about
God.”
148
Cone posits, however, that white theologians are largely unaffected by the same systems
of oppression as people of color.
149
Cone argues that white theologians, “were not enslaved and
lynched, and are not ghettoized because of color.”
150
Liberation theology is relevant to the study
because the experience and social context of the protagonist challenges the accepted
Deuteronomistic tradition the book appears to set itself up against. Instead of arguing over the
meaning of words, the form and content of liberation theology appears to focus on the experience
of the suffering within a particular social context and the call of the humiliated into freedom
from the ruling systems of oppression.
151
This portion of the study considers the work of liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez’s,
On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent. Gutiérrez is a Catholic priest and person of
color. The work of Gutiérrez is relevant to the study because of his emphasis on innocent
suffering and the cry of the oppressed as the starting point for theologizing. Therefore, a brief
engagement with Gutiérrez is provided as a unique and important contribution to this literature
and interpretive review of Job.
Gutiérrez articulates that his interpretive and theological approach to Job is grounded in a
gratuitousness and understanding of God’s preference of the scorned of the world as the
Theology,” Cone integrates the intellectual tradition with the experience of being alive and socially formed by the
black community. Other notable Black Liberation Theologians are Reverdy C. Ranson and Henry McNeal.
Liberation Theology is not a monolithic enterprise formed solely by the Black community. As a movement,
Liberation Theology is believed to have started with Gustavo Gutiérrez and its seminal text Teología de la
liberación,1971. Others who championed Liberation Theology are the Brazilian priest, José Comblin and
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez. This project will primarily engage with the work of Gustavo Gutiérrez and his
treatment of Job.
148
Cone, God of the Oppressed, xiv.
149
Ibid., 49.
150
Ibid.
151
Cone, God of the Oppressed, 48-49.
70
privileged recipients of God’s revelation as declared by Jesus in Matthew 11:25-26.
152
Further,
Gutiérrez undergirds the first premise through action (doing God’s will first) followed by
contemplation.
153
Contemplation is the “first act”
154
to obtain wisdom and, theologizing (God-
talk) is the second act.
155
These presuppositions frame Gutiérrez’s discussion of God revealed as
love, in a “situation characterized by poverty and oppression.”
156
In the lead up to Job 28, Gutiérrez argues the debate between Job and his friends is
exhausted and has led to the end of a “blind alley”
157
where “fresh air is needed and a radical
change of perspective.”
158
Gutiérrez views Job 28 as the poet’s acknowledgement of the longing
for an answer to the question formed during the defense and debate cycles. The answer comes
through the “esprit de finesse or intuitive mind, which is capable of a penetrating, comprehensive
vision of a reality accessible to all.”
159
Thus, Job 28 is the interlude—a pause that puts the reader
between the preceding debate (Job 4-27) and the answer to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41)
which is the focal point that reveals the “greatness of God and the hidden understanding of God’s
intentions for the human race.”
160
152
Gustavo Gutiérrez, On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,
1987), 12.
153
Ibid., 14
154
Ibid.
155
Ibid.
156
Ibid., 16.
157
Ibid., 61.
158
Ibid.
159
Ibid.
160
Ibid.
71
Gutiérrez observes the quest of Job and his friends as one that “requires a prudence
(discernment) that wisdom alone gives.”
161
While humans know where to find silver and iron,
God alone is the source and knows the place of wisdom and understanding (Job 28:23). Gutiérrez
writes the poem of Job 28 is the “poetic hinge… in the development of the book.”
162
Further,
Gutiérrez appears to rely on Habel’s view that Job 28 fits well with the rest of the book. Habel
translates Job 28:28 as “to shun evil is discernment”
163
and Job is a man who shunned evil (1:1).
In this way, Gutiérrez argues that Job 28:28 provides formal closure to the preceding context
while serving to stump Job’s final monologue in chapters 29-31 since Job appears more
interested in bringing God to trial than obtaining wisdom. Thus, the chapter prepares the reader
to encounter the answer through Yahweh’s reply to Job. Gutiérrez appears to accept the
traditional placement of the poem in the book and observes the function of the poem to serve the
rhetorical purpose of the Joban author, evidenced by Job’s later realization in his response to God
(Job 42:5).
This author supports the interpretive treatment Gutiérrez provides of Job 28 and its
literary relationship to the context of the book. However, this author believes there was a missed
opportunity inherent in the interpretive framework of Gutiérrez to critique the divine council as
the system of oppression that resulted in Job’s suffering and cry for justice. Job’s suffering is
permitted by God’s decision in the divine council (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). Cone observes that
theologians who speak of God as the one who liberates the oppressed from pain and humiliation
must recognize “there is no truth about Yahweh unless it is the truth of freedom … revealed in
161
Gutiérrez, On Job: God-Talk, 61.
162
Ibid.
163
Ibid., also see Norman Habel, The Book of Job: A Commentary, (Louisville, KY: Presbyterian
Publishing Corporation, 1985), 388-389, for Habel’s translation of Job 28.
72
the oppressed people’s struggle for justice in this world.”
164
The statement, however, begs the
question on what Job needed justice and liberation from to which one would look to Yahweh as
the solution to his experience since God was also the cause.
This author agrees that Yahweh is the liberator of oppressed people.
165
However, it is right
to observe and offer theological reflection and critique on God’s testing of Job since the
protagonist and his interlocutors spent a considerable amount of time doing the same. God gave
permission to the satan to inflict Job despite him being the embodiment of wisdom and
understanding in relationship to Yahweh (Job 1:1; 28:28). Job lived an upright life, and it failed
to protect him as promised in the Deuteronomistic tradition.
Therefore, as an interpretive framework, liberation theology (which begins with human
experience in a social context) may support certain elements of faith deconstruction for two
reasons: 1) the inspired biblical account of questioning of God’s wisdom and government in
creation (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; 3:1-26) and 2) Job’s experience with an inspired tradition of living
an upright life which failed to protect him as promised. The emphasis of being honest with the
human experience of suffering and oppression in a world governed by Yahweh has the potential
to set the heart at peace with mystery and wonder over an imagined idyllic certainty of how
things ought to function (Job 42:5-6).
2.8 Conclusion
164
Cone, God of the Oppressed, 57.
165
Perhaps the most notable biblical example of God liberating oppressed people is found in Exodus 14-
15:20. When Jesus preached in the synagogue in Luke 4, he read from the scroll of Isaiah and announced: “good
news to the poor” and “release to the captives” to “let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18, NRSV). The Revelation of
Jesus Christ (depending on the interpretive approach) is an account of the reclamation, restoration, and liberation of
creation from death, suffering, and pain (Rev 21:1-5).
73
The goal of this chapter was to provide a survey and sampling of Christian interpretive
methodology relative to Joban scholarship and understanding throughout history. This chapter
provided a sample of interpretive approaches from the intertextual quotations and allusions of the
biblical writers to the allegorical, typological, and, at times, literal interpretive methodology of
patristic and medieval theologians. The study engages the work of John Calvin relative to Job 28
as being integrated in the preceding context and clarifying human responsibility in relationship to
Yahweh. The study considered the way liberation theology serves as an interpretive springboard
for discussion on suffering, justice, and theologizing relative to the book of Job. The study
considered the work of liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez who argues that the poor and
oppressed are the starting point for theologizing about God revealed as love.
To accomplish the purpose of the chapter, consideration was given to the use of
intertextuality as methodology. The chapter considered specific engagement with how the
biblical writers either quoted and or alluded to Job and the way the Joban author quoted or
alluded to earlier citations in the Hebrew Bible. This portion of the study features examples of
Job’s intertextual engagement with Genesis, Deuteronomy, the Ketuvim, and the Old Testament
prophetic corpus.
Job’s intertextual relationship to Genesis is observed in what appears to be shared
anthropological convictions. Observation of Job’s intertextual relationship with Genesis included
the mention of ʾādhām found forty-six times in Genesis and twenty-seven in Job.
166
The
significance of the frequency of ʾādhām in Job suggests that the Joban author shares similar
anthropological convictions on the origin and use of the word found in Genesis.
The study considered Job’s intertextual relationship with the Pentateuch as informing his
devotional lifestyle described in Job 1:1 as an interesting explanation. However, the relationship
166
Oeming, Reading Job Intertextually, 21.
74
of Job to the Pentateuch is equally problematic since Job never describes his relationship to the
patriarchs or Moses. Second, the absence of concrete geographical and tribal indicators in Job
makes it difficult to discern the protagonist’s ethnicity as an Israelite with specific concern for
obedience to the law given at Sinai. Another potential concern in identifying Job as an Israelite is
the notion that the book represents the composite work of multiple scribes. If Job is a composite
of multiple editorial revisions and interpolations, it is reasonable for the name of the deity in Job
38 to be different than when it appeared in the prologue and Job 28 which dispenses with the
need or desire to make Job an Israelite. This author observes the way the book progressed in its
revelation of God as part of the rhetorical strategy of revealing Yahweh—the one who was
identified and spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:14 and Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4. This author
believes the progressive revelation in Job from ʾElōhîmi to ʾAdhōnāi to YHWH as a means of
identifying Job as an Israelite or at least one influenced by the theology of Deuteronomy is
tenable given Job’s intertextual engagement with the Deuteronomic tradition observed in this
study. In Job 1:1 the name ʾElōhîmi is used as a reference for God in an abstract, mythical sense
but the book moves to the singular, absolute sense evidenced in the identification of ʾAdhōnāi
(Lord) in relationship to Elohim (God) as the place where wisdom is found in Job 28:28. Finally,
it is YHWH who speaks in Job 38:1. YHWH is the name in Deuteronomy 6:4 given to Israel as
the one governing the cosmos.
167
As an accommodation to an objection of Job’s relationship to the Pentateuch, Witte
(without offering a proposed date on the final form of Deuteronomy) observes that traditio-
historical and redaction-historical approaches trace references to Deuteronomy in each layer as
the book developed.
168
The study acknowledged the possible relationship of Job to the
167
The Lexham Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012). See: Job 1:1, 28:28, 38:1.
168
Witte, Reading Job Intertextually, 54.
75
Deuteronomistic tradition in the juridical offer of an explanation for the character’s suffering
evidenced during the defense and debate cycles. Job’s interlocutors appeared to be influenced in
their understanding of justice and consequences for disobedience by the promises made in
Deuteronomy 28:60, 65-67. Last, the study observed the possible use of bitter parody with
Deuteronomy and the Psalms observed by Frevel.
169
Job’s possible use of parody presents a
fascinating discussion on the Hebrew Bible’s internal relationship between the Law and the
Ketuvim and serves as a possible challenge to any insistence on the univocality of the biblical
text since the two books appear in conflict with one another in at least in matters of obedience
and blessing and curses for disobedience. If Witte is correct on the stages of development of the
final form of Job as layered with references to Deuteronomy, this intertextual study merits
additional research and consideration.
The study demonstrated the variegated approach to biblical interpretation provided by
patristic and medieval exegetes. The patristics appear to rely on intertextuality as methodology
evidenced by their “scripturam ex scriptura explicandam esse (Scripture is best explained from
Scripture) interpretive approach.
170
The patristic and medieval exegetical determination on the
inner-biblical relationship of Job 28 to the rest of Scripture is problematic at times. Some
patristic use of intertextuality toward Job 28 appears without specific parameters and is observed
by this author as too subjective at times. Philip the Priest, Gregory the Great, and Ephrem the
Syrian appeared to utilize a typological interpretive methodology toward intertextuality and
imposed salvific reference to the grace of Jesus Christ to demonstrate how the chapter is
understood in reference to the gospels.
169
Frevel, Das Manna Manna Fällt, 244-277.
170
Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary, 34.
76
This author believes the use of typology as an interpretive approach to Job 28 without
consideration of the words, context, and grammar leads to an erroneous conclusion on the
function of the chapter within Job. This author observes the poetry of Job 28 to be a figurative
embellishment on the search and discovery of answers relative to Job’s suffering that is
embedded in the preceding context while preparing the reader to encounter the solution to the
concerns in the book found in the forthcoming context. To that end, this project would find closer
agreement with the interpretive approach of Chrysostom, Isho’Dad of Merv, Julian the Arian,
and Julian of Eclanum. Each of these patristic exegetes appeared to interpret Job 28 contextually,
in the literal, grammatical sense, evidenced by their consideration of the sense and meaning of
the words used.
The study considered the handling of Job 28:28 by prolific medieval exegete Augustine.
Augustine’s cluster of biblical passages that provided a foundational understanding of sapientia
(wisdom and discernment) included Job 28:28.
171
The study observed Augustine’s first allusion
to Job 28:28 as the principal text on the worship of God as the beginning of wisdom for
humanity is found in Confessions 5.3.
172
Augustine used Job 28:28 to develop his theology of
wisdom and held the passage in tension with philosophers as a way to express disapproval of
those who wrote about wisdom that “has no element of piety”
173
since it is the highest duty of
humankind. Given the anthropological convictions on the origin of humanity the Joban author
shares with the author of Genesis coupled with the communication of Yahweh’s creative acts and
power in the forthcoming context (Job 38-41), Augustine appears correct to thrust the full
expression of the beginning of wisdom as the fear of the Lord.
171
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way, 26.
172
Ibid., 26, 65.
173
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way, [under, 5.5].
77
The study observes the work of St. Thomas Aquinas as relevant to demonstrate the thesis
of the project. Aquinas sets forth a particular type of theodicy that encourages understanding and
acceptance of the nature and operation of divine providence.
174
The subject of divine providence
is relevant to this project since the thesis aims to demonstrate that Job 28 serves the rhetorical
purpose of the author to legitimize prerogatives and kingship of Yahweh over creation. A final
observation made in Aquinas’s interpretation of Job 28 is the consideration he provided to the
prior context. Aquinas interprets Job 28 as conceptually and functionally related to Job’s prior
discussion on wisdom in Job 27. With this interpretation, Aquinas assumes Job to be the
speaking character of Job 28 and the functional placement of the poem in the context of the book
as fitting. This author favors the focus on providence and the conceptual and the functional
relationship of Job 28 in its context made by Aquinas. However, Aquinas observes the identity of
the speaking character and the placement of the chapter in the book to find objection with the
recent scholarship of Clines and Greenstein who propose editorial revisions for rhetorical and or
philological reasons.
175
This study considered the exposition of Job 28 from three sermons of John Calvin on the
chapter. Calvin began his interpretation of Job 28 in relationship to the last paragraph of the
previous chapter (Job 27:13-23). Calvin’s exposition demonstrates acceptance of the traditional
placement of the chapter in the book identifies Job as the speaker.
176
Calvin interprets the
language of Job 28:1-9 figuratively as pointing the reader back to the previous struggle for
answers while leading them toward the answer found at the conclusion of the poem. Calvin’s
174
Stump, Reasoned Faith, 333.
175
See chapter 3 of this study for a broader discussion on the speaking character, placement and function of
Job 28 and the editorial revisions proposed by Clines and Greenstein relative to Job 28.
176
Calvin, Sermons on Job, vol. 2, 590.
78
interpretive approach and conclusion, lends credibility to this project’s assertion that Job 28 is a
figurative interpolation that clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh.
Last, the study considered liberation theology as an interpretive approach given its
critique of systems of oppression and observes the suffering of the innocent. Using this
interpretive approach to Job could challenge conventional understandings of goodness, justice,
and love given the theological critique is levied against God rather than a human form of
government as the persecuting power. Liberation theology as an interpretive approach was
considered relevant to the study. Consideration of the work of Gustavo Gutiérrez and his
exposition of Job 28 is provided in the study. The study observes that the poor and suffering is
the starting point for liberation theology and discussion of God as love. The study observes
Gutiérrez’s treatment of Job as relevant to the study since he observes Job 28 is the interlude—a
pause that puts the reader between the preceding debate (Job 4-27) and the answer to Job from
the whirlwind (Job 38-41) which is the focal point that reveals the “greatness of God and the
hidden understanding of God’s intentions for the human race.”
177
This chapter provided insight into a variety of Christian interpretive approaches to Job 28
throughout the history of the Christian church. The selected interpretations offered in this study
demonstrated the functional and compositional relationship of Job 28 to the book. Last, this
author believes the interpretive diversity experienced in this study lays the foundation for the
subjective aesthetic, grammatical methodology incorporated in chapter three, the literary and
rhetorical relationship of Job to the conflict myth topoi in chapter four, and the objective
exposition of Job 28 in chapter five.
177
Gutiérrez, On Job: God Talk, 61.
79
Chapter 3
The Compositional Nature and Function of Job 28 within the Larger Literary Context
3.1 The Goal of the Chapter
The goal of this chapter is to discern the compositional nature and function of Job 28 in
its literary context. The study will argue that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author.
The interpretive methodology features an emphasis on aesthetics. This study acknowledges the
inherent subjectivity with an aesthetic methodology. To balance the subjectivity, the project
compares the rhetoric of Job with historic parallels and ancient Near Eastern conflict topoi in
chapter four. Chapter five provides an exposition of Job 28 in consideration of the historical-
grammatical meaning of the words as a figurative interpolation, metaphorically embellished in
the preceding and forthcoming context.
This chapter will demonstrate the aesthetic relationship of Job 28 as embedded in the
preceding context and prepare the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns in the book. In
the preceding context, the reader is introduced to the character Job, a man who embodied the
characteristics of wisdom and understanding (Job 1-2) articulated in Job 28:28. Job 28
metaphorically participates in the defense and debate cycles illustrating the struggle to find the
wisdom and understanding that would make sense of Job’s test. Further, this chapter will
demonstrate that Job 28 prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the
book in Job 38-41. YHWH’s reply to Job is the “last speech event in the book of Job”
1
and
establishes Job’s inferiority and by extension, the rest of humanity as being wise enough to
1
Charles Yu, To Comfort Job: The Speeches in the Book of Job as Rhetorical Discourse (Madison, WI:
University of Wisconsin, PhD Diss, 2011), 401.
80
govern the cosmos.
2
Clines argues that “Job’s mistake was to demand an answer to the problem
of suffering which is to intrude into an area beyond human comprehension”
3
and into the realm
of how God governs creation.
4
The revelation of how Yahweh governs creation (Job 38-41)
points back to the wisdom and understanding that was out of reach for mortals and articulated in
Job 28:12-13, 20-21. God’s reply to Job reveals human inferiority, incapacity, and legitimizes the
kingship of Yahweh over all creation. The realization of the kingship and providence of God in
and over creation is the end of Job’s suffering (Job 38-42). Yahweh’s reply appears to be the
summit of where the author intended his reader to arrive since it is God’s wisdom in creation that
was on trial from the beginning (Job 1:6-12).
The study argues that Job 28 figuratively prepares the reader to realize human ignorance
and incapacity in the first two strophes (Job 28:1-22) and prepares the reader to encounter the
revelation of God’s wisdom in creation in the third strophe (Job 28:23-28) and through a survey
of Yahweh’s reply to Job (Job 38-41). As a result of the interaction between Yahweh and Job, the
protagonist becomes aware of his ignorance. Job spoke “that which I did not understand” (Job
42:3b, NASB). The realization of Job’s ignorance is figuratively illustrated in Job 28 through the
imagery of the miner probing the depths of the earth for the rare and precious but failing to lay
hold of wisdom and understanding (Job 28:1-13; 20-21).
To accomplish the goal of this chapter, Job 28 will be interpreted in its larger literary
context to determine its relationship to the whole. An interpretation of Job 28 is met with two
challenges: the identity of the speaking character and the chapter’s placement in the book. Both
2
Yu, To Comfort Job, 401.
3
David J.A. Clines, Job, ed. D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, New Bible
Commentary: 21st Century Edition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 481.
4
Ibid.
81
concerns have resulted in the proposed restructuring of the book by Clines and Greenstein under
the assumption that errors were made in the reconstitution of the book.
5
Schmidt and Nel observe
the literary and editorial transformations that support the proposed restructuring are due to the
different dating of the prologue and epilogue (Job 1; 42), the poetic dialogue and core chapters
(3-27), the wisdom poem (Job 28) and Elihu speeches (Job 32-37).
6
This author argues that an
identity centered hermeneutic is problematic for two reasons. First, without knowing the identity
of who is speaking, the intended meaning of the text is filtered through the subjective lens of the
interpreter. The second problem with an identity centered hermeneutic is there is no consensus on
the identity of the speaking character of Job 28. This study proposes an implied author as an
interpretive accommodation. Views from various scholars on the identity of the character of Job
28 are offered as part of this chapter to support the position of an implied author to move beyond
the interpretive impasse and bridge the gap between knowing and not knowing the identity of the
speaking character.
The author (in agreement with Hoffman) believes that objections to Job 28 as belonging
in the book are based on shared assumptions that the book “requires an inner logic”
7
and
5
Estes, “Job 28 in Its,” 151. The study examines Clines’s and Greenstein’s proposal in this section. Also
see: David J.A. Clines, “Putting Elihu in His Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37,” JSOT 29, no. 2
(2004), and Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019).
6
Nic Schmidt and Petrus Nel, “Divine Darkness in the Human Discourses of Job,” Acta Theological 36,
no. 2 (2016): 127. The authors argue that the prologue and epilogue could not have been later than the pre-exilic
Israelite and Judean monarchies (1000-587 BCE) as it appears to be the oldest narrative framework. The poetic
dialogues are believed to have been a reflection on the social circumstances of the ancient Israelites and Jews during
the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE). Schmidt and Nel write that Job 28 and the Elihu speeches were later included
and reflect the optimistic tone of Proverbs rather than skeptical tone found in Job and Ecclesiastes and are estimated
to be dated during the Persian era (539-332 BCE).
7
Yair Joffman, A Blemished Perfection: The Book of Job in Context (London, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing
Place, 2019), 60.
82
“suitable order of arguments and responses.”
8
These assumptions are handled in the study
through observation of a proposed literary order that regards the thematic and developmental
connections between the preceding and forthcoming context. This paradigm will be used to
demonstrate part of the functional relationship of Job 28 as being a thematic unifier.
3.2 The Speaking Character of Job 28: the Problem of Identity
Walton writes, “the wisdom hymn comes to conclusions that do not reflect Job’s thinking
as it is represented in his speeches either before or after the hymn.”
9
Clines argues that Job 28 is
almost universally denied to Job.
10
To account for the change in tone and content, Clines
proposes a restructuring of the book beginning with the Elihu speeches (Job 32-37) and argues
they originally preceded Job 28 and that this chapter, marks the conclusion of the Elihu
speeches.
11
Clines is supported in his proposal to restructure the book of Job as evidenced by
Greenstein in his work Job: A New Translation. Greenstein also restructured Job 28 as the fourth
speech of Elihu because of his “original philological investigation”
12
that he argues, leads to a
better understanding of the book. Childs writes the chapter (Job 28) is almost universally agreed
upon as being an interpolation which results in proposals to reconstruct the book.
13
8
Joffman, A Blemished Perfection, 60.
9
John H. Walton, “Book of Job 1,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, ed.
Tremper Longman and Peter Enns (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 333.
10
David J.A. Clines, “Putting Elihu in His Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37,” JSOT 29, no.
2 (2004): 243.
11
Ibid.
12
Greenstein, Job: A New Translation, 8–9.
13
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 535.
83
Estes argues that Cline’s proposal provides no evidence that would require “the
reordering of the Masoretic text”
14
and dismisses the proposal that Elihu is the speaking character
of Job 28.
15
The traditional placement of Job 28 as it appears in the final form of the text is found
in Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: according to the Traditional Hebrew Text,
16
A New English
Translation of the Septuagint (Primary Texts),
17
The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and
Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture,
18
and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.
19
Efforts to rearrange Job
is met with mixed reviews since there is no proposed reconstruction of the book that is
championed by a consensus of scholars. Childs observes the literary problems of Job 25-28 is
acute and though “much energy has been expended in reconstructing the last cycle of the
dialogue,”
20
no single proposal is agreed upon resulting in the near universal view that Job 28 is a
“secondary interpolation in the book.”
21
Newsome agrees with Estes (contra Clines and Greenstein) on the proposed restructuring
of the book of Job but for interpretive reasons. Rather than appealing to the Masoretic Text,
Newsom argues against the Elihu speeches from the position of her interpretive commitment to
14
Daniel J. Estes, “Job 28 in Its,” 155.
15
Ibid.
16
Tanakh: a New Translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the Traditional Hebrew Text
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985).
17
“Job 28,” in A New English Translation of the Septuagint (Primary Texts), ed. Albert Pietersma and
Benjamin G. Wright, trans. Claude E. Cox (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
18
Emmanuel Tov, The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture (Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2003).
19
“Job 28,” in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, electronic ed. (Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 2003).
20
Ibid.
21
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 530.
84
the historical-critical model.
22
Newsom argues that the Elihu speeches (rather than Job 28), are a
later addition to the book.
23
Newsom writes the historical-critical grounds for viewing the Elihu
speeches as secondary are compelling since the speeches present a “discernible gap between the
culture of moral argumentation presumed by the main part of the book and that of Elihu.”
24
Therefore, Newsom views Elihu as a reader of the book of Job who writes himself into the
story—someone who injected himself into a conversation that began without him.
25
Per Newsom, the proposal advanced by Clines and Greenstein is unnecessary. Newsom
writes concerning Job 28, “I do not see distinct marks of belatedness in this poem.”
26
Newsom
argues the speaker of Job 28 is “one voice among others within the original polyphonic text,”
27
and identifying the speaker as the author, the narrator, or the voice of Job is unnecessary since
the interpretive consequences are minimal.
28
Garrett agrees with Newsom’s understanding of the
speaker of Job 28.
29
Garrett argues Job 28 can be understood as Job’s words or those of the
author with minimal interpretive consequences.
30
Goldingay objects to Job being the speaker for the grammatical reasons provided in
chapter one of this study. Goldingay observes the basic meaning of the word “again” in Job 29:1
22
Newsom, The Book of Job, 202.
23
Newsom, The Book of Job, 170.
24
Ibid., 202.
25
Ibid.
26
Newsom, The Book of Job, 170.
27
Ibid.
28
Ibid.
29
Duane A. Garrett, “The Poetic and Wisdom Books,” in Holman Concise Bible Commentary, ed. David S.
Dockery, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1998), 209.
30
Ibid.
85
and its grammatical voice relationship lends itself to the notion that Job is now adding to
something previously stated before the interruption of chapter twenty-eight.
31
Goldingay
observes the text of Job 27:1 and Job 29:1 begins with “wayyōsep ’iyyôb śĕ’ēt mĕšālô
wayyō’mar,” and compares the phrase elsewhere in Scripture (e.g., Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15,
20-21, 23). In Numbers, the phrase describes Balaam “resuming after someone else has
spoken”
32
and “also when he is continuing his own words.”
33
Goldingay observes the grammar
and comparable examples provided from Numbers to be like what is in Job 27:1 and Job 29:1;
“Job has not been speaking and is now resuming.”
34
As a concession, Goldingay acknowledges the lack of any transition marker in
connection with Job 27:7-23 implying the words of Job 28 belong to Job without agreeing with
them. Goldingay argues the material of Job 26:5-14 and Job 28:1-28 “in fact link with other
material belonging to the narrator and the way the book as a whole is developing.”
35
Goldingay
convincingly argues the chapter can be understood as it stands, “representing the narrator’s
reflections”
36
and is “the same person as speaks the other material outside the addresses in the
book by Job, the three friends, Elihu, and God, along with the short statements by the characters
who speak in Job 1-2.
37
31
Goldingay, “On Reading Job 22-28,” 481.
32
Ibid.
33
Ibid.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid.
86
Instead of reordering the Masoretic Text as Clines has done in his commentary of Job 21-
27 to support the view that Job 28 is the final speech of Elihu
38
or, Goldingay’s view that the
narrator is speaking,
39
Alden writes the scholars responsible for translating the RSV, MLB,
NASB, NKJV, NIV, ICB, and NCV offer a tacit view of Job as the speaker of chapter twenty-
eight evidenced by the missing quotation marks at the end of Job 27.
40
The missing quotation
marks at the end of chapter twenty seven is an implicit acknowledgment by the translators that
Job is the speaking character of Job 28.
41
The translators contribute to the discussion on the
identity of the speaker without considering the change in tone and content of Job 28 as being
distinct from their assigned character.
This author agrees with Goldingay and Estes
42
that the chapter represents the reflections
of the narrator, or “implied author” because of the way Job 27:1 and Job 29:1 introduce the
speaker in relationship to its preceding context.
43
The language of Job 29:1 “And Job again took
up his discourse and said …” (NASB) suggests that he is resuming a speech after being
interrupted. Though assumptions are made that Job 28 is an extension of Job 27 (see Alden), the
proposal is problematic given the change in tone and content of Job 28 from the preceding
context. If Job is the character speaking in chapter twenty-eight, the grammatical voice
38
Clines, Job 21-37. [under, "Elihu's Fourth Speech Concluded (The Poem on Wisdom), (28:1-28),
"Comment"].
39
Goldingay, On Reading Job, 481.
40
Robert L. Alden, “Introduction,” in Job, vol. 11 (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1993). [under,
"Introduction"].
41
Ibid.
42
Estes, Job 28 in Its, 157.
43
Goldingay, On Reading Job, 481.
87
relationship of the word “again” in Job 29:1 is unnecessary as a way of advising the reader that
Job is resuming his speech prior to being interrupted.
Insistence on the identity of the speaking character of Job 28 brings the interpretation of
Job 28 to an impasse unless an accommodation is made. As mentioned, the chapter can be
understood as one voice among many.
44
The chapter can be interpreted and understood based on
the genre, the words used, and their literary typing. The speaker’s identity is established only
through indirect evidence. This brief survey of current scholarship on the identity of the speaker
directly challenges the assumption that identifying the speaker is necessary to understanding the
chapter. To move beyond the interpretive impasse of an identity centered hermeneutic, Lo
champions a plurality of interpretive methods used conjunctively such as: the historical-critical,
literary, and the rhetorical-critical approach to refine each other in understanding the rhetoric of
Job 28.
45
This project incorporates a plurality of interpretive methods such as an aesthetic,
grammatical methodology, Job’s relationship to the category of conflict myth, and an exposition
of the chapter in consideration of the literary typing, context, meaning and application of the
words found in Job 28 in order to demonstrate the thesis.
3.3 The Compositional Nature of Job 28 as a Figurative Interpolation
Chapter two of this study describes various interpretive approaches to Job 28 throughout
Church history. This study considers the relationship of Job 28 to the prologue, the defense and
debate cycles, and illustrates the chapter as participating in the preceding context. The chapter
44
Newsom, The Book of Job, 170.
45
Lo, Job 28 as Rhetoric, 17.
88
concludes with a proposal on how Job 28 prepares the reader to engage the solution to the
concerns in the book in the forthcoming context (Job 29-42).
Childs lists several literary issues with respect to the book of Job beginning with the
relationship of the prologue to the epilogue written in prose when the rest of the book is written
in poetic dialogue.
46
A second issue is the varying literary quality of the reply to Job in Job 38-
40:32.
47
A third issue is the Elihu speeches which were believed to be “secondary and disruptive
of the original composition,”
48
followed by allegations of dislocations and additions (Job 25-
28).
49
These literary concerns establish the challenge of demonstrating Job 28 as a thematic
unifier to the book when there appears to be inconsistency in literary typing, the literary quality
of the divine speech, the chapter’s placement, and structure of the book.
Of interest to the study is the lack of consensus on the canonical shape of the book of Job
given the proposals for restructuring by Clines, Greenstein, contra Estes, Newsom, and Lo. If Job
is a composite of additions, identifying a single unifying purpose to the book is complicated
because of its perceived, multivocal nature. The book could be the work of multiple authors and
redactors who may or may not share the same intention. The absence of agreement on the
speaking character of Job 28 and the book’s final form energizes the protest on the purpose of the
book and the function of the chapter within its immediate and larger context. Suggestions on the
book’s purpose range from it being an example of the “suffering of the godly, or that the Elihu
speeches (Job 32-37) provide the author’s intention to signify that suffering is divine
46
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 529.
47
Ibid.
48
Ibid.
49
Ibid.
89
discipline.”
50
A final proposal writes Childs is: “lack of clear purpose is itself the answer of the
book. The response of Job is simply to submit in resignation since there is no rationale behind
this suffering.”
51
As a result, the discussion on final form and the identity of the speaking
character frustrates the proposal that Job 28 serves the rhetorical strategy of the author since it is
unclear whether a single implied author is responsible for the content.
This study argues that the function of Job 28 in relationship to the whole is complex
because of the assumptions acknowledged by Childs and advanced by Clines, and Greenstein,
that the chapter is a literal interpolation. This study proposes Job 28 is a figurative rather than
literal interpolation, a metaphorical embellishment to the struggle Job and his friends faced in the
search for the wisdom and understanding that would make sense of his suffering regardless of the
identity of the speaker. Henderson writes the confusion on the relationship of Job 28 to the whole
stems from the failure to grasp “the ancient technique of argumentation, through juxtaposition
rather than logical exposition.”
52
As a figurative interpolation, the burden is on the modern reader to discern the relevant
features of the metaphor intended by the implied author to be understood by implied audience.
Hawley writes those modern readers who “seek historical, authorially intended interpretation of
texts, must attempt to reconstruct the shared knowledge that the author anticipated on having
with readers.”
53
As an interpretive adjunct, the text of Job as well as relevant parallels from
50
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 528-530.
51
Ibid., 530-531.
52
Ruth Henderson, “The Concentric Structure of the Wisdom Poem in Job 28,” Journal of Ancient Judaism
9 (2019): 26–27.
53
Lance R. Hawley, Metaphor Coherence in the Book of Job (Madison, WI: PhD Diss: University of
Wisconsin-Madison, 2016), 22.
90
ancient Near Eastern sources observed in chapter four of this study contribute to the effort to
reconstruct the common knowledge shared between authors and readers.
54
Newsom writes that Job 28 offers a distinct genre known as (the speculative wisdom
poem)
55
and is part of the larger body of wisdom literature.
56
Newsom observes the designation
speculative wisdom leans toward a particular pattern of similarity and dissimilarity with other
compositions such as Proverbs 8, Sirach 1 and 24, Baruch 3:9-44, and perhaps Enoch 42 which
can be used to express contradictory thoughts.
57
A fundamental aspect of the genre of speculative
wisdom is “the trope of seeking and finding.”
58
The pattern of similarity and dissimilarity is
featured as an apparent contradiction in Job 28, evidenced by the observation on human ability to
accomplish great tasks yet be unable to find and grasp wisdom even though they know its worth
(Job 28:12-22) and where it is found (Job 28:23-28). Kaske observes “apparent contradictions”
59
as a “widely recognized feature of the Bible’s literary surface”
60
and “is enough to justify
54
The goal of chapter four in this project will be to balance the inherent subjectivity of the aesthetic
hermeneutic and demonstrate that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the book and is grounded in the
legitimating ideology found in extant conflict narratives. See: 4.1 of the project and Debra Scoggins Ballentine, The
Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 44.
55
Newsom, The Book of Job, 171.
56
Ibid.
57
Newsom, The Book of Job, 172. See sections 4.10-4.11 of this project, Nili Shupak, “Egyptian
Literature,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, ed. Jonathan S.
Greer, John W. Wilbur, and John H. Walton, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of
Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 109. An example of the speculative wisdom tradition is A Sufferer and a Soul in
Egypt which Shupak argues is the best-known source for the speculative wisdom tradition in a manner that deals
with philosophical and ethical concerns in a way that corresponds to Job. Also see: Carol A. Newsom, The Book of
Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 172.
58
Newsom, The Book of Job, 172.
59
Carol V. Kaske, Spenser and Biblical Poetics (New York: Cornell University Press, 2019), 104.
60
Ibid.
91
including them as part of biblical poetics.”
61
As a trope, the contradictory statements force the
reader to recognize the language for what it is and wrestle with them on a deeper level, beyond
the literal meaning to a non-literal one. A literal reading of Job 28 would conflate the meaning of
the language used and miss the connection between the chapter, its preceding, and forthcoming
context.
Henderson writes the composition of the “wisdom poem of Job 28:1-28 stands apart from
the rest of the book in structure and style”
62
and is “made with the purpose of offering a critique
on the sentiments expressed in the preceding dialogues (Job 3-27) and anticipates the words of
God in Job 38-42.”
63
This author agrees with Henderson. The proposition supports the goal of
this chapter in demonstrating the coherent literary relationship of Job 28 to the book as
embedded in the preceding context and preparing the reader to encounter the solutions in the
forthcoming context.
Henderson proposes Job 28 takes the rhetorical form of chiasmus and writes that
concentric structuring is used throughout Job
64
with Job 28 assuming the following concentric
structure of A, B, C, B1, and A1:
A Man’s search for metals/wisdom, Job 28:1-11,
B Refrain, “Where is wisdom found?” Job 28:12-14,
C The desirability of wisdom and its incomparable worth, Job 28:15-19,
B1 Second refrain “Where is wisdom found?” Job 28:20-22, and
A1 God’s search and demonstration of wisdom in creation Job 28:23-27.
65
61
Kaske, Spenser and Biblical, 104.
62
Henderson, Journal of Ancient, 26-27.
63
Ibid.
64
Ibid.
65
Henderson observes each strophe as following the concentric structure provided above so that chapter 28
has a series of chiasmus.
92
Sections B and B1 deal with where wisdom is found, whereas A and A1 offer contrasting ways of
how to acquire wisdom.
66
Henderson illustrates the manner Job 28 pivots around the theme of
wisdom featuring contrasting abilities and ways of acquisition between humans and God. With
section A, the miner searches for metals (metaphorically referring to wisdom) “out of the earth”
and searches “out to the farthest bound … in gloom and deep darkness,” (Job 28:3, NRSV),
opening “shafts far from human habitation” (28:4a) … “remote from people,” (28:4c), out of the
earth and “underneath” (28:5b). The miner learns that precious wisdom and understanding is
unavailable as a resource harvested from the earth. The debate cycles of Job 3-27 feature Job and
his interlocutors engaged in the search for wisdom and understanding. As a figurative
interpolation, this author observes that Job 28 confronts the futile search for an answer from any
person or place in creation.
Section A1 assumes the perspective from above and answers the questions posed in the
refrain of section B found in verses 12 and 20, “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is
the place of understanding?” The questions are energized through the realization of human
limitation to lay hold of wisdom and understanding as an available resource that exists apart
from God. Wisdom and understanding are embedded in creation and embodied as part of Job’s
lived experience; however, both come from another source that transcends the earth. God
exercises wisdom and understanding in the establishment of creation (Job 28:24-27) and then
reveals it to humanity as a way of clarifying human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh.
Section A assumes the perspective of in or under the earth whereas A1 takes on the perspective
that transcends the earth, human knowledge and achievement. God “understands the way to it,
and he knows its place, for he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the
66
Henderson, Journal of Ancient, 29-35.
93
heavens” (Job 28:23-24, emphasis mine). Henderson writes “God both knows wisdom (vs. 23)
and has revealed it to humanity (vs. 28).”
67
Habel provides an example of such antithetical parallelism and use of concentric
structuring in the book of Job in his investigation of the siege metaphor in Job 19. Habel writes
“Job is a solitary mortal under siege, surrounded by the troops of God”
68
who is “blocking all
routes of access, tearing down walls around him, divesting him of his emblems of office like an
imprisoned king.”
69
Six times in Job 19 the preposition “against” is used to describe the sensation
of divine opposition while at the same time, the preposition “all around” is used twice to express
the sensation of being enclosed.
70
The antithetical parallelism is observed as Job’s way is
hemmed in while God’s way is free. Like Job 19, the wisdom poem of Job 28 continues the
antithetical parallelism trajectory between human ability and limitations against the limitless God
both of which pivot on the wisdom motif.
3.4 The Characters (Job 1-2), Literature and Purpose
Perdue writes that “the book of Job leads to the beginnings of a new metaphorical model
of faith”
71
and “the entire movement of the book is theological, that is, the articulation of
language about and to God.”
72
Job was the human embodiment of wisdom and understanding
67
Henderson, The Concentric Structure, 40.
68
Norman Habel, The Book of Job (1985): A Commentary (Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Publishing
Corporation, 1985), 295–96.
69
Ibid.
70
Ibid.
71
Leo G. Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt: Metaphorical Theology in the Book of Job, electronic ed. (London:
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2009), 75.
72
Ibid.
94
(Job 1:1, 8; 2:3, 9). Job’s innocence and righteousness failed to safeguard against the suffering
permitted in creation. Through the character of Job, innocent suffering appears as the dominant
motif in the book until consideration is given to the significance of the meeting between God, the
heavenly beings, and the satan. The satan asked “… Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9,
NRSV). Walton and Longman write that God’s policies (not Job) are on trial in the book.
73
The
way God governs creation is challenged at the meeting in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6.
In Job 1:6 the satan functions as an adversary more than being the proper name of a
character who later bears the name Satan.
74
The word satan did not assume the role of a personal
name until the intertestamental period.
75
White writes that in the Hebrew Bible, (the satan)
76
appears in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-8 and is not a proper name since it would be “intrinsically definite.”
77
The presence of the article excludes from being a common noun; the word would instead
be translated as “adversary, opponent, accuser.”
78
White observes that is identified
according to its function in the council
79
and is consistent with the naming practices in Israel and
the ancient Near East.
80
73
Walton and Longman, How to Read Job, 9.
74
Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background
Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000). [under, 1:6. Satan].
75
Ibid.
76
Ellen White, Yahweh's Council: Its Structure and Membership (2014: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 109.
77
Ibid.
78
Ibid.
79
Ibid. See the forthcoming discussion on the divine council, the taxonomy of relationships, and its
function in the cosmos. Also see chapter four of this project, sections 4.1, 4.8, 4.11-4.12.
80
White, Yahweh's Council, 109. White argues that it was not uncommon for naming to refer to function
more than any other factor in the ancient Near East. The names were believed to influence the person and their
behavior.
95
The nature of the adversary in Job 1:6 is questionable since the context of Job 1 offers
little information on whether the satan is one of the heavenly beings. Matthews, Chavalas, and
Walton write that it is uncertain whether the satan who appears along with the heavenly beings is
one of the sons of God since the word is used in Scripture to describe human and supernatural
adversaries who monitor and challenge God’s policies and decisions.
81
In eight of the twenty-
seven times the word satan appears in the Old Testament, human and supernatural characters
function as an adversary without bearing the proper name, Satan. The following examples
illustrate how the term ‘adversary’ functions among divine and human beings. The LORD stands
as an adversary (Num 22:22), the angel of the LORD comes out as an adversary (Num 22:32),
David is an adversary to the Philistines (I Sam 29), the sons of Zeruiah are an adversary to David
(II Sam 19:22), Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the son of Eliada were adversaries to Solomon (I
Kings 11:14, 23, 25).
Job 1:6 differentiates between the heavenly beings and the satan and frustrates the
assumption that the satan functioning as an adversary in the book is the name of a supernatural
rather than human being. The term “heavenly beings” beney ha'elohim, is referenced in the
preamble to the flood narrative (Gen 6:1-4). They are distinct from the “daughters of men”
implying they may be of supernatural origin.
82
In Psalm 82:6 a similar phrase is used “the sons of
Elyon” ibny ‘lywn and is “sometimes translated as “most high, Elyon is often considered
synonymous with Yahweh … in a Psalm exalting him as head of the divine council.”
83
The same
81
Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton, The IVP Bible Background, [under, Satan].
82
Matthew James Hamilton, “Sons of God,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Berry, David
Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot
Ritzema, and Wendy Widder, electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [under, Sons of God, Old
Testament].
83
Ibid.
96
term beney ha'elohim is referenced three times in the book of Job (1:6; 2:1; 38:7) which may also
infer they supernatural beings and formed a “divine council or group of lower heavenly
beings.”
84
Heiser writes the term “divine council” is frequently used to refer to “the heavenly host,
and this of divine beings who administer the affairs of the cosmos under Yahweh, the God of
Israel … and is similar to the pantheons of ancient Near Eastern cultures.”
85
Mullen writes:
…the idea of a council or assembly of the gods that met to determine the fates of the
cosmos is common to the mythopoeic world of the ancient Near East…the council of the
gods is presented as a standard part of the organization of the divine realm which
constituted the major decision-making body in the divine world to which all the members
of the pantheon were subject.
86
Heiser observes many Ugaritic tablets that describe a “council of gods in words and phrases that
are conceptually and linguistically parallel to the Hebrew Bible.”
87
Mullen writes that in the
Ugaritic materials such as UT 17.7 [KTU 1.47.29] and Ug V.9l9 [RS 24.643; KTU 1.148, the
phrase phr’ilm is used analogously to beney ha'elohim to denote either the “gods” or the singular
“El.”
88
Further, the most common designation for the assembly is “dr ‘il dr bn ‘il,” which is
translated as “the assembly of the El or the assembly of the sons of El (UT 107.2 [KTU 1.65];
UT 2.17, 25-26, 34 [KTU 1.40]; UT 3.16 [KTU 1.41] RS 18.56, 17-18 [KTU 1.87].
89
Mullen
84
Hamilton, The Lexham Bible, [under, Sons of God, Old Testament].
85
. Michael S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry, David Bomar,
Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema,
and Wendy Widder, electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [under, Divine Council].
86
Everett Theodore Mullen Jr., The Anchor Yale Bible. [under, Divine Assembly].
87
Heiser, The Lexham Bible, [under, Divine Council].
88
Mullen., The Anchor Yale Bible. [under, "Divine Assembly].
89
Ibid., [under, “Divine Assembly”]. Mullen also observed the Keret text to use the phrase ‘dt ‘ilm to
connote the assembly of the gods (UT 128.11.7, 11 [KTU 1.15]. Mullen observes however that the biblical Hebrew
used to denote the assembly is diverse. Chapter four of this study will provide additional study regarding the
relevant ancient Near Eastern texts to demonstrate the genre of Job as being distinct and yet similar and consistent
97
observes that in the Keret epic (UT 126.V.1.-28 [KTU 1.16], El is seated as the head of the
assembly and addresses the gods called ‘ilm or bny “my sons.”
90
Perdue writes the structure of the prologue of Job is the “edict of the judge and divine
assembly and is drawn from the mythical traditions of Mesopotamia and Canaan. In the first
scene (Job 1:6-12) the divine assembly convenes presumably during New Year when, in
Babylonian mythology, the fates of humans are determined for the coming year.”
91
Heiser writes
that in the parallel Ugaritic council, the members sometimes challenged each other during
deliberation whereas in the Israelite conception, the will of Yahweh was in view and enacted.
92
The will of Yahweh is in view and enacted in the prologue of Job 1-2. Perdue writes the prologue
of Job follows the “mythic tradition of the Atrahasis Epic where the destiny of Job is determined
by the head of the divine council.”
93
The text of Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6 appears to fit the paradigm of
both a challenge between members in the council and the outworking of Yahweh’s will as it was
the only thing permitted from the deliberation (Job 1:12; 2:6). Job’s future is determined by
Yahweh at the conclusion of the meeting of the divine council.
Mullen writes the role of the divine assembly is a “conceptual part of the background of
Hebrew prophecy.”
94
A biblical example of council member participation, deliberation, and
decision-making capacity outside of the book of Job is found in I Kings 22:19-23 when Yahweh
with the rhetorical purposes of the parallel mythopoeic literature which will help to demonstrate the thesis that Job
28 functions as a thematic unifier.
90
Mullen., The Anchor Yale Bible, [under, "2. Ugarit”].
91
Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt, 88.
92
Heiser, The Lexham Bible, [under, “Divine Council”].
93
Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt, 86. Perdue observes additional similarities exist with Enuma Elish where the
council of the gods convened in response to a crisis. Marduk was made king and he issued edicts and subservient
gods were subject. Marduk received absolute power in exchange for the defeat of Tiamat. At the akitu festival the
gods met to determine the destinies of nations and people for the coming year and is later reflected in the rabbinic
understanding of Rosh ha-Shana.
94
Mullen, The Anchor Yale Bible, [under, "D. Hebrew Depictions of the Assembly"].
98
decided Ahab should die but allowed discussion from the council members on how to carry out
the decree. In Psalm 82, Yahweh “took his place in the divine council” (Ps 82:1a, NRSV) and
judged the “gods” who ruled with corruption over the nations of the earth. Mullen observes that
in Isaiah 6, the prophet assumes the role of the messenger from the assembly and is
commissioned as such by Yahweh.
95
In Psalm 89, the heavens praise Yahweh’s wonders, and his
faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. None among the “heavenly beings” is like the
Lord, a God feared in the council of the holy ones” (Ps 89:5-7). In Daniel 4:17, the “angelic
watchers” (NASB), announce the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 4:24 however, the
decree issued from the angelic watchers is in view as being the singular decision of the “Most
High” (NASB). In Job 38:4-7 the heavenly beings shouted for joy but appeared to have had
nothing to do with the decisions made for creation. Yahweh alone laid the foundations of the
earth. The Hebrew Bible, (like the Ugaratic and other relevant parallels) portrays Yahweh
collaborating and deliberating with a heavenly council but owning the decrees impacting creation
as his own.
96
The nature of the satan advised by the context of Job 1:6 is less certain than the function
played as an opponent. As mentioned, the context does not assume that the satan is one of the
heavenly beings. Handy writes this scene in the prologue is understood in the way a pantheon
was seen and organized in ancient Syria-Palestine and that “it can be demonstrated that the satan
of the book of Job functions in a recognizable pattern for members of the beney ha’elohim as he
is confronted by the head of the pantheon.”
97
Handy continues with the observation that the
activity of the satan by comparison to a series of passages from Ugaritic narratives, conforms to
95
Mullen, The Anchor Yale Bible, [under, "D. Hebrew Depictions of the Assembly"].
96
The fourth chapter of this study will feature a comparison of relevant ancient Near Eastern parallels.
97
Lowell K. Handy, “The Authorization of Divine Power and the Guilt of God in the Book of Job: Useful
Ugaritic Parallels,” JSOT 60 (1993): 108.
99
the expectations of “a relatively good deity of a divine lower level than the Highest Authority.”
98
In the council scene of Job 1:6-11 and 2:4-5, the satan acts like a prosecuting attorney building a
case to overthrow his opponent in court. Opposition to God’s wisdom in creation is in view
evidenced by the question posed by the satan “… Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9,
NRSV). The question challenges God’s prerogatives and his exercise of wisdom in creation. If
God rewards people with prosperity for righteousness, then true righteousness is subverted
because people only behave righteously for what they stand to gain as a result.
99
The accuser
attacks God’s wisdom and argues that the way God governs the cosmos essentially creates
people who do whatever they can to get ahead in life instead of there being a genuine interest in
righteousness.
100
The virtue test of God’s wisdom to bless the righteous with prosperity is the removal of
the “fence” around Job “and his house” (Job 1:10, NRSV). The satan argues that if God were to
stretch out his hand and touch all that he has, he would curse God to his face (Job 1:11). The
satan contends that if God stops protecting Job and allows him to suffer loss, it will demonstrate
his thesis that God is not wise in blessing the righteous with prosperity after all and the proof
would be found in the way Job quickly gives up his integrity when he suffers loss.
The presence of the council and the challenger in the book of Job, like what is found
elsewhere in Scripture (II Kings 22:19-23; Ps 82; 89:5-7) as well as the mythopoeic literature of
the ancient Near East e.g., Enuma Elish, the Ugaritic parallel CTA, 32 [UT, 2], 16f
101
provides
insight on the genre of Job and informs the interpretive approach of this study. Haag observes the
98
Handy, The Authorization of Divine Power, 108.
99
Ibid.
100
Ibid.
101
Herbert Haag, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, rev. ed. (Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), s.v. "The Sons of the Gods." 2:157-158.
100
phrases are to be seen in connection with the ancient Near Eastern ideas of the assembly of
divine and or heavenly beings and are to be understood as part of a mythical narrative.
102
The
Joban version of the divine council has implications for understanding the type of literature being
studied in the book of Job and is relevant to demonstrating the thesis that the chapter functions as
a thematic unifier. The presence of the heavenly beings and a challenger to the Creator helps to
clarify the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation as
it appears consistent with the strategy of the conflict topoi studied in chapter four of this project.
As part of the conflict myth topos, the pool of motifs available in the text falls under the
principal motif of wisdom and understanding. God alone exercised wisdom and understanding in
the order of creation (Job 28:23-27). God’s wisdom in creation was the focus of the satan’s
challenge. The study argues the purpose of legitimizing the kingship of Yahweh and how
creation is governed comes into clear focus near the end of the story (Job 38-42:5). Ballentine
writes this type of narrative falls into the framework of the extant, ancient conflict topos where
the kingship of a prominent deity is legitimized as being victorious over a subordinate
challenger.
103
In Job, the challenger is the satan. Examples of legitimizing ideology of kingship
from extant works are the narrative of Anzu which documents the victory of Ninurta, Enuma
Elish, the Assur Version of Enuma Elish, and the Ugaritic Ba’lu Cycle.
104
Ballentine argues that
each of these narratives “adapts the legitimating and delegitimating ideology of the conflict topos
in service of a particular deity.”
105
Once the shared “topos and ideological import is
recognized”
106
the reader is better prepared to appreciate the victorious god as the possessor of
102
Haag, Theological Dictionary of, 2:157-158.
103
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 65.
104
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 23, 30, 39, 48.
105
Ibid., 64.
106
Ibid., 65.
101
legitimate power over the pantheon of lesser deities in the “divine world of the text that represent
traditional and dominant authorities in a political or social context.
107
Given the presence of the
divine assembly with Yahweh and subordinates (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6) as well as the way God’s wise
government of creation is challenged, acknowledged, and legitimized in the book of Job, the
study proposes the book fits the framework and purpose of the conflict myth. Understanding the
type of literature being studied in Job points to the ideological purpose of the author. Job is about
how creation is governed because this is what the satan challenged in the prologue—God’s
wisdom.
The wise ordering of creation apart from human knowledge and consent reveals the
elusive nature of wisdom embellished in the poetry of Job 28:1-22. Wisdom was sought after in
the debate cycles and metaphorically sought after in the wisdom poem of Job 28. In Job 3-27 and
28:1-22 wisdom was sought, but inaccessible to any person or place in creation. Wisdom appears
and revealed to humanity by God in the third strophe (Job 28:23-28; 38-41). It is the revelation
of wisdom and understanding God gives to humanity that helps them to arrange their life in
relationship to Yahweh (Job 28:28). This study argues that as a figurative interpolation, Job 28 is
metaphorically embedded in the prologue and preceding context and points back to the
protagonist. Job embodied the characteristics of wisdom and understanding described in 28:28.
Further, Job 28 metaphorically illustrates the elusive nature of wisdom and understanding (Job
28:1-22) while acknowledging its value, the role it played in creation, and who reveals it to
humankind (Job 28:23-28). The complexity involved in the wise discretion of providence, the
deliberations and decisions made in the council that impact creation were beyond human
capacity and knowledge. The heavenly beings and the adversary who appear before the LORD to
107
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 65.
102
challenge the way creation is governed (Job 1:6-11; 2:4-5) happened apart from human
achievement, advice, appraisal, consent, and knowledge.
The challenge to God’s policies in the prologue and what was permitted to happen to Job
prepares the reader for the search for wisdom and understanding in the defense and debate
cycles. Job 28 is a figurative interpolation and illustrates the elusive nature of an answer while it
acknowledges the role of wisdom and understanding in creation exercised by Yahweh (Job 23-
27). The chapter clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh (Job 28:28). In this
way, Job 28 participates in the preceding context and prepares the reader to encounter the answer
to the challenge to God’s wisdom in creation which culminates in the legitimization of the
kingship of Yahweh observed by the character most impacted by his policies (Job 42).
The kingship of Yahweh as the legitimate possessor of wisdom, understanding, and
power in creation is in focus as serving the rhetorical purpose of the author. Every potential
thematic motif falls into sub-categories that have been adjusted and manipulated by the author to
position Yahweh as victorious over the challenger. The wisdom and understanding sought after
and discovered as being possessed and exercised by the Lord in and over creation is further
revealed to and observed in and through the lived experience of humanity in relationship to
Yahweh (Job 1:1; 28:28). Job 28 thus, functions as a thematic unifier because it depicts the
human embodiment of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh observed in the
protagonist in Job 1:1, 28:28. Further the chapter metaphorically participates in defense and
debate cycles in the search for wisdom and understanding which is figuratively depicted in the
miner’s labor intensive search and experience of the elusive nature and treasure of wisdom
observed from Job 4-28:22. Job 28 reveals the true possessor of power and the wisdom
challenged in the prologue and sets the reader up to encounter the answer to the concerns raised
throughout the book (Job 1:1; 28:23-28; 38-41).
103
3.5 The Relationship of Job 28 to the Prologue (Job 1-2): Inclusio
Job 28 has three identifiable strophes that serve the rhetorical purpose of the author
featuring God’s “eternal wisdom in the cosmos.”
108
The first strophe (Job 28:1-11) describes the
miner’s search for metals, precious stones, their skill and capacity to probe the depths of the
earth and end physical darkness, live in uninhabitable places, and harvest precious resources
from its depths (Job 28:4-11). The second strophe illustrates human limitations to discover the
treasure of wisdom anywhere in creation (Job 28:12-22). In the third strophe wisdom is known
and conveyed to humanity from God as the means of orienting human life in relationship to
Yahweh (Job 28:23-28).
Apart from God, wisdom is elusive. Humans are unable to grasp the wisdom described in
the poem. Though humans are unable to find and grasp wisdom, they are mindful of its
incomparable worth compared to the harvest of precious resources gathered from the depths of
the earth (Job 28:12-22). God is in possession of and exercises wisdom in creation. Humans
search for the incomparable treasure of wisdom by probing the depths of the earth but discover
that the wisdom and understanding needed to live skillfully in relationship to Yahweh is found
with and revealed to them by the Lord. The hiddenness of God’s wisdom possessed, exercised,
and dispensed in creation by and through him alone is in view in the prologue through the
challenge presented at the meeting with the “heavenly beings” and the satan (Job 1:6-12; 28:23-
27). Thus, the poem of Job 28 is didactic in nature and concerns the place of wisdom in the
cosmos in relation to God and humanity. The speaker of Job 28 is in view as a figure with
knowledge. The speaker persuades the listener of the elusiveness, value, location and
108
Habel, The Book of Job, 38-39.
104
accessibility of wisdom. The poem establishes claims on human knowledge, limitations, and
responsibility, against the wise, capable, and limitless God.
The purpose of this section is to discern the literary relationship between Job 28 and the
preceding context. The study proposes the relationship between Job 28:28 and Job 1:1 begins as
the protagonist is announced as the human embodiment or application of wisdom and
understanding (Job 1:1). The definition of wisdom and understanding is provided in Job 28:28.
The relationship between the two chapters forms an inclusio based on the conceptual, semantic
association between the definition and embodiment. For the study, the question is whether Job
28:28 lexically and syntactically matches Job 1:1, 8; and 2:3 and serves to frame the poetry. The
following consideration is made to demonstrate lexical and syntactic congruence or the lack
thereof.
The Hebrew word for “fear” (Job 28:28) and “feared” (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3) are in the same
semantic field and share a lexical relationship. While shared meaning exists between these
words, syntactical congruence depends on which noun is the object of the verb. In Job 28:28,
“fear of the LORD” is the subject and “wisdom” is the object whereas in Job 1:1, 8; 2:3 “feared”
or “fears” are adjectives that modify the noun “God.” In Job 28:28b, the word “understanding” is
the object of the verb “to depart from evil.” The syntactic relationship of the proposed inclusio
between Job 28:28 and Job 1:1, 8; and 2:3 is less certain than the shared meaning of words held
in common between the selected passages. The direct objects, verbs, and adjectives that modify
the nouns between the selected passages have minimal syntactic similarity that would
immediately cause one to recognize the inclusio as legitimate.
An issue with the proposal that Job 28:28 forms an inclusio is the lack of rules and
methodology for recognizing a legitimate one. Wyckoff writes there is no comprehensive list of
rules or a methodological approach that describes, understands the behavior, and recognizes an
105
inclusio.
109
One agreed upon feature of an inclusio is repetition which enhances the ability to
recognize them in literature based on lexical and syntactic congruence.
110
Wyckoff writes that the
inclusio is described as a “structural convention whereby the initial verse of a poem is repeated
again at its end … two elements as the front and back ends of the inclusio.”
111
There is no syntactic and lexical match that would qualify Job 1:1, 8; 2:3 and 28:28 as an
inclusio in the sense that the initial verse of the poem (Job 1:1) is repeated at the end (Job 28:28).
This study argues, however, that the verses are conceptually linked based on the shared meaning
of wisdom and understanding. Rather than restricting the recognition of an inclusio to lexical and
syntactic matches, the study acknowledges the semantic relationship between Job 1:1, 8, 2:3 and
Job 28:28 as an inclusio based on the conceptual connection between the definition and
embodiment of wisdom and understanding through the character of Job (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; 28:28).
The words “wisdom” and “understanding” in Job 28:28 is missing from the preceding context of
Job 1:1; 8; and 2:3. However, the definition provided by the context in Job 28:28 is in view
through the person of Job; he is the embodiment of wisdom and understanding (Job 1:1, 6; 2:3).
Conceptually, the verses form an inclusio based on the shared meaning of wisdom and
understanding and the embodiment of both observed in the protagonist. While Job 28:28 points
back to the protagonist, it also clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh “and he
said to humankind, “Truly the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding’” (NRSV). When viewed in this way, the verse points the reader back to the
beginning of the book to the main character, Job. Job is the one who “was blameless and upright,
one who feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1, NRSV). Job soon suffers trials as a
109
Chris Wyckoff, “Have We Come Full Circle Yet? Closure, Psycholinguistics, and Problems of
Recognition with the Inclusio,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 30, no. 4 (June 2006): 477.
110
Habel, 38–39, 479.
111
Wyckoff, “Have We Come Full,” 479.
106
righteous person without being on trial. The reason Job remained righteous is the focus of the
challenge of the satan to God’s wisdom in and over creation (Job 1:9-11).
At the conclusion of the wisdom poem (Job 28:28), the author effectively returns to the
original point of departure (Job 1:1) and thus frames the preceding content. In this way the
wisdom poem lays the foundation for participation in the preceding context as a thematic unifier
and, as the study aims to demonstrate, prepares the reader to encounter the solutions in the
forthcoming context, illustrated through Yahweh’s answers to Job (Job 38-41). The identification
of the inclusio (at least conceptually) demonstrates the literary relationship of Job 28 to the
preceding context and is a linguistic cue to the structure of the book. Job 28:28 creates closure to
the poem that began in Job 1:1 while opening the reader to God’s complete view of the cosmos
and possession and exercise of wisdom which is beyond the reach of mortals (Job 28:12-13, 20-
21, 23-28; 38-41).
3.6 The Relationship of Job to the First Speech and Debate Cycles (Job 3-27)
As mentioned, the type of genre provides insight into the rhetorical purpose of the author.
Job 3 is a continuation of the conflict myth paradigm initiated in chapter one, evidenced by Job’s
cry in Job 3:8 “Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan”
(NRSV). Job calls on the skilled services of a magician to rouse Leviathan to go back and
threaten the day of his birth. Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton write the description of Leviathan
bears “similarities with Babylonian and Ugaritic sea monsters who threaten the existence of
creation.”
112
Tsumura observes that Enuma Elish provides an example of Leviathan (Tiamat), as
the chaos dragon who is overcome through the act of creation which brings order out of the
112
Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton, The IVP Bible Background, [under, 3:8, rousing Leviathan].
107
chaos.
113
The author of Job appears to share an ancient Near Eastern view of the forces of chaos
that threaten creation.
Leviathan is viewed in the Bible as a force for chaos in creation. Several Old Testament
passages such as Job 3:8; 26:13; 38:8-11; Psalm 74:14, 19-21; Isaiah 27:1; Ezekiel 29:3, echoes
the Ugaritic image of Litan or Lotan as “the tyrant with seven heads;”
114
these passages describe
Leviathan with imagery consistent in Ugaritic texts like the Baal Epic.
115
Leviathan is a chaos
beast, a twisted serpent with many heads that is ultimately defeated by Baal. In the Ugaritic epic,
Baal represented the god of order and fertility that vanquishes chaos.
116
Gardiner observes that in
Baal and the Underworld, Leviathan is referred to as “Lotan, the Fleeing Serpent,”
117
or “the
Twisting Serpent”
118
and who is forced into “the throat of El’s son, Death.”
119
Baal is the
“Conqueror”
120
and the “Conqueror of Warriors.”
121
Coogan and Smith write the Baal cycle,
“narrate the story of Baal’s rise to kingship over the gods by his defeat of the forces of
113
David Toshio Tsumura, “The Chaoskampf Myth in the Biblical Tradition,” Journal of the American
Oriental Society 140, no. 4 (2020): 964.
114
Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton, The IVP Bible Background, [under, Leviathan].
115
Ibid., [under, Job 41:1, Leviathan].
116
Ibid., Chapter four of this study will feature a broader discussion on conflict myth and the ancient Near
Eastern parallels to Job.
117
Eileen Gardiner, Ancient near Eastern Hell: Visions, Tours and Descriptions of the Infernal Otherworld
(New York City, NY: Italica Press, 2013), 26.
118
Ibid.
119
Ibid., 27.
120
Ibid., 26-27.
121
Ibid.
108
destruction”
122
and “reflect the process by which Baal became the most important deity in
Ugaritic religion.”
123
However, not all biblical images of chaos and Leviathan conform to the vision that it is
an enemy to be overcome; this differs from the Ugaritic version. Instead, certain biblical images
of Leviathan and the cosmic waters serve the purpose of God in creation. Smith observes that
Psalm 104:26 describes Leviathan as a tamed pet, made for sport.
124
Smith writes that Psalm 104
omits the account of cosmic conflict before creation and makes the rebuke of the waters part of
the process of creation … the waters are no longer the “opposing monster before creation”
125
but
instead plays its part in the order of creation and now “play a beneficial role in the divine
plan.”
126
Genesis 1 and Genesis 1:21 with the mention of tannim also appears to eliminate the
role of the cosmic water as an enemy but instead features the powerful God who is “beyond
opposition,”
127
who speaks a word and “the divine will is accomplished.”
128
The book of Job (by
comparison to the Baal Epic) appears to refashion the image of God who appears in the storm of
the “whirlwind” instead of the traditional westerly-storm cloud or human dream.
129
The reference to Leviathan and chaos consistent with images present in the conflict myth
lends itself to the idea of a larger rhetorical purpose beyond the innocent suffering of Job or
122
Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith, “Baal,” in Stories from Ancient Canaan, ed. Michael D. Coogan
and Mark S. Smith, 2nd ed. (Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2012), 89.
123
Ibid.
124
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic
Texts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 37–38.
125
Ibid., 37.
126
Ibid.
127
Ibid., 38.
128
Ibid.
129
Ibid.
109
another motif to one that aims to demonstrate the legitimate kingship of Yahweh over creation.
Visions of Leviathan and chaos in the book of Job appear to function as part of God’s exercise of
wisdom in creation and was the focus of the challenge observed in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6. God’s
wisdom in creation is further questioned in Job’s soliloquy evidenced by the question “why?”
(Job 3:11-12, 20, 23). Every other available conceptual motif present in the book of Job may be
considered a sub-category to the theme of wisdom and understanding since it appears to be the
focus from the prologue to the epilogue.
Job 3 is the first speech of the main character and marks the shift in tone of how Job feels
about his loss. The speech marks the transition from stable in creation to destabilized by what
was permitted in creation. The chapter breaks in tone and content from the preceding context and
prepares the reader for what follows. Schultz writes that rather than blessing God (Job 1:1-5, 20-
22; 2:9-10), Job comes dangerously close to cursing God.
130
Schultz observes the placement of
Job 3 (like the placement of Job 28) is debated with “some viewing the speech as a soliloquy,”
131
independent from the subsequent three cycles of speeches. As a soliloquy Job 3 functions as an
interlude that participates in the preceding context because they serve as the basis for his lament
while preparing the reader for the defense and debate cycles that follow. Like Job 28, Job 3
shares structural similarity with three strophes which begin after the introduction of the speaker
in Job 1:1-2. The first strophe is in Job 3:3-10 and is malediction. The “why” questions of vv. 11
and 20 are “formal”
132
markers “of beginnings and the subject matter corresponds to these
markers.”
133
The second strophe is found in Job 3:11-19 and expresses Job’s wish to have died at
130
Carl Schultz, “Job,” in Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, electronic ed., vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Book House, 1995), 343-344.
131
Ibid., 343-344.
132
David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20, Volume 17 (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Christian Publisher, 2015), 192.
133
Ibid.
110
birth. The third strophe is found in Job 3:20-26 and expresses Job’s wish for death to happen
now. Conceptual similarity exists between Job 3 and Job 28 in the sense that what was sought
both surrounds the character of Job and is elusive. In Job 28, the wisdom that would make sense
of Job’s experience is elusive though the poet knows the worth, where it is found, and who
provides it to humankind. In the third chapter, Job has been touched by the pain of death (Job
1:13-22). Job is surrounded by death; yet, when he searches for death, it too is elusive (Job 3:14,
16-17, and 19). Job’s devotional life appears to have been shaped in part by the same retribution
ideology as his friends. Job offers sacrifices on behalf of his children in case they sinned (Job
1:4-5) which assumes the belief about why people suffer evil. However, Job appears to know that
no identifiable reason for his suffering exists, evidenced by the question “why” set against the
backdrop of his life lived with integrity. The unity between Job 3 and Job 28 is observed in the
thing most sought after being out of the reach of the one searching. Job sought to die as much as
the miner sought wisdom in a person or place in creation. The quest was for what was believed to
bring an end to the suffering. Death would have brought an end to his physical and mental
suffering. Wisdom would have made sense of his suffering. Both death and wisdom were out of
his reach. The treasured answer is elusive. In Job 28 the question changes from why (as in there
is no answer) to “where” (Job 28:12a) which assumes an answer for his experience in
relationship to God. The speech assumes a reticent tone regarding causation indicated by Job’s
lack of understanding expressed in the question “why” found in Job 3:11, 20. At this early stage,
Job refuses to allow suffering to prove he is guilty.
134
The refusal to acknowledge the
presumption that Job suffers because he is guilty, launches the debate between him and his
134
Clines, Job 1-20, 194.
111
interlocutors.
135
The elusiveness of an answer in Job 3 prepares the reader for the interactions that
follow between Job and his friends like the elusiveness of wisdom in Job 28 prepares the reader
to encounter the answer in the forthcoming text. Clines writes the speech of Job 3 “functions as
the springboard for the whole of the ensuing dialogue.”
136
3.7 The Relationship of Job 28 to the Defense and Debate Cycles (Job 4-27)
Clines observes the framework of the book of Job is dialogic in nature amongst Job, his
wife, friends, and God.
137
Wisdom and understanding to make sense of Job’s experience of
suffering and energized the dialogue between Job and his friends. The literary relationship of the
defense and debate cycles to Job 28 centers on wisdom. Wisdom is the main theme of the poem
of Job 28 and metaphorically points back to the sensemaking dialogue between Job and his
friends in the search for the rare and precious answer. In terms of a proposed literary order, Habel
writes Job 28 serves as a formal closure to the preceding dialogue speeches (Job 4-27) and is a
veiled judgment on the futility of the preceding quest for wisdom and understanding for Job’s
suffering.
138
Job 28 articulates that reverence toward God and turning from all that is bad is the
human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh. The presence of evil instructs the reader that the
phenomenon is embedded in creation and is an element of the lived human experience. Human
beings will be exposed to the forces of chaos that threaten their existence and as they are
135
Clines, Job 1-20, 194.
136
Ibid.
137
Ibid.
138
Ibid.
112
exposed, the responsibility remains the same “respect for the Lord is wisdom”
139
and “turn away
from all that is evil.”
140
The first speech of Eliphaz (Job 4-5) assumes an answer for Job’s suffering. Konkel
observes the first speech of Eliphaz as the root for understanding the argument and structure of
the dialogue.
141
An innocent person is never cut off (Job 4:7). Job is reaping what he has sown.
The trajectory of this view is elaborated in the rhetorical questions of Eliphaz in Job 4:17. These
questions are based on the belief of the universal sinfulness of humanity. All are sinful and,
therefore, suffer because of the inclinations toward evil. In the end, everyone is crushed like a
moth; they die without wisdom before they can give attention to life and death (Job 4:20-21).
In the closing verse of Job 4, Eliphaz affirms the reality experienced by the miner in
search of wisdom, expressed in the poem of Job 28. Humanity lacks the independent knowledge
and ability to direct the mind toward a full understanding of life apart from divine revelation.
Humans die “devoid of wisdom” (Job 4:21b; 28:1-22, NRSV). Though wisdom is out of the
reach for humanity, they know what it is worth and where it is found (Job 28:12-23). Humans
know that wisdom and understanding is exercised by God in creation (Job 28:23-27). The poet
knows God is the source of wisdom and understanding; he has revealed it to humankind as a way
of ordering their life in relationship to both the Creator, and what is permitted in creation (Job
28:23-28).
Bildad and Zophar continue the development of “traditional wisdom’s response to Job’s
suffering”
142
but offer nothing beyond the above theory. Childs writes “the friends demonstrate,
139
William David Reyburn, A Handbook On. [under, Job 28:28].
140
Ibid.
141
August H. Konkel and Tremper Longman, “Eliphaz: The Harvest of Sorrows (4:1-5:27),” in
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 6: Job, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, electronic ed. (Carol Stream, IL:
Tyndale House Publishers, 2006), [under, Commentary].
142
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 530.
113
by their failure to continue the debate, the falsity of their position against Job. Job is revealed to
be right in so far as he negated the friends’ appeal to traditional wisdom.”
143
The observations
made in the dialogue between Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar is a metaphorical embellishment
expressed in the wisdom poem of Job 28. The attempts to find an answer were as futile as the
miner’s search for wisdom in a person or place in creation apart from God.
The explanations offered by Job’s friends are consistent with the understanding of
traditional wisdom. However, none of the characters were present in the council when the satan
challenged Yahweh’s wisdom in creation. Decisions that impacted Job’s life were out of the
reach of mortals, apart from human knowledge, ability, and consent and this reality
metaphorically points to the elusiveness of wisdom expressed in Job 28:1-22. Childs observes
the primary effect of the concluded dialogue is to register the failure of human wisdom in its
ability to penetrate the mystery of human suffering.”
144
The significance of Job 28 in relationship to the defense and debate cycles (4-27) is
strengthened in consideration of Job 28:28 “And he said to humankind, truly, the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (NRSV). Habel argues that if the
verse aims to provide a solution to Job’s search for an answer, then the forthcoming Yahweh
speeches are unnecessary since Job was already practicing wisdom and understanding and would
have been in possession of the answer he sought.
145
Fear or piety failed to provide Job with an answer or a solution to his struggle. The return
to the practice of fearing the Lord and departing from evil suggested by his friends as the path to
end his struggle (Job 4:8, 22-27; 8:5-7, 20-22; 11:13-20; 15:4-6; 22:21-30), already delineated
143
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 530.
144
Ibid., 535.
145
Habel, The Book of Job, 392.
114
Job’s lived experience in relationship to Yahweh, but carried no power to determine blessing or
curses.
146
In Job, blessing and cursing happen as part of the prerogatives of God. Boström regards
the Deuteronomic tradition that Job appears to satirize is the “retribution principle”
147
described
in Deuteronomy 28:1, 15. This tradition articulates the societal norm that “decides which actions
will bring good or bad consequences for the acting person.”
148
In God’s creative actions described
in (Job 28:23-28), wisdom and understanding are revealed to humanity as a means of arranging
human life in relationship to the Creator and creation, and there is no offer or guarantee of
continued good fortune for those who live uprightly (Job 28:28).
In this manner, Job 28 lays the foundation of proving the satan wrong since fear and piety
never provided the guarantee of blessing (Job 1:9). The insinuation made by the satan that God’s
policy subverts true righteousness because it creates people who only serve him for what they
stand to gain is mistaken since the assertion fails to prove that Job ultimately did “curse you to
your face” (Job 1:9-11). At the conclusion of the defense and debate cycles, Job vowed to
maintain the integrity and righteousness which he had demonstrated all along (Job 2:10; 27:5-6).
The advice of Job’s friends to return to a posture of unquestioning devotion would have only
brought him back to where he began, which proved to be insufficient to shield him from harm. If
sin were the problem, why would God make Job a target instead of forgiving his transgression
and take away the iniquity? (Job 7:19-21).
Childs writes this “contest ended in chapter two, but the real, theological problem went
unsolved as the dialogue shows. God is, forced to vindicate himself.”
149
The wisdom offered by
146
Konkel, Eliphaz: The Harvest, [under, Commentary].
147
Lennart Boström, “Retribution and Wisdom Literature,” in Exploring Old Testament Wisdom: Literature
and Themes, ed. David G. Firth and Lindsay Wilson (London: Apollos, 2016), 135.
148
Ibid.
149
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 537.
115
the friends in the dialogue is wrong. They are not in possession of the wisdom that comes from
and does justice to God.
150
The dialogue ends in defeat for Job’s friends who proved to be as
empty handed as the miner who probed the depths of creation in search of true wisdom (Job
28:1-13). In this way, Job 28 is embedded in the preceding context as a metaphorical
embellishment to the struggle and search for wisdom and features the limitations of human
ability and knowledge.
3.8 The Relationship of Job 28 to Yahweh’s Reply and Epilogue (Job 38-42)
Rather than competing, Job 28:23-28 figuratively prepares the reader for the answer to
the concerns in the book through Yahweh’s reply (Job 38-41). Job 28 prepares instead of
competes with the Yahweh speeches. Yu observes that Yahweh speaks last which means he has
the last word.
151
Yahweh’s reply to Job illustrates that the poetry of Job 28 failed to provide Job
with an answer that competes with the revelation he received in the interrogatories because if it
had, silence would have been an appropriate response. Instead, Yu writes, “Yahweh is looking for
repudiation and renunciation (Job 40:8).”
152
Job 28 iterates human knowledge and ingenuity to probe creation and mystery without
being able to access the wisdom that undergirds the design and governance of creation. Jones
writes that Job 28 presents two ancient modes of wisdom as rivals: “wisdom through individual
exploration and wisdom through revelation.”
153
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of
150
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 538.
151
Yu, To Comfort Job, 395.
152
Ibid., 401.
153
Scott C. Jones, “Job 28 and Modern Theories of Knowledge,” Theology Today 69, no. 4 (2013): 486.
116
the earth? Tell me if you have understanding” (38:4, NRSV, also see Job 28:23-27). If Job 28
provided the protagonist with the answer instead of pointing him to it, the forthcoming
interrogation would have been unnecessary. Instead, the chapter lays the foundation for Job’s
encounter with Yahweh through which God expects an answer from Job that repudiates his rash
words (Job 6:3). The question posed by Yahweh points back to the search for wisdom in Job 28.
Lo writes, the poem illustrates the hiddenness of wisdom from humans because of the
“expansiveness, complexity, and inexhaustibility of the world order, which are beyond human
understanding.”
154
Yahweh’s reply to Job in Job 38-41 highlight the reason humans are unable to
grasp the wisdom and understanding needed to make sense of their experience in creation. In the
act of creation, Nikkel remarks that God grants creation the freedom to act according to its nature
within certain boundaries and parameters.
155
In the challenge to God’s policies and the testing of Job, the adversary was given
permission to function and act according to its nature within specified boundaries and parameters
established by Yahweh (Job 1:12; 2:6). This freedom given to the satan appears consistent with
what Nikkel argues as the “unpredictability and wildness of nature.”
156
God’s voice from the
whirlwind (Job 38-41) “never asserts complete control over creation”
157
but rather illustrates the
boundaries and parameters established as “general providence through the structure and integrity
of nature.”
158
Nikkel’s observation appears to contribute to Lo’s assertion on the complicated
154
Lo, Job 28 as Rhetoric, 14.
155
David H. Nikkel, “The Wildness of Creation: An Interpretation of the Voice from the Whirlwind in Job,”
DeGruyter Open Theology 2 (2016): 849.
156
Ibid.
157
Ibid., 852.
158
Ibid.
117
nature of the world order and creates a theological vision where chaos and enemies are freely
permitted to function within certain parameters in creation under a general providence
established by God. Wagner writes that the prologue and epilogue of Job illustrates that God is
just, creation is good, human fate is the result of divine trial, and God’s presence, wisdom, and
ways are often hidden from human understanding.
159
In Job, God appears absent from the course
of human life in an arbitrary manner.
160
However, the poetry of the final strophe in Job 28:23-28
describes God and wisdom as present in creation and this prepares the reader to encounter
Yahweh’s voice from the whirlwind (Job 38-41). The sage of Job 28 knows what wisdom is
worth and that it is found outside the scope of human knowledge and achievement (Job 28:12-
27). Wisdom is exercised by God in creation, defined, and revealed to humanity as human
responsibility in relationship to Yahweh (Job 28:23-28).
The wisdom needed to make sense of human experience in creation is hidden by the
darkness of struggle (metaphorically illustrated as mining in Job 28:1-11). The effort involved in
the mining operation for what is rare and precious is the result of the freedom given to the satan
to afflict Job with the chaos (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). The implication is that access to specified rules
for predictable, divine action in human life are elusive since “single instances in the divine
world”
161
have a “bearing on human life”
162
(such as what is found in the divine assembly Job
1:6-12; 2:1-6).
159
Thomas Wagner, “Contingency or Divine Justice: What Matters in Job's Fate? Synchronic Perspectives
on Prologue and Dialogue in the Book of Job,” Religions 10 (2019): 149.
160
Ibid.
161
Ibid.
162
Ibid.
118
The mining operation for wisdom and understanding that left the sage emptyhanded leads
to the source and solution that begins to make sense out of the human experience of struggle (Job
28:28; 38:4). Chaos is freely permitted and appears to function as part of the wise government of
God. The permitted chaos brings the suffering human to God (Job 28:23-28; 38-41). Schmidt and
Nel observe that “only the divine discourses can adequately explain and meaningfully exposit the
concept of ךשח “darkness” as part of a new resolution and unique theological interpretation.”
163
Yahweh is depicted as present in wisely ordering creation to function according to its nature and
yet absent amidst cosmic darkness.
164
It may be inferred from God’s answer to Job from the
whirlwind that the boundaries and parameters were established when he laid the foundation of
the earth apart from input from humankind (Job 28:23-27; 38-41). Yahweh’s immediate presence
and intervention in chaos is not necessary since there are built in limitations to its freedom to run
its course.
These observations are relevant in demonstrating the thesis that Job 28 functions as a
thematic unifier since the main theme of the chapter is wisdom and understanding exercised by
and revealed to humanity by God alone. Job does not find the answer in debate with his friends.
Job is unable to find the answer in any person or place in creation. God is the cause of the
questions and the one who has the answers. God alone knows the place where wisdom is found
“and he said to humankind, truly the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding” (Job 28:28).
165
163
Schmidt and Nel, Divine Darkness In, 130.
164
Ibid., 134.
165
Reyburn, A Handbook on, [under, Job 28:28].
119
From the observations made regarding the position and function of Job 28, the chapter
prepares the reader to encounter God’s possession and exercise of wisdom in creation as the
solution to the concerns raised in the book. Job’s final defense (29-31) and the Elihu speeches
(32-37) “shift the theological attention from Job’s questions of justice to divine omnipotence and
thus offer a substantive perspective on suffering, creation, and the nature of wisdom itself.”
166
When YHWH answers Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41), Job discovers the wisdom and
understanding exercised by God in creation (42:1-5). In his reply to God, Job appears to fully
realize the extent of the human ignorance that the sage of Job 28 mentioned. When the text is
read this way, Job 28 does not compete with the YHWH speeches but lays the foundation for
what Job will discover about God and creation. Job 28 prepares the reader for the solution to the
concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming context (Job 29-41).
In Job 36:5-17, Elihu provides an exposition on the righteous and wicked and transcends
the distinctions that constrained the thoughts presented in the defense and debate cycles. Elihu
provides his thoughts on the righteous who suffer because of wrongdoing. They are confronted
by God who, then opens their ear to instruction (Job 36:9-12). The relationship of Job 36:10-11
to Job 28:28 is that God speaks and provides humanity with a course of action that can be taken
in relationship to the Creator and what is permitted in creation.
While Elihu appears to maintain that Job has done something wrong, his conceptions are
different from the view held by the friends in the debate cycles. Elihu’s view is more realistic
than the sharp duality of righteous or wicked in that he allows for the possibility that Job is a
righteous person who fell into wrongdoing.
167
Either way, the limitation of human ability,
166
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 540.
167
Clines, Job 21-37, [under, "Elihu's Fourth Speech Concluded (The Poem on Wisdom), (28:1-28),
["Comment"].
120
knowledge, and wisdom are featured and point the reader back to the point made in the wisdom
poem of Job 28. Elihu is no closer to an answer for Job’s suffering than were his friends. Elihu’s
hymn in Job 37, however, anticipates the Yahweh speeches and builds on the foundation laid in
the wisdom poem of Job 28 to discover what Clines writes is the “enormous gulf between the
human and the divine.”
168
Elihu’s hymn points back to the futile efforts of mortals to obtain
wisdom in a person or place in creation apart from God (Job 28).
The long-awaited answer is forthcoming (Job 38-41) which, like the metaphorical
embellishments in poem of Job 28, supply the “sharpest possible limitations on human wisdom
… to comprehend the divine.”
169
Reverence is the proper response to Yahweh’s perfection and
supremacy and reflects the natural and emotional response of those who are wise (Job 37:23-24).
Yahweh’s response to Job offers no answer to Job’s question “why” (Job 3:11, 20). Further, the
original challenge to his exercise of wisdom in creation, as well as the challenger, is disregarded.
Instead, the text invites the reader to wrestle with the person of God who exercises wisdom in
creation that is of a different order from human knowledge and ability.
170
Instead of giving Job
the answer he thought he needed, he “proceeds to enlighten Job with an elaborate description of
his plan or design for the universe, previously beyond all human comprehension.”
171
The rapid
series of interrogatories in Yahweh’s reply, demonstrate that human beings cannot claim
ownership or lay claim to any right in the government of the universe. Scholnick observes that if
Job claims the right of ownership over something God has seized, he should be able to
168
Clines, Job 21-37, [under, Job 36:5-17].
169
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 539.
170
Ibid., 593.
171
Sylvia Huberman Scholnick, “11 Poetry in The Courtroom: Job 38-41,” in Directions in Biblical
Hebrew Poetry, ed. Elaine R. Follis (London, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing Place, 1997), 185.
121
“demonstrate that he has assumed or even is capable of assuming the responsibilities of
ownership.”
172
Job is unable to respond to Yahweh’s questions and thus, acquiesces to God’s
defense of how the cosmos is governed and legitimizes his power and wisdom in his
acknowledgement and actions observed in Job 42:2-5. The limitations of human knowledge and
ability in creation are demonstrated just as they were described in the wisdom poem of Job 28.
The poetic response of Yahweh is an appropriate way of answering and refuting Job’s charge that
God has wrongfully deprived him. The creation poetry “makes clear that the Lord has never
transferred title to any part of the universe he formed.”
173
The true nature of wisdom and justice
frees Job to see “the divine action as the prerogative of the Ruler.”
174
Yahweh’s response to Job
opens his mind to see the world beyond his limited human perspective. Job’s response to this
new vista is to acknowledge his limitations and repent. Like the poem of Job 28, the limitation of
human ability and knowledge is displayed in Yahweh’s poetic reply to Job. The interaction
between Yahweh and Job concludes with him embodying the characteristics of wisdom and
understanding expressed in Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; and 28:28. Job’s responsibility is not to assume
ownership of creation, but to respond to the way God works in creation with the reverence that
reflects the wisdom revealed to him. In this way, the poem clarifies human responsibility in their
relationship to Yahweh and serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship
and wisdom of Yahweh over creation.
3.9 Concluding Remarks on the Relationship of Job 28 to the Larger Literary Context
172
Scholnick, Directions in Biblical, 191.
173
Ibid.
174
Ibid.
122
This chapter sought to discern and articulate the compositional nature and function of Job
28 in its larger literary context as serving the rhetorical purpose of the author. The study
demonstrated that Job 28 participates in the preceding context as a figurative interpolation by
first observing the inclusio. There is a conceptual and semantic relationship between the
embodiment of wisdom and understanding (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3) and its definition (Job 28:28). The
wisdom and understanding Job embodied in the beginning and throughout (Job 1:1, 6; 2:3, 9-10;
4:6; 27:5-6) is defined in Job 28:28 and is seemingly out of the reach of the miner, Job, and his
friends, apart from divine revelation.
To demonstrate the thesis that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier, this chapter
explained and demonstrated the genre of the book of Job as falling into the conflict myth topos.
The kingship and wisdom of God in and over creation was challenged in the beginning of the
book. The rhetorical purpose of the conflict myth topos is the legitimization or delegitimization
of kingship. God’s exercise of wisdom in creation was the subject of the challenge. The theme of
Job 28 is wisdom. The reader learns in the poem that wisdom is found in and revealed by God
alone. Thus, every available motif of the author’s conceptual network of ideas can be understood
as sub-categories that fall under the theme of wisdom and understanding communicated in Job
28.
Job 28 metaphorically embellishes the search for wisdom that energized the dialogue
between Job and his friends to show that they, just as the miner, have nothing substantive to
contribute to understanding the experience of suffering through pontificating the traditional
views of justice and wisdom (Job 4-27). Further, the chapter demonstrated the relationship of Job
28 to the forthcoming context by highlighting the way it prepared the reader to encounter the
solution to the concerns raised in the book. The significance of creation poetry, a thematic motif
123
also in Job 28, and expressed in Yahweh’s reply to Job was viewed as an appropriate answer to
Job’s questions.
In Job 28, the miner searched for wisdom in creation and observed it to be out of the
reach of mortals (Job 28:12-13). God alone knows where wisdom is found because he exercised
it in the development of his plan for creation. God freely exercises his prerogative in creation as
the rightful owner and then announces to humankind what their responsibility is in relationship
to the exercise of providence in creation (Job 28:28). Job 28 functions as an interlude that
participates and breaks from the preceding context and then lays the foundation for the
experience of an answer in the forthcoming context.
124
Chapter 4
The Book of Job, the Conflict Myth and ancient Near Eastern Parallels
4.1 The Goal of the Chapter
Chapter three of this study demonstrated that Job 28 is conceptually and semantically
embedded in the preceding context (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; 28:28) and is a metaphorical embellishment
on the search for wisdom and understanding in the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27). This
portion of the study demonstrates that Job 28 prepares the reader to experience Yahweh’s voice
and wisdom in creation and legitimizes God’s rule over all creation. This project approached the
study of Job 28 with an aesthetic hermeneutic and argues that Job 28 serves the rhetorical
purpose of the author and is grounded in the “legitimating ideology”
1
like what is found in extant
conflict narratives. To mitigate the inherent subjectivity of an aesthetic hermeneutic, a study of
the historic parallels and the relevant conflict narratives are provided in this chapter.
This chapter will demonstrate the conceptual, linguistic, and thematic relationship
between Job, the extant conflict myth, and other commonly known parallels. The study argues
that the congruent literary relationship between the parallels and Job permits the allocation of all
available subthemes within the book to fall under the category of wisdom and fit the rhetorical
purpose of the conflict myth topoi to legitimize kingship. This comparative study explores a
sampling of ancient Near Eastern parallels that feature a divine council, decisions made in the
council that impact creation, a creation motif, and the legitimizing ideology of kingship and
power.
1
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 44.
125
Ballentine observes the legitimating ideology is common among the “conflict topos in
extant narratives such as Enuma Elish¸ and the Ba’lu Cycle.”
2
This chapter argues that the genre
of the book of Job appears to be consistent with the conflict myth topos based on the presence of
the following: a divine assembly with subordinates, a challenger, and a supreme deity (Job 1:6-
12; 2:1-6). Another literary connection between the conflict myth and Job is observed in the
forthcoming context that Yahweh is the legitimate ruler and possessor of power over creation
(Job 38-42:1-6). This study will demonstrate the conceptual and linguistic parallel between the
book of Job, Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, and Ninurta’s return to Nibru based on the legitimizing
ideology and council of the gods. Further, the comparative study will explore Enuma Elish and
the Keret Epic (UT 126.V.1.-28) [KTU 1.16], that describes the presence of a divine assembly
such as what is found Job 1-2.
3
This chapter will also provide a comparative analysis between the
book of Job in consideration of the Tale of the Sufferer and a Soul and the Babylonian Theodicy.
The recognition of a literary connection between Job and the parallels is relevant to this
study as a way of featuring Yahweh as the legitimate and wise possessor of power in and over
creation. This observation appears in the third strophe of Job 28:23-28 which prepares the reader
to encounter Yahweh in his reply to Job which features the exercise of wisdom, power, and
rulership in creation. The literary relationship between the parallels and Job supports the
observation in chapter three that Job 28 is a figurative interpolation; the chapter is embedded in
the preceding context through the recognition of a semantic relationship between the definition
of wisdom, understanding, and its embodiment (Job 1:1, 6; 2:3, 9-10; 4:6; 27:5-6; 28:28). The
struggle to find answers, wisdom, and understanding in any person, place, or thing in creation is
2
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 22, 30, 39, 48.
3
Michael S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry, et al., electronic
ed. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [under, Divine Council]. Also see: Everett Theodore Mullen Jr.
“Divine Assembly,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), [under, Divine Council].
126
metaphorically embellished in the poetry of Job 28:1-22. The poem then prepares the reader to
encounter the solution to the concerns in the book in the forthcoming context by pointing the
reader to where wisdom is found and the Lord who exercises it in creation (Job 28:23-28; 38-41).
The comparative analysis of this study is concerned with linking these observations from a study
of the parallels with similar motifs in the book of Job. This author believes the study is relevant
to demonstrating the thesis that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize
the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier clarifying human
responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
4.2 The Comparative Challenge
The assertion that Job fits the framework of the conflict myth topos and the rhetorical
purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of a superior deity is challenged because only a
small portion of the book (the prologue and epilogue) is identified as prose and myth. Further, a
smaller portion of Job is composed of the scene that features the divine assembly common within
the conflict myth (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). Another challenge to the study is that Job makes frequent
changes from the prose and myth that frames the book (Job 1-2:13; 42:7-17), to anecdote (Job
1:6-12), complaint (Job 3), dialogue (Job 4-27), didactic and wisdom psalms (Job 12:1-25; 18:1-
21; 28:1-28) and poetry (Job 32:6-42:6).
4
Ticciati observes that the transitions between the prose
and myth frame and poetic core of Job present the diametrically opposed nature of the
theological questions that animate the two sections and appear to be evidence of different
authorship.
5
If multiple authors and redactors were involved, identifying a single rhetorical
4
Douglas Mangum, The Lexham Glossary, of Literary Types. electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham
Press), 2014 [under, Literary Typing for Job].
5
Susannah Ticciati, Job and the Disruption of Identity: Reading beyond Barth (London: T&T Clark, 2005),
2.
127
purpose that finds agreement with similar strategies found in relevant parallels to the book of Job
is frustrated since they may or may not all share the same authorial intention.
Cho observes that, “the poetry and prose appear to stand apart and opposed”
6
though he
observes the solution to the interpretive crux lies in the frame (Job 2; 42:7-10).
7
While the prose
and poetry appear to stand apart, Seow argues that “neither the prose tale nor the poetic middle
can stand alone.”
8
This author agrees with Cho and argues that the prose and myth frame of the
book is foundational to capturing the intended purpose of the book of Job regardless of how little
space it takes up in its larger framework. Newsom argues the book of Job is a polyphonic text
and should be read as a conversation between the prose and myth frame and the poetic body in
which no perspective is “subordinated to a single controlling perspective.”
9
Newsom observes
that the multivocal nature of the book of Job, the different literary typing, and multiple
subthemes can be understood as commentary representing various perspectives on reality in
which all come together to challenge instead of lessen each other.
10
This author concedes that
literary differences exist within the book of Job and appear to complicate the identification of a
central purpose that a single author aims to address such as, the legitimization of a superior deity.
This chapter argues that multivocality and the various portions of the book coalesce rather than
compete and point to a single rhetorical purpose of the book that provides a direct answer to the
6
Paul K.-K Cho, “Job 2 and Job 42:7-10 as Narrative Bridge and Theological Pivot,” Journal of Biblical
Literature 136, no. 4 (2017): 858.
7
Ibid., 865.
8
Choon-Leong Seow, Job 1-21: Interpretation and Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013), 29.
9
Carol A. Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2003), 260.
10
Newsom, The Book of Job, 86.
128
challenge of the satan
11
in the prologue on the exercise of God’s wisdom in creation (Job 1:6-12;
2:1-6; 38-42:5).
As demonstrated in chapter three of this study, the differences in typing are reconciled
aesthetically. This study argues that the prose and myth frame of Job establishes the concerns
raised as well as sets the tone for the purpose of the book. The soliloquy of Job 3, the defense
and the debate cycles (Job 4-27), the metaphorical embellishment of the search for wisdom (Job
28) and the conceptual and semantic relationship between Job 28:28 and Job 1:1 progressively
lead the reader toward the book’s purpose of legitimizing the kingship of Yahweh over creation,
expressed in Yahweh’s reply and evidenced by Job’s acknowledgement in the epilogue (Job 42:1-
6). Specific to this project is the view that Job 28 can be read as a figurative interpolation, a
metaphorical embellishment on the struggle and search for wisdom and understanding regarding
the concerns that Job’s suffering raised in the book. This study argues that Job 28 is embedded in
the preceding context and prepares the reader to encounter the purpose of the book revealed
through Yahweh’s reply to Job (Job 38-41) and epilogue (Job 42:1-6).
Another concern related to the comparative analysis is the prevalence of multiple
subthemes such as innocent suffering, justice, righteousness, retribution, and God’s wisdom in
creation complicate the identification of a central problem or an overall rhetorical purpose of the
book. Each available subtheme provides a valid challenge that the rhetorical strategy of the book
is to legitimize the kingship of a superior deity. This study recognizes innocent suffering and
other motifs are prevalent in the book of Job, but observes that suffering enters the scene as a
way of “isolating and intensifying the question”
12
posed by the satan regarding God’s wisdom in
11
See chapter 3.4 of this project for a broader discussion on the reference to “the satan” as a general term
for an adversary rather than the name of a single, mythical, personal being later known as Satan.
12
Henry Lawrence Rowald, The Theology of Creation in the Yahweh Speeches of the Book of Job as a
Solution to the Problem Posed by the Book of Job (Clayton, MO: Concordia Seminary in Exile (Seminex), 1977),
26.
129
creation that targets God’s policies
13
and “the relation between God and man.”
14
The wisdom of
God in creation and Yahweh’s relationship with Job is the focus of the satan’s challenge during
the divine assembly evidenced by the question, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:6-12;
2:1-6, NRSV).
The presence of the divine assembly, a superior deity, and a subordinate challenger,
establishes the scene in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6 as participating in the conflict myth paradigm. Once
the conflict myth paradigm is recognized in the book, the rhetorical purpose of the author
becomes clear. The central problem in Job can then be identified as clarifying the role and
relationship between Yahweh and subordinates in creation. Job 28 is significant because it
demonstrates the place where wisdom is found, the exercise of God’s wisdom in creation, and
clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh. In the end, Yahweh’s kingship in
creation is legitimized by Job who replied: “I know that you can do all things, and that no
purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:1b, NRSV).
This study will demonstrate that Job is related to the conflict myth based on the presence
of the divine assembly and the decisions that were made that impacted creation even though only
a small portion of the book is occupied with this scene. This study argues that the divine
assembly in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6 sets in motion everything Job experienced as well as the
conclusion he reached after hearing Yahweh speak to him from the whirlwind (Job 38-42:5). The
divine assembly scene is the foundational element leading to an understanding of the rhetorical
strategy of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh and is consistent with similar scenes
in the extant conflict myth paradigm.
13
See John H. Walton and Tremper Longman, How to Read Job (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
2015), 9. The observation was made in chapter three of this study that God’s policies are on trial in the book of
Job—specifically the way God governs the cosmos which is challenged by the satan, and how that impacts the
relationship between humanity and Yahweh.
14
Ibid., 26.
130
4.3 The Methodological Challenge
In chapter one this study observes the limitations with establishing the historical context
of the book of Job through the discipline of “cognitive environment criticism.”
15
The information
relevant to the geographical setting, Job’s ethnicity, speculations regarding editorial revisions,
and the dating of the book have resulted in proposed restructuring efforts by Clines and
Greenstein.
16
Vargon writes that dating the composition of the book of Job has ranged from the
patriarchal period to the time of the Persians or “in the late biblical period, between the 6th and
4th century BCE.”
17
The nature of the language used in Job is one means of securing the date of
the book. However, as Schmidt and Nel observe, the literary and editorial transformations that
support the restructuring proposals from Clines and Greenstein exist in part because of the
changing nature of the language used throughout the book.
18
To accommodate the interpretive
impasse related to the historical context, geographical setting, ethnicity, and redaction proposals,
this chapter will feature an observation on the shared motifs and rhetorical strategies between the
conflict myth narratives and Job.
Talmon provides helpful insight on the comparative approach with the suggestion that the
comparative method be “employed within the bounds of reason and does not divorce the issue
15
Nili Shupak, “Egyptian Literature,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and
Historical Contexts, ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Wilbur, and John H. Walton, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 333.
16
See chapter three, section 3.2 of this study for the discussion on the restructuring proposals of Clines and
Greenstein in their commentary and translation.
17
Shmuel Vargon, “The Date of Composition of the Book of Job in the Context of S.D. Luzzato's Attitude
to Biblical Criticism,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 91, no. 3/4 (Jan-April 2001): 377.
18
Schmidt and Nel, “Divine Darkness In,” 127. The authors argue that the prologue and epilogue could not
have been later than the pre-exilic Israelite and Judean monarchies (1000-587 BCE) as it appears to be the oldest
narrative framework. The poetic dialogues are believed to have been a reflection on the social circumstances of the
ancient Israelites and Jews during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE). Schmidt and Nel write that Job 28 and the
Elihu speeches were later included and reflect the optimistic tone of Proverbs rather than skeptical tone found in Job
and Ecclesiastes and are estimated to be dated during the Persian era (539-332 BCE).
131
under consideration from its proper context in the culture compared.”
19
The parallels diverge
from the biblical message in the manner they present the relationship between the divine realm,
humanity, and nature. Oswalt observes that the Bible presents a different understanding of
existence and the relationship between nature, the divine, and humanity than myth.
20
Oswalt
argues the biblical tradition presents God as self-existent whereas humans and nature are
contingent upon God.
21
Myth, however, expresses and reinforces continuity between the human,
natural, and divine realm—that “whatever humanity is, the gods are as well.”
22
This author
agrees with Oswalt with respect to biblical message of existence and the relationship between the
divine, humanity, and nature. However, this study will demonstrate that the presence of the
divine assembly, a challenger, superior, and subordinate deities, as well as the decisions made in
the assembly that impact creation are found in the Bible and ancient Near Eastern parallels.
Myth in the Bible appears to function in a similar way to the parallel. Myth functions to
point the reader to truth in a way that transcends human experience and senses to make sense of
the world. Jacob and Menon write “From the very beginning we invented stories to place our
lives in a larger setting, which hinted at an underlying pattern and gave us a sense that, despite
the depressing and chaotic evidence to the contrary, life had meaning and value.”
23
While myth
may originate as a product of human invention, this presupposition alone fails to dismiss the
possibility of divine inspiration or the notion that myth has revelatory power to inform human
19
Shemaryahu Talmon, Literary Studies in the Hebrew Bible: Form and Context (Jerusalem: Magnes Press,
1993), 51.
20
John N. Oswalt, The Bible among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 45–46.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Ashna Mary Jacob and Nirmala Menon, “Mythos to Myth to Mythpoeia,” Mythlore 42, no. 1 (Fall/Winter
2023): 147.
132
life. Matthew Sterenberg argues that “ancient myths had revelatory power for modern life.”
24
Niehaus assumes a balanced approach in the relationship of myth and the biblical text and writes
“we ought to affirm at the outset, however, that truth also exists in myth, only figuratively.”
25
Therefore, it is unnecessary to mitigate or dismiss the presence of mythic influence in the Bible
because, myth functions as an instrument of truth. Myth points the reader to truth in a way that
transcends the reality and sense experience of the individual without being the truth to which it
refers.
This study will employ a comparison and contrast methodology that allows for the
observation of similarities without the conflation of the biblical account with the mythopoetic
literature being studied. This study will observe the similarities between the relevant conflict
myth and the book of Job. The conceptual and semantic relationships between the divine
assembly in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6 and a sampling of relevant parallels are foundational evidence that
situates Job within the framework of the conflict myth paradigm and establishes the rhetorical
purpose of the author when it can be discerned with relative clarity.
4.4 The Relationship of the Book of Job to the Category of Myth
The relationship of the biblical text to myth is explained by Cross who writes that
“Israel’s religion emerged from a mythopoeic past under the impact of certain historical
experiences which created an epic cycle.”
26
Further, these historical experiences and events and
24
Matthew Kane Sterenberg, Myth and the Modern Problem: Mythic Thinking in Twentieth Century Brittan
(Illinois: Northwestern University, PhD Diss, 2009), 3.
25
Jeffrey J. Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI:
Kregel Academic, 2008), 14.
26
Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel,
electronic ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), ix, x. Cross writes that “epic” combines mythic
and historical features. Israel’s epics have been appropriately labeled as historical. However, the historical label has
caused confusion. While the epic form helps to give meaning to the experience of people and or the nation, the epic
133
“their interpretation was shaped strongly by inherited mythic patterns and language.”
27
As an
example, this study observes a pattern of relationships between superiors and subordinates in the
Job (Job 1:1-2) similar to the presence of the divine assembly in the parallels. This study argues
that the taxonomy of relationships in Job is part of the rhetorical strategy of the author to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation (Job 38-42:1-6). This classification of
relationships between a superior and subordinates appears consistent with those found within the
conflict myth topos previously mentioned. Ballentine writes that a consistent characteristic of the
conflict myth organizes a set of hierarchical relationships between figures in a narrative that
includes “superhuman characters … in a dominant and subservient position.”
28
This ordering of
relationships in creation is established in the prologue (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3). Job is identified as a
servant of God (Job 1:8; 2:3). The heavenly beings and the satan who present themselves before
the Lord in the divine assembly are in view as subservient, accountable to God, and are permitted
to act within specified boundaries articulated by God (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6).
The hierarchy of relationships in the prologue as well as in Yahweh’s reply to Job serves
the rhetorical purpose of the author to substantiate the kingship and wisdom of Yahweh over
creation. The revelation of wisdom and understanding in creation exercised by Yahweh (Job
28:23-27, 38-41) and acknowledged by Job (Job 42:1-5) delineates the relationships between
Creator and creation, between superior and subordinate. The revelation of God’s wisdom in
creation and the acknowledgement by the protagonist in the epilogue, points the reader back to
the poetry of Job 28 as a figurative interpolation where the distinctions are embellished between
divine capacity and human incapacity (Job 28:1-22). Lastly, the poetry of Job 28 clarifies human
is not simply historical. Cross observes the epic as a narrative that documents the interaction between people and
God in the “temporal course of events” whereas in historical narratives, only human actors are involved.
27
Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, ix, x.
28
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 3.
134
responsibility in relationship to what is permitted in creation (Job 28:28). Once Job
acknowledged the legitimate rule of Yahweh in creation, he returned to the embodiment of
wisdom and understanding modeled in the prologue (Job 1:1; 42:5). In this way, the study argues
that Job 28 is a thematic unifier.
A study of relevant conflict narratives as well as a comparison with the biblical text will
demonstrate the shared conceptual and semantic relationship of the divine assembly and its
function in Job as like the parallels. The recognition of the shared pattern between Job and the
mythopoeic parallels helps to clarify the ideological purpose of the author. McCutcheon writes
that myth specifically functions as “a species of ideology production.”
29
The hierarchy of
relationships serves an ideological purpose to “legitimize, validate, and render things
normative.”
30
It appears that the author of Job intends for the reader to recognize the legitimate
and wise kingship of Yahweh despite the challenge to God’s policies by (Job 1:6-12;
2:1-6). The presence of the divine assembly, an adversary, the challenge, and the conclusion Job
reached in the epilogue regarding God as the legitimate possessor of power (Job 42:1) are the
reasons it is believed the book of Job fits the conflict myth paradigm.
4.5 Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, and Ninurta’s return to Nibru
There are three poems that recall the story of Ninurta’s rise to power in the Sumerian
pantheon. Black observes that Ninurta is considered a warrior deity, the son of Enlil and, one of
the most important gods of the Sumerian pantheon.
31
These poems describe the hierarchy of
29
Russell T. McCutcheon, “Myth,” in Guide to the Study of Religion, ed. Willi Braun and Russell T.
McCutcheon (New York: Cassell, 2000), 204.
30
Ibid.
31
Jeremy Black, The Literature of Ancient Sumer, ed. Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Eleanor
Robson, and Gábor Zólyomi (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 221.
135
relationships within the assembly of the gods. Further, the rhetorical strategy of legitimizing
kingship and authority is present. Ballentine writes the Ninurta “centered combat traditions …
make substantial claims about the status of kings … comparable to a broader set of phenomena
that also utilize the conflict topos to promote particular deities, the institution of kingship,
particular kings, dynasties, cities, and temples.”
32
With emphasis on power, authority, the cosmos, the temple, and household in the
following traditions, they demonstrate their relationship between the gods and that which they
exercise power and authority over in creation. Thus, the rhetorical strategy of legitimizing
authority among the gods serves an additional purpose of organizing the cosmological-social
order between the gods and humans. The comparison and contrast analysis of this study will
demonstrate similarity to what is observed in the Joban account. Van Leeuwen observes that
Mesopotamian and Levantine societies organized their material world as households and these
metaphorical symbols represented their understanding of the relationship between the gods and
humanity.
33
Life and cosmic fruitfulness were connected to the household of the gods. The
purpose for human existence was to ensure the temple and the resident god were provided for
and in a reciprocal manner, the god ensured military victory and conquest.
34
Anzu is one of three early poems that tells the story of how Ninurta earned warrior status
in Mesopotamia after claiming victory over Anzu. Wisnom writes that Anzu was a demon with
features that favored an eagle and lion who, after growing jealous of the chief god Enlil, stole the
32
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 30.
33
Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, “Cosmos, Temple, House: Building and Wisdom in Mesopotamia and
Israel,” in Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel, ed. Richard J. Clifford, electronic ed. (Atlanta, GA:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2007), 68.
34
Ibid., 71.
136
Tablet of Destinies which provided power to the chief god, Enlil.
35
Stealing the tablet introduced
chaos into “the whole divine order.”
36
The gods felt helpless and sought a champion to combat
Anzu so the power could be reclaimed; Ninurta was chosen to fight Anzu, won the victory
through a stratagem provided by Ea, and was declared the greatest of the gods.
37
In Ninurta’s
victory over the Anzu bird, power was reclaimed from an illegitimate figure and reconstructed in
the preferred hierarchy. Reminiscent of in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6, Anzu appears to represent
an adversarial challenge to the wisdom and power exercised in creation from the house of Enlil.
Ninurta’s Exploits is a long poem with 726 lines.
38
The first sixteen verses of the poem
are words of praise and adoration to Ninurta. Like the narrative of Anzu, lines 17-333 describe
Ninurta’s victory over Asag, an army of stone warriors, and other monsters such as the Anzud
bird.
39
In verses 334-367, Ninurta is considered an agricultural deity and is featured as inventing
and facilitating agriculture for humans by turning his defeated enemies into a mountain range.
40
In the middle section of the poem, (lines 411-644) the stones were blessed or cursed based on the
aid they provided to Ninurta in the conflict with Asag. The middle section of the poem displays
Ninurta exercising authority and power in pronouncing and fixing destiny in an unrivaled
manner. This action leads the reader to see Ninurta as the “God who outstrips the heroes …king
35
Selena Wisnom, Intertextual Competition in Babylonian Poetry: A Study of Anzu, Enuma Elish, and Erra
and Issum, electronic ed. (Boston, MA: Brill, 2019), 33.
36
Ibid.
37
John Walton, Ancient near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of
the Hebrew Bible, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 28.
38
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 228-245. Black’s translation of Ninurta’s Exploits is used for this study.
39
Wisnom, Intertextual Competition in Babylonian, 33.
40
Ibid.
137
of Anuna gods,”
41
followed by the rhetorical question “who can rival your great works?”
42
The
statement is like Job’s acknowledgement of Yahweh’s wisdom in creation (Job 42:1-2). Black
writes the middle section of the poem is a “rhetorical tour de force”
43
which features the
exceptional achievements of Ninurta and leads to the realization that he is the legitimate
possessor of power.
44
The middle section of the poem bears resemblance with Yahweh’s reply
from the whirlwind in the sense that it features the exercise of wisdom and unmatched power in
creation (Job 38-41). The revelation of Yahweh’s wisdom and power was the catalyst that
brought Job to the summit of the author’s intended purpose of the book evidenced by “I know
that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2, NASB).
Ninurta’s return to Nibru
45
contains five parts and begins with the recognition of a
hierarchy of relationships among the gods in verses 1-12. Ninurta is heralded as the “mightiest of
the Anuna gods”
46
and “king of all lands;”
47
he is in view as being in possession of the divine
powers.
48
Ninurta is acknowledged as the legitimate possessor of power over all creation. The
poem depicts everything in creation as subordinate to the power of Ninurta. In verses 17, the
poem heralds “the word of Ninurta is a storm.”
49
Another similarity is observed Black’s
41
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 244.
42
Ibid.
43
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 229.
44
Ibid.
45
Ibid., 246–51. Black’s translation of Ninurta’s return to Nibru, is used for this study.
46
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 247.
47
Ibid.
48
Ibid.
49
Ibid.
138
translation of Ninurta’s return to Nibru, lines 30-40 with the protagonist’s victory over the seven-
headed serpent.
The sovereign, with his heroic arms, Ninurta, son of Enlil, in his great might, brought
forth the Six-headed Wild Ram from the shining, lofty house. He brought forth the
Warrior Dragon from the great fortress of the mountains. He brought forth the Magilum
Barge from . . . his Abzu. He brought forth the Bison from his battle dust. He brought
forth the Mermaid from the limits of heaven and earth. He brought forth the Gypsum
from the soil of the mountain range. He brought forth the Strong Copper from the
shattered mountain range. He brought forth the Anzud bird from the halub haran tree. He
brought forth the Seven-headed Serpent from the . . . of the mountains.
50
Ballentine observes the narratives employ the conflict topos to promote Ninurta over the Anzud
bird who stole the Tablet of Destinies, placing the “Enlil-power” in jeopardy.
51
The Enlil-power
was “the rank of preeminent god of the Nippur pantheon.”
52
Ninurta would become the
legitimate possessor of power with his victory over the Anzud and the multi-headed serpent.
53
4.6 The Epic of Atrahasis
Enlil and Ninurta also appear in the Akkadian version of the Epic of Atrahasis. Kyanvig
observes that the epic is considered the oldest coherent narrative of primeval history.
54
Pritchard
writes that Atrahasis is associated with the literature of Mesopotamia in The Epic of Gilgamesh
and the poetry of Etana, and Adapa.
55
The name Atrahasis is part of a large epic cycle dealing
50
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 248.
51
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 24.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Helga Kyanvig, Primeval History: Babylonian, Biblical, and Enochic: an Intertextual Reading (Boston,
MA: Brill, 2011), 2, 4.
55
James Bennett Pritchard, “Atrahasis,” in The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament,
3rd ed. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969), [under, Atrahasis].
139
with the sin of humanity and subsequent punishment through plagues and a flood.
56
In the Epic of
Atrahasis, the Anuna gods burdened the Igigi gods with forced labor. The subordinate deities
rebelled and went to Enlil’s home. Enlil is listed in the epic as the “counsellor of the gods, the
warrior.”
57
When the rebels arrived at Enlil’s home, the “assembly of all the gods”
58
convened
and spoke with the rebel deities. Decisions were made by the assembly of the gods to fashion
human beings from the clay of the earth. In the epic, humanity was created in response to the
forced labor imposed on the Igigi gods. The strategy proposed by Ea was that humans be created
as the new workforce to relieve the Igigi gods of their drudgery.
59
In response, humanity was
created by the goddess Mami (Ninurta’s mother).
In the Babylonian version of Atrahasis, Mami (Ninurta’s mother) created humanity to
relieve the gods of labor and in doing so, spared Enlil from the coup d'é·tat that threatened his
life.
60
Though humans were created to provide relief to the gods, it was short-lived because they
continued to multiply. Foster writes that in the epic, Enlil ordered the destruction of humanity
which culminated in a flood as a response to the noise created by the overpopulation of
humanity. The increased noise threatened the peace the gods sought to bring to creation.
61
Wisnom observes that in the Old Babylonian version of Atrahasis and both versions of
Anzu, the gods gave Mami the new name of “Mistress of the gods” whereas in Lugal-e¸ Ninurta
56
Pritchard, The Ancient Near Eastern, [under, Atrahasis].
57
Benjamin R. Foster, “Atra-Hasis 1.130,” in Context of Scripture: Canonical Compositions, Monumental
Inscriptions and Archival Documents from the Biblical World, ed. W William, electronic ed. (Boston, MA: Brill,
2003), 450.
58
Ibid., 451.
59
Ibid.
60
Wisnom, Weapons of Words, 52.
61
Foster, Context of Scripture, 450.
140
is the one who renamed his mother as a reward for creative work.
62
In the Old Babylonian Anzu,
Mami is already referred to as “Mistress of the gods”
63
and her most significant accomplishment
is re-written as securing Ninurta’s help in defeating the Anzu who stole the Tablet of Destinies
prior to the creation of humanity which, established the cosmological significance of her son’s
primordial place in the divine hierarchy as the legitimate possessor of power.
64
Niehaus writes
this rhetorical strategy is part of the Sumerian royal ideology where elected monarchs were
selected to do battle in order extend the dominion of the gods.
65
Thus the rhetorical strategy of
making a statement and identifying the legitimate possessor of power was part of some of the
ancient Near Eastern mythopoeic literature.
4.7 Enuma Elish
Enuma Elish is an ancient Mesopotamian tradition that employs both the creation motif
and the conflict paradigm to promote Marduk over Tiamat (the antagonist). Tiamat is identified
as “chaos, (the ocean)”
66
who, became troubled after the gods were created. The way of the gods
was evil. Tiamat was approached by Apsu the chief god and Mummu his minister. Apsu
expressed a desire to destroy the gods. Tiamat “raged and cried aloud”
67
and cursed the gods with
a difficult path. Ea overheard the plot to destroy the gods, killed Apsu and bound Mummu.
Tiamat declared war, created weapons, and spawned monster serpents. Kingu was raised to
62
Wisnom, Weapons of Words, 53.
63
Ibid.
64
Ibid.
65
Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes, 68.
66
Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, “Job, Ecclesiastes: A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt,” in Old
Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East, electronic ed. (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press,
2016), 22–31. [under columns 40-59].
67
Ibid., lines, 23-40.
141
power in the assembly of the gods. Marduk volunteered to go to battle with Tiamat in exchange
for preeminence. Marduk defeats Tiamat (chaos) in a violent battle; the gods were terrified, tried
to flee but were captured and made prisoners. Marduk ascends to kingship and from his blood
and bone, made humankind to inhabit the earth to serve the gods.
68
Thus, the story features the
common legitimizing ideology observed previously.
4.8 The Keret Epic
The Keret Epic, also known as the Legend of King Keret, is a poem emerging from the
second-millennium BCE from Ugarit, praising Keret, the son of El.
69
Mullen observes that the
Keret Epic provides one of the clearest examples of the divine council in the ancient Ugaritic
texts.
70
In Canaanite literature, El is the highest authority in the cosmos with final decision-
making authority; his role in the epic is presented as patristic. Cross observes that even though El
is in a position of power, his role over the gods is consistent with that of a patriarch or judge in a
league of tribes than that of a divine king.
71
Smith writes that the structure of the Ugaritic pantheon consisted of four tiers.
72
The top
two tiers of the pantheon were the divine parents El and Athirat (Asherah) and the bottom two
68
This paragraph is a summary of the remainder of Enuma Elish taken from Matthews and Benjamin, Old
Testament Parallels, [under, I:132-40; III: 115-22; IV: 3-32, 35-58, 77-86; V:71-76].
69
Derek S. Dodson and Katherine E. Smith, “Enuma Elish,” in Exploring Biblical Backgrounds: A Reader
in Historical & Literary Contexts, ed. Derek S. Dodson and Katherine E. Smith (Waco, TX: Baylor University
Press, 2018), 75, [under, "The Legend of King Keret].
70
Everett Theodore Mullen, “Divine Assembly,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Freedman (New
York: Doubleday, 1992), 216.
71
Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew, 39.
72
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic
Texts, electronic ed. (Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001), 55.
142
tiers are comprised of the gods who worked within the household.
73
In the Ugaritic pantheon, El
and Ashera are the respective patriarch and matriarch of the gods and humanity.
74
The
patrimonial household is an important societal structure in the Ugaritic texts. Schloen observes
that the family of El and the preservation of the patrilineage is prominent in the Epics of Keret as
well as Aqhat.
75
The following is a synopsis of the epic. The Keret Epic (KTU 1.14) begins with King
Keret in bed weeping because he lost his wife and children. Keret’s household and posterity had
been ruined by disease, pestilence, a violent storm, and an attack from an enemy. El appeared to
Keret in a vision while he slept and inquired about whether he wanted the kingship and dominion
of his father, El. El offered Keret wealth. Keret protests the offer of wealth and expressed a
desire for sons. El instructed Keret to offer sacrifice, gathering his army against King Pabil of
Udum who would attempt to buy him off. Keret was instructed to demand Pabil’s daughter in
marriage. Keret follows the instructions given by El, offers sacrifice, besieges the city of Udum,
rejects the king’s offer for wealth and demands Hurriy in marriage so that she might bear
offspring to Keret, the servant of El. With reluctance Pabil gives Hurriy to marry Keret.
76
The assembly of the gods convened, El blesses Keret with children through Hurriy. Keret
suffers illness because of a curse imposed by Ashera because he had not fulfilled his vow. Keret
is at the point of death. El works to undo the curse pronounced against Keret by soliciting a
volunteer from the assembly of the gods to undo the curse. Since there were no volunteers, El
created an expeller to undo the curse. In view of Keret’s ongoing sickness, Yasib desires the
73
Smith, The Origins of, 55.
74
Ibid.
75
David Schloen, The Patrimonial Household in the Kingdom of Ugarit: A Weberian Analysis of Ancietn
Near Eastern Society (Cambridge, MA: Ph.D. Diss., Harvard University, 1995), 399.
76
Nicolas Wyatt, Religious Texts from Ugarit, 2nd ed., vol. 53, Biblical Seminar (New York: Sheffield
Academic Press, 2002). [under, KTU 1.14].
143
throne because a sick king is unable to rule effectively. Keret is confronted by Yasib who accuses
him of surrendering in weakness, of not standing up for the widows, the powerless, or banishing
those who steal from the children of the poor. Yasib is unaware that Keret has been healed. Yasib
will become the victim of Keret’s curse of destruction because he uttered the challenge for
kingship before learning all the facts. Keret’s curse against Yasib brings the protagonist back to
the position he was in at the beginning, without an heir.
77
In summary, the Epic of Keret dispels the notion that human kingship and dynasty are
eternal. Every human king is a mortal with character flaws. The epic presents three challenges to
the preservation of the patrimonial household and kingship. Keret needs an heir. Sickness and
rebellion are the remaining challenges to the preservation of the household. However, with the
help of El, Keret can overcome each challenge.
78
4.9 The Babylonian Theodicy
Beaulieu writes that theodicy with the pious sufferer emerged as a motif at the beginning
of the second millennium and is the “darker side of wisdom, its negative mirror image.”
79
The
theodicy motif wrestled with innocent suffering by exploring questions related to how a person
who lives according to conventional wisdom, obedient, judicious, and pious, can and is
overcome with gross misfortune without concern expressed from higher authorities and the
gods? Dodson and Smith write the general message in the Babylonian Theodicy features a
77
Wyatt, Religious Texts from Ugarit. 2nd ed. vol. 53, Biblical Seminar. (New York: Sheffield Academic
Press, 2002), this is a synopsis of the remainder of the poem from KTU 1.14-1.16.
78
Mark S. Smith, “Ugarit and the Ugaritians,” in The World around the Old Testament: The People and
Places of the Ancient Near East, ed. Bill T. Arnold and Brent A. Strawn, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016), 159.
79
Paul-Alain Beaulieu, “The Setting of Babylonian Wisdom Literature,” in Wisdom Literature in
Mesopotamia and Israel, ed. Richard J. Clifford (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007), 8.
144
suffering protagonist who questions justice and order while a friend attempts to maintain the
traditional understanding.
80
Biggs observes the Babylonian Theodicy is an acrostic poem of twenty-seven stanzas of
eleven lines and assumes the form of a dialogue, like what is experienced in the book of Job 4-
27.
81
The opening stanza features the protagonist explaining and searching for answers to his
suffering. The sufferer (Saggilkīnam-ubbib the exorcist, an adorant of the god and king),
82
informs the friend that he is an orphan; his mother and father have died and left him “without
anyone to be my guardian.”
83
The friend replies with an acknowledgement of his misfortune but
quickly shifts to assumptions and judgments on the sufferer’s beliefs about his suffering noting
that “you have let your mind dwell on evil” and any good sense he previously exercised has
turned to incompetence. In the second stanza, the friend quips that at some point, everyone gives
up and goes the way of death without respect to riches, poverty, or a disposition of humility and
reverence toward his goddess.
84
From the third through the fifth stanza, the sufferer explains that his real fear is hunger.
The sufferer fears the lack of stability, weakness, poverty, and he ponders if long-term happiness
is sustainable. In the fourth stanza, the friend retorts that stability is secured through prayer
because the goddess who is appeased will show kindness and grant mercy. In the fifth stanza the
sufferer demonstrates what appears to be the discriminate way in which those traditional ideas of
80
Dodson and Smith, Exploring Biblical Backgrounds, 129.
81
Robert D. Biggs, “Part 6: Didactic and Wisdom Literature,” in The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating
to the Old Testament, ed. James Bennett Pritchard, 3rd ed. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969).
[under, Akkadian Observations on Life and the World: The Babylonian Theodicy].
82
Ibid., according to Biggs who translated this work, the acrostic reads: Saggilkīnam-ubbib the exorcist, an
adorant of the god and king).
83
Biggs, The Ancient Near Eastern Texts, [under, line 11 of the first stanza].
84
This is a summary of the second stanza, lines 12-22.
145
piety, prayer, and appeasing the gods as the means of receiving kindness and mercy is not
universally applicable to all creatures in creation. Oshima writes “the sufferer starts to question
the profitability of his devotion to the gods and his “unmerited plight.”
85
In a broader sense, the
fifth stanza reflects broader ruminations on the human condition. Unlike him, the wild ass and
lion who filled themselves with abundance and choice meats, failed to give thanks and brought
no offerings to appease the anger of the gods.
86
Therefore, obedience, piety, and living
judiciously has provided no substantial benefit since inferiors take precedence and are filled.
The closest answer to theodicy the sufferer receives from his friend is “you are as stable
as the earth, but the plan of the gods is remote.”
87
This reply of the friend to the sufferer’s
observations could be understood differently. The statement could be interpreted as sarcasm
where the friend insinuates that despite what the sufferer said of his lack of stability,
88
it is the
gods who are in a state of volatility and this phenomenon explains his misfortune. However, it
appears the friend does not believe the gods are unstable so much as they are unpredictable. The
friend maintains the belief that the wild ass and the lion, will reap the fruit of their evil against
the fields and cattle they have destroyed. When the statement is read in juxtaposition, the phrase
“the plan of the gods is remote” suggests the wisdom of the gods and the way cosmos is
governed is inaccessible through human effort. A fixed, predictable pattern of divine and human
interaction is obscure. The sufferer should aim for a reward that transcends his current
experience by returning to prayer and piety instead of complaints.
89
85
Takayoshi Oshima, “The Babylonian Theodicy: An Ancient Babylonian Discourse on Human Piety and
Divine Justice,” Religion Compass 9, no. 12 (2015): 483.
86
This is a summary of the third through fifth stanza, lines 23-55.
87
Biggs, The Ancient Near Eastern Texts, [the sixth stanza, line 58].
88
Biggs, The Ancient Near Eastern Texts, [under the third stanza, line 29].
89
Ibid., [under, the sixth stanza, lines 60-66].
146
The sufferer requests his friend entertain the thought that from youth he has sought the
will of his god, prayed, but learned he was “pulling a yoke in a useless corvée”
90
because, the
only thing he received in return for devotion was poverty while the crippled, cognitively
challenged, and unprincipled pull ahead of him in life. Through the remainder of the poem, the
sufferer and friend continue the same debate trajectory and show no sign of progress in
convincing the other of their position. The wisdom and understanding that would have aided
their sense-making journey is elusive. The poem concludes in a passive aggressive prayer for
help from the god and goddess who abandoned and forsook him.
4.10 A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt
Shupak writes the Egyptian wisdom literature corpus corresponds to the biblical wisdom
groups of didactic (designed for teaching) or speculative wisdom (addressing philosophical or
moral issues).
91
A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt is the best-known Egyptian source of speculative
wisdom corresponding to Job.
92
The poem A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt, is also known as a
90
Biggs, The Ancient Near Eastern Texts, [under the seventh stanza, line 73]. Corvée referred to unpaid,
forced labor for a period imposed by a higher authority on the people. A biblical example of corvée is found in the
reign of Solomon who made corvée permanent and national (I Kings 5:13-15; 9:15) to bolster the labor force needed
for his building campaigns. For additional information see: Walter J. Houston, “Corvée in the Kingdom of Israel:
Israelites, ’Canaanites’, and Cultural Memory,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 43, no. 1 (2018): 29–44.
91
Shupak, Behind the Scenes, 109.
92
Ibid., 110-111. Shupak observes that most of the Egyptian speculative wisdom texts were composed in
the Middle Kingdom period and sought to end the anarchy in the wake of the collapse of the Old Kingdom. The
Egyptian speculative wisdom texts address unwelcomed change of fortune reminiscent of the time, offered socio-
ethical and religious criticism of the generation while casting the hope of redemption by king-deliverer. Among the
Egyptian speculative wisdom texts are Admonitions of the Egyptian Sage which contains six poems that describe the
misfortunes of the time, ethics, and religious criticism, the Prophecies of Nerferti which ends in the offer of
salvation through the hands of a king, The Eloquent Peasant which is a critique of the social corruption offered from
the plea of a peasant for a fair trial, and the Complaints of Khakheperre-Sonb which features the grievances of a
priest in Heliopolis.
147
Dispute over Suicide, or Dialogue of a Man with his Soul.
93
The poem consists of 155 columns
that are framed by several stanzas and reflects the inner dialogue of one of the unnamed sufferer.
Like the Babylonian Theodicy, the sufferer questions the profitability of devotion since he
suffers despite doing what is right. Matthews and Benjamin observe that between 2258-2050
BCE teachers began to reevaluate Egypt’s worldview on life; this poem is a lawsuit against
Egypt for its views on life and death. The sufferer presents as the attorney for death whereas the
soul is the advocate for life.
94
Though the sufferer fears the consequences of suicide, the
experience of despair energized thoughts of ending his life as a viable means of relief from pain.
The first stanza of the poem may have been the conclusion of a speech made by the soul; “the
tongue of the gods, they do not speak amiss, they make no special cases.”
95
Allen observes the
beginning of the poem (which may have provided an intended audience as well as the context of
the debate) is missing but unnecessary to understand the content.
96
The poem is the projection of
an internal struggle between the man who experienced tremendous grief and his soul regarding
life and death.
The preserved text of poem begins with the sufferer’s first speech who cries out “O all
you gods, see how my soul defames me! I will not listen to it ever as I drag my way toward
dissolution.”
97
The man is frustrated with his soul who provides no help to end the suffering. The
soul “rushes off, it vanishes, to separate itself from death”
98
because if the man is going to die, it
93
Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 238.
94
Ibid.
95
John L. Foster, “The Debate between a Man Tired of Life and His Soul,” in Ancient Egyptian Literature:
An Anthology (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2001), 83.
96
James P. Allen, The Debate Between a Man and His Soul: A Masterpiece of Ancient Egyptian Literature,
electronic ed. (Boston, MA: Brill, 2010), 3.
97
Foster, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 84.
98
Ibid., second stanza, line 11.
148
should come naturally. In lines 40-59, the sufferer bargains with his soul by first casting a
favorable vision of death as the way to peace and prosperity and argues “if you continue to
oppose my death, you will never find rest in the land of the dead.”
99
In line 58-89, the soul points out that funerals never bring happiness. Though death might
sound wonderful now, the granite chapels and magnificent tombs decay. The soul urges the
sufferer to enjoy living as if each day were a feast. The soul communicates the parable of a man
who lost his wife and children during a storm who mourned that his children “perished before
they ever experienced life,”
100
followed by another parable of a man who wanted something
prepared for him (his meal) sooner than the time it was supposed to come. Through his impulsive
desire and anger the man disturbed the peace of his family. The meal the man craved prior to its
intended time was a metaphor for death. If the sufferer acted on impulse and took his life to ease
his pain, he would disrupt the peace of his extended family. The soul urged the sufferer to
consider the impact his actions would have on others as a way of informing his thoughts of
suicide.
From lines 90-160, the sufferer evaluates his perception of his life as putrid and foul
smelling. His reputation was tarnished. Love between neighbors is missing in the world. When
given the choice, people reject good and select evil; wrongdoing is perpetual. In essence, the
sufferer struggles to see anything in the world that makes life worth living. The sufferer
continues to argue for death as the means of escape from the sickness and prison of his suffering.
Death ushers the person into the “divine assembly”
101
where they will “have a hearing before
Re”
102
(also see Job 23:4-7). The soul concludes the poem with a call for peace between them—
99
Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 240. [under lines 40-59].
100
Ibid.
101
Ibid., 244. [under lines 130-160].
102
Ibid.
149
for the sufferer to cast his cares on the fire and move on with life; allow death to come naturally
for only then will there be true peace between them.
103
4.11 Comparison and Contrast
There are conceptual similarities between these ancient Near Eastern works of literature
and portions of the Bible. For example, Enlil is the chief god whose creative power is like
Yahweh. Banister writes that Elil, also called Bel Enlil, and Ellil is the “Mesopotamian god of
the earth who also had power over the sky.
104
When Enlil is called “Bel Elil” it is a reference to
lordship.
105
Enlil’s relationship and actions in creation are like the biblical record in that humans
were formed from the clay of the earth after consulting with the assembly.
106
Enlil also ordered a
flood to sweep over the earth.
Another similarity between Job and these stories is discovered in the taxonomy of
relationships between the supreme deity and subordinates. The hierarchy of relationships
between superior and subordinate deities is discerned in the divine assembly of the prologue of
Job. In Job, the assembly is referred to as the “heavenly beings” in the NRSV and “sons of God”
in the NASB (Job 1:6, 2:1-6; 38:7). Heiser writes that the unseen world has a hierarchy which is
difficult to discern because many Bible readers are unaccustomed to viewing this realm as a
103
Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, this is this author’s paraphrased summary of the final
section of the poem, lines 130-160.
104
Jamie A. Banister, “Enlil,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry, et al., electronic ed.
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [under, Enlil].
105
Ibid.
106
Banister, The Lexham Bible Dictionary, [under, Creation], the story of Enlil creating humans from clay
is found in the Sumerian “Song of the Hoe.” Banister observes the distinction between the Song of the Hoe and other
Mesopotamian myths that show the deity Ea (Enki) as associated with the creation of humanity like Genesis 2:7.
150
dynastic household.
107
The assembly of the gods discovered in the Old Testament is composed of
divine, created beings, grounded in a hierarchy of relationships, and form the dynastic household
of God.
108
The divine beings were given responsibility and jurisdiction over the affairs of the
cosmos and as part of God’s plan were, to rule and reign with him as part of the nonhuman
household.
109
Mullen observes that the divine assembly met to determine the fate of the cosmos
and represented the standard, organized structure of the decision-making body of the divine
realm.
110
In Job, Yahweh presides over the divine assembly as the superior. The “sons of God came
to present themselves before the LORD, and satan also came among them” (Job 1:6, NASB).
The Hebrew word for “present” is yâtsab which has a semantic range that can refer to assuming
a defensive fighting position (Deut 7:24; 9:2; 11:25; Ps 2:2; Job 33:5).
111
However, the sense in
which the word is used in the prologue is formal.
112
The sons of God present themselves before a
superior like what is observed in Exodus 8:16; 9:13, Deuteronomy 31:14, and Joshua 24:1.
113
Another similarity between the hierarchy of relationships in Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, Ninurta’s
return to Nibru, and The Epic of Atrahasis and the book of Job is that the decisions made in the
council impacted creation. The Epic of Atrahasis particularly bears out the decisions made in the
107
Michael S. Heiser, “Part 2: The Households of God,” in The Unseen Realm: Recovering the
Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2015), 20.
108
Ibid., 20–22.
109
Ibid., 331.
110
Everett Theodore Mullen, The Anchor Yale Bible. [under, Divine Assembly].
111
Isaiah Hoogendyk, “Yâtsab,” in The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible, electronic ed.
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).
112
Ibid.
113
Ibid.
151
council that introduced suffering to humanity.
114
This similarity is in view through the meeting of
divine council in the prologue of Job. The decisions made by the council impacted Job and his
family.
Dodson and Smith observe the similarity between Enuma Elish and the creation account
in the Hebrew Bible.
115
Further, the legitimizing pattern of Marduk’s rise to power in the
pantheon gained through victory over the “watery god of chaos, Tiamat” is observed.
116
Marduk’s
victory over Tiamat brought order to the cosmos, resembles the biblical account of the creation
of humanity and the governing of the cosmos observed in Genesis 1, Isaiah 27:1-2, Psalms
74:12-17; 104:1-30, and Job 38-41.
117
The presence of both the creation and conflict motif in
Enuma Elish is like the biblical pattern for creation and order brought out of chaos though the
waters in Genesis 1 but assume a different role than that of the antagonist in Enuma Elish.
The “surface of the deep” tehôm in Genesis 1:2 was at one time believed to share an
etymological relationship with Tiamat.
118
Waschke writes the belief that tehôm (the deep) in
Genesis 1:2 is derived from the Babylonian deity Tiamat is “no longer tenable”
119
due to the lack
of evidence in a shift from Akkadian to Hebrew as such a loan word would have a form like
tiʾāmā.
120
Waschke observes another distinction between the Hebrew word tehôm and tiʾāmā in
that the Semitic root tihām(at), referenced a non-personified entity in contrast to the Babylonian
114
See 4.6 of this study. Humanity was created to provide forced labor as relief for the Igigi gods. In the
Babylonian version, there was a flood in response to the noise of overpopulation which became a burden to the gods.
115
Dodson and Smith, “A. Creation and Deluge,” in Exploring Biblical Backgrounds, 3.
116
Ibid.
117
Ibid.
118
Ernst-Joachim Waschke, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer
Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. David E. Green, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2006), 15:573, [under, tehôm].
119
Ibid.
120
Ibid.
152
deity Tiamat who was the personification of chaos.
121
Otzen argues for a mythological connection
between tehôm and Tiamat under the belief that the word evolved from a Babylonian proper
noun.
122
Tsumura observes the cognate relationship between the Akkadian Tiamat and Hebrew
tehôm as they share the Semitic root thm but argues that even though this relationship exists, the
“evidence of mythological dependence”
123
of tehôm in relationship to Tiamat is semantically
impossible and inconclusive.
124
Seow observes that ancient Near Eastern cosmology held the belief that the earth was
afloat in the “midst of terrifying cosmic waters”
125
translated in Hebrew as tehôm, and τῆς
ἀβύσσου
126
in the Greek Septuagint. In the Septuagint translation of Genesis 1:2, τῆς ἀβύσσου
represented the primordial sea twenty-eight out of the thirty-five times the word is used in the
Old Testament. In the Bible, the phrase τῆς ἀβύσσου is literally translated as the deep but
metaphorically refers to the abode of the dead and demonic forces.
127
The abode of the dead and
demonic forces is the antithesis of heavenly order. Instead, they are the home of evil, death, and
destruction.
128
While the etymological and mythological relationship is inconclusive between
tehôm and Tiamat as a force of chaos, the conceptual relationship is present. This author argues
121
Waschke, Theological Dictionary of, [under Religio-Historical Background for tehôm].
122
Benedikt Otzen, “The Use of Myth in Genesis,” in Myths in the Old Testament, ed. Benedikt Otzen,
Hans Gottlieb, and Knud Jeppsen (London: SCM, 1980), 32, 40.
123
David Toshio Tsumura, Creation and Destruction: A Reappraisal of the Chaoskampf Theory in the Old
Testament (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005), 38.
124
Ibid.
125
Choon-Leong Seow, “The Deep,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman,
electronic ed. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 2:125.
126
“Genesis 1:2,” in Septuaginta: With Morphology, electronic ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft,
1979).
127
Thompson, Bible Sense Lexicon. [under, Abyss].
128
Ibid.
153
for the conceptual relationship between tehôm and Tiamat as representing a reality that is
overcome and or rejected.
In Enuma Elish, Tiamat is the personification of chaos, a villain that is overcome by
Marduk. In the Hebrew Bible, Childs observes the writer of the biblical account of creation in
Genesis struggled to contrast the role of the waters of Genesis 1:2 as standing in opposition to
the will of God.
129
The waters were the “mystery of a primordial threat against creation”
130
and
represented the unwilled, uncreated, formless, primordial matter that “God strove to
overcome”
131
in the act of creation. In the act of creation tehôm is rejected both in its literal and
figurative sense; the darkness inherent in the deep would be transformed by the word of God
“Let there be light” (Gen 1:3, NASB).
In the biblical account of creation “the deep” functioned as an antagonist in the sense that
it was the literal and figurative reality to be transformed by God. In the creation account, the
darkness that would have made it difficult for the flourishing of life was not granted permission
to function according to its primordial nature and instead was rejected through a creative act
whereas in the Job, the darkness of struggle was permitted to function within specified
parameters established by Yahweh (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). In Job, unfathomable darkness is
figuratively embedded in the preceding context of suffering (Job 1:13-27:1-23). The darkness is
embellished in the poetry of Job 28:14 in the futile search for the treasure of wisdom and
understanding that would have helped Job and his friends in their sense-making journey. Further,
in Job 38:16, 30 Yahweh walks through and imprisons tehôm. In Job 41:32, Yahweh goes
through tehôm and leaves a shiny wake behind. The tehôm in Job represents a reality permitted to
129
Brevard S. Childs, Old Testament Theology in a Canonical Context (London: SCM, 1985), 223–224. In
an earlier work, Myth and Reality in the Old Testament, (London: SCM, 1960), 42. Childs argued the waters
represented chaos as a reality rejected by God.
130
Ibid.
131
Childs, Old Testament Theology, 223-224.
154
remain and function according to its nature in creation but acquiescent when encountered by the
power of Yahweh.
The tehôm that figuratively portrayed the darkness of struggle in Job 28:14; 38:16, 30, is
overcome and transformed by the word of Yahweh in his reply to Job. Through the revelation of
God’s wisdom and understanding in creation, Job realized that God “can do all things and no
purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2, NASB). It appears the revelation of Yahweh’s
wisdom and power in creation was enough to subvert the satan’s challenge to God’s policies in
creation since the suffering Job experienced failed to produce the challenger’s belief that he
would curse God to his face (Job 1:11; 2:5; 42:5). Unlike the violence in Enuma Elish, the
figurative chaos of tehôm was overcome by the word of the LORD (Gen 1:3). In Job, the
unfathomable depths of tehôm are permitted to function according to its nature instead of
rejected. The figurative darkness of tehôm is then transformed and overcome by the word of
Yahweh which illuminated Job’s understanding of how the cosmos is governed. This revelatory
event of the kingship of Yahweh was the end of Job’s suffering (Job 38:42:5).
The Epic of Keret is like the book of Job in that the protagonist suffers the loss of his
family through misfortune involving disease, storms, and the attack of an enemy. Both Keret and
Job are accused of giving up the cause of the widow and the poor as an explanation for their
suffering. The Epic of Keret is distinct from Job in the sense that no war is waged to secure a
family. The similarity between the two pieces of literature is found in the taxonomy of
relationships within the divine household with El presiding as the superior with subordinate
deities and humanity as servants (see Job 1:1, 6-8; 2:3-6). Another similarity between the Epic of
Keret and Job is in the way they overcome the challenges to their existence with the help of El
and Yahweh. For Job, the revelation of Yahweh’s wisdom and power in creation is the end of his
155
suffering as he understands “You can do all things and no purpose of yours can be thwarted”
(Job 42:2, NASB).
The Babylonian Theodicy is like the book of Job in that the protagonist is a pious servant
who suffers unfathomable horror. Like Job, the sufferer questions the profitability of devotion
and the notion that he could suffer without notice and intervention from the gods. Job and
Saggilkīnam-ubbib the exorcist, an adorant of the god and king search for wisdom and
understanding that would have helped their sense-making journey through suffering. The
difference between these two pieces of literature is the answers each received. Saggilkīnam-
ubbib the exorcist, an adorant of the god and king, was left wandering in self-pity with a final,
unanswered appeal to the god and goddess who forsook him whereas Job was left in a state of
wonder (Job 42:1-5). Yahweh answered Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41) and revealed the
depths of his wisdom and power in creation.
The relationship between A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt and the book of Job is in the
speculative wisdom genre and present the conventional ideas of suffering, death, and morality to
which they wrestle. Shupak observed the Egyptian poem is the best-known source for the
speculative wisdom typing that deals with philosophical and ethical concerns in a way that
corresponds to the biblical paradigm.
132
With respect to this study, Newsom observed that Job 28
falls within the speculative wisdom genre evidenced by the “trope of seeking and finding.”
133
Job
and the Sufferer are in search of answers that would help them make sense of their suffering. The
distinction between these two pieces of literature is that Job receives an answer from God (Job
38-41) that grounds him in his role in creation whereas the sufferer in the tale is left with only
questions. Job and the protagonist view death as mercy, the path to peace, and the end of
132
Shupak, Behind the Scenes, 109.
133
Newsom, The Book of Job, 172.
156
suffering (Job 3; 6:8-9; 7:15). Another similarity between Job and A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt
is the juridical tone. The tale involves the sufferer as an attorney for death arguing with the soul
as the attorney for life. In Job 9-10, Job considers the viability of entering a legal case against
God in consideration of his innocence.
4.12 Conclusion
This comparative analysis was concerned with linking the observations made from a
study of the parallels with similar motifs in the book of Job as a way of demonstrating the thesis
that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over
creation. This study has argued that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier clarifying human
responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
The comparative study demonstrated the conceptual relationship of the divine assembly and the
taxonomy of relationships between a superior deity and subordinates as establishing the basic
structure for decisions that impact creation, societal functioning, and religious thought common
in the ancient Near East and observed in Job.
The relevance of this study of ancient Near Eastern parallels was to balance the inherent
subjectivity of the aesthetic hermeneutic of chapter three and to situate the genre of Job within a
shared mythic ecosystem. Chapter three demonstrated that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose
of the author to legitimize the kingship and wisdom of God. The conceptual and semantic
relationship between the definition and embodiment of wisdom and understanding is embedded
in the preceding context through the character of Job (Job 1:1; 6-12; 2:1-6; 28:23-28). Each of
the parallels demonstrates in some capacity, the search for wisdom to aid in the sense-making
experience of suffering found in the debate cycles (Job 1-27) and which, challenge conventional
philosophical and theological beliefs that it happened because of unrighteousness. These
157
parallels were an important component of the study to demonstrate the conceptual relationship of
the divine assembly, the presence of a challenge and challenger, and the legitimizing ideology of
establishing the proper possessor of wisdom and power. Each parallel in conversation with Job
features the struggle against conventional ideas of the role of humanity, the gods and Yahweh,
creation, life, death, and justice.
134
The recognition of the shared pattern between Job and the
mythopoeic parallels helps to ground the ideological purpose of the author in the conflict myth
topos.
134
Refer to the Appendix: “Acknowledgement, Proposed Definitions, and the Interpretive Treatment of
Mythic Motifs in the Project,” for supplemental material on the complexity of defining myth, and clarifying its
nature and function in Scripture.
158
Chapter 5
Job 28: an Exposition
5.1 The Goal of the Chapter
Chapter three of this study provides an aesthetic hermeneutic to observe the literary
relationship between Job 28, the preceding (Job 1-27) and the forthcoming context (Job 38-41).
The study argues that Job 28 is embedded in the preceding context semantically and
conceptually. The study observes the conceptual and semantic relationship between the
embodiment of wisdom and understanding (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3) and the definition of wisdom and
understanding found in the poetry of (Job 28:23-28). The study demonstrates the third strophe of
Job 28:23-28 prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the book in
the forthcoming context through Yahweh’s reply to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41). Chapter
three of the study observes an additional connection between Job 28 and the preceding context as
a metaphorical embellishment to the search for wisdom and understanding found in the defense
and debate cycles (Job 4-27). Last, the study argues that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of
the author to legitimize the kingship, wisdom, and power of Yahweh over creation, since it is
God’s policies on trial from the beginning of the book.
1
Chapter four of this study sought to balance the inherent subjectivity of an aesthetic
hermeneutic in consideration of the conceptual and semantic relationships between Job and
select ancient Near Eastern parallels, e.g., Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, Ninurta’s return to Nibru,
The Epic of Atrahasis, Enuma Elish, The Keret Epic, The Babylonian Theodicy, and A Sufferer
and a Soul in Egypt. The study observed the conceptual relationship of the divine assembly, and
the taxonomy of relationships found in the parallels as similar with the vision of the assembly
1
Walton and Longman, How to Read Job, 9.
159
provided in the prologue of Job 1-2 and Yahweh’s reply in Job 38:1-7. Further, the study
observed the rhetorical strategy reminiscent of the conflict myth topos to legitimize the kingship,
wisdom, and power of one superior over subordinates appears shared between the parallels and
Job.
To support the argument made in chapter three that Job 28 can be understood in its
current, traditional place within the book, chapter five of this project will provide an exposition
of the chapter. The interpretive focus of the exposition will consider the words, literature, typing,
and context, to grasp the rhetorical function of the chapter within the book. To accomplish the
purpose of the chapter, this study will expound the linear progression of three identifiable
strophes generally agreed upon in the scholarship consulted for this study: part one (Job 28:1-
11), part two (Job 28:12-22), and part three (Job 28:23-28). Henderson, however, observes that
Job 28 is presented in the form of a concentric ring with five compositional units: section A, B,
C, B1, and A1.
2
This exposition of Job 28 will consider both the linear progression of the three
strophes as well as Henderson’s observations to serve as an adjunct to support the thesis of the
project. This chapter will argue that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as is thematic unifier clarifying
human responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in relationship to
Yahweh.
5.2 An Expositional Approach to Job 28
Recent Joban scholarship proposes a restructuring of the book of Job to accommodate a
better understanding of the rhetoric.
3
Chapter three of this study observes the challenge to discern
2
Henderson, “The Concentric Structure,” 26.
3
Clines, Job, 481. Also see Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 2019), 8-9. Both Clines and Greenstein argue that errors were made in the editing process and reconstitution
160
the function of Job 28 within the book. The identity of the speaking character and the effort to
exposit the meaning of the chapter is frustrated since it is difficult to capture the intended
meaning of a single author since more than one author have been suggested.
4
This study argues
Job 28 can be understood as one voice among many in its current placement within the book.
Therefore, the need to know the identity of the speaking character, the author, or make an
accommodation for rhetorical flow and philology based on the supposed dating of the chapter
and its alleged misplacement in Job is unnecessary to understand its meaning and application
through an exposition.
5
This study argues in chapter three of the project that Job 28 is a figurative interpolation
embedded in the preceding context and prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the
concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming context.
6
Henderson observes Job 28 offers a
“critique on the sentiments expressed in the preceding dialogues and anticipates the words of
God in Job 38-42.”
7
The structure of Job 28 as part of the exposition is an important element in
the interpretive process. Henderson writes the difficulty in “understanding the ideation and
of the book of Job. Both scholars offer proposals to restructure the book to account for the change in tone and
content. The restructuring proposals identify Elihu as the speaking character with chapter 28 serving as the
conclusion to the Elihu speeches. The second chapter of this study observed Estes, Newsom, Lo, Goldingay and
Childs to reject the proposed rearrangement of the book of Job for interpretive reasons as well as the lack of
evidence put forth by Clines and Greenstein that calls for the reordering of the Masoretic text.
4
See sections 3.2-3.3 of this project for discussion on the identity of the speaking character and the
restructuring proposals offered by Clines and Greenstein to accommodate the rhetoric of the poem (Clines) or the
philology (Greenstein).
5
See section 3.2 of this project. The traditional placement of Job 28 in its final form is found in the Tanakh:
The Holy Scriptures according to the Traditional Hebrew Text, the New English Translation of the Septuagint
(Primary Texts), The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture, and the Biblia
Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Also see: Daniel J. Estes, “Job 28 in Its Literary Context,” JESOT 2, no. 2 (2013): 155.
Estes examined Clines and Greenstein’s restructuring proposals and observes no evidence given that would require
the reordering of the Masoretic Text to accommodate rhetoric or philology.
6
See section 3.3 of this project.
7
Henderson, “The Concentric Structure,” 26–27.
161
purpose of this poem lies in an incorrect grasp of its structure”
8
which consists of three sections
(Job 28:1-11, 12-19, and vv. 20-28).
9
Henderson observes the sections are divided by two
refrains: Job 28:12-14 and vv. 20-22 which begin with the question on the location and source of
wisdom.
10
Habel observes that the “techniques employed in the construction of the poem,”
11
introduce three developed motifs with “a coherent structural unity,”
12
heightened divergence, and
dispenses with the need to “arrange, delete, add certain lines to construct a balanced pattern
which corresponds to a preconceived idea of strophic symmetry.”
13
Hankins, however, argues that the interpretive difficulty with Job 28 comes from
misreading the poem as the juxtaposition of wisdom unattainable to humans versus God’s
possession and unrestricted access to wisdom.
14
To transcend the interpretive difficulty, Hankins
proposes a nuanced reading of the structure and rhetoric of the poem as the movement from
metonymy in first nineteen verses to metaphorical logic in Job 28:20-28.
15
Hankins believes this
reassessment of the poem helps to clarify the manner it “evokes wisdom as perpetually
transcendent (Job 28:1-19) against the discovery of wisdom in metaphoric effects that appear as
displaced from their causes (Job 28:20-28).”
16
In other words, wisdom is transcendent, but
8
Henderson, “The Concentric Structure,” 26.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
11
Habel, The Book of Job, 393.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Davis Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent Event in Job 28, Not a Transcendent Ideal,” Vetus Testamentum
63 (2013): 210.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
162
evoked and perceived in the human quest for what is precious; it is seen in the objects where it
appears even though it evades direct access by humans.
Wisdom appears as displaced in the poem as it seems to be within the larger context of
the book. This interpretive approach to Job 28 helps to make sense of the poem’s apparent
displacement within the book since wisdom’s “essential characteristic in the poem is its
appearance as displaced.”
17
This nuanced reading of vs. 28 is to be read as an “appositive
metaphor,”
18
an explanation that informs the seeker that the rare and precious wisdom they have
been searching for all along, comes by divine revelation and is available to them only through
the fear of the Lord. This author agrees with Hankin’s methodological approach to understanding
Job 28 since it explains wisdom’s displacement and the way it helps to make sense of the poem’s
placement within the book. Hankin’s methodological approach seems appropriate though this
author disagrees with his later conclusions that wisdom is an event that appears displaced from
God’s creative activities described in Job 28:25-26 because it implies that wisdom is perceived
by God only after it occurs.
19
This study will demonstrate that the juxtaposition between human and divine access to
wisdom is the point of the poem. The rhetoric of the poem leads the reader to the conclusion that
the wisdom they are in search of is only available through revelation by God. In the last strophe
(Job 28:23-28) the conceptual and semantic relationship between the definition of wisdom and
understanding and the human embodiment is found in the character of Job (Job 1:1). This author
observes that the last strophe is the critique against the assertion of Job’s friends to return to the
traditional fear of the LORD (Job 4:6; 15:1-6; 22:1-4) as the path to peace. Habel writes Job’s
17
Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent Event,” 211.
18
Ibid.
19
Ibid.
163
friends maintained that he subverted true piety and was being punished as a result.
20
If Job
returned to the traditional fear of God, he would find confidence (Job 4:6).
21
However, Job lost
confidence in the fear of the LORD; it failed to protect and gift him and his friends with the
acumen to understand his hardship. Though Job is described as the embodiment of wisdom and
understanding (Job 1:1; 8; 2:3, 9; 4:6), possession of either is elusive (Job 4-27). In this way, the
last strophe (Job 28:23-28) prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in
the book in the forthcoming context since God alone is the source of, understands, and exercises
wisdom and understanding in governing creation (Job 28:23-27; 38-41). God retains possession
of wisdom and understanding and then reveals it to humans so they may understand their role
and relationship to the Lord (Job 28:28).
The recognition of poetry in Job 28 allows for the language to be “verbally inventive in a
way that biblical narrative cannot be.”
22
This study recognizes the poetry of Job 28 as a
metaphorical embellishment on the search for wisdom and understanding depicted in the defense
and debate cycles (Job 4-27). The poem also prepares the reader in the third strophe (Job 28:23-
28) to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the book revealed in the Yahweh speeches
(Job 38-41). The poetry in chapter 28 allows Job and his interlocutors (Job 4-27; 28:1-22), as
well as Yahweh in his reply to Job (Job 28:23-28; 38-41), the freedom to express ideas with the
rhetorical power of “images and metaphors,”
23
that transcends the logic of “stated premise and
evidence”
24
20
Habel, The Book of Job, 393.
21
Ibid., 392-393.
22
Tod Winafelt, “Why Is There Poetry in the Book of Job,” Journal of Biblical Literature 140, no. 4
(2021): 696.
23
Ibid.
24
Habel, The Book of Job, 392–93.
164
To establish the metonymical movement in the poem as described by Hankins, the close
relationship between mining in Job 28:1-11, the search for wisdom and understanding in the
defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27), along with the relationship between wisdom and the
precious resources described in Job 28:1-6 is established intertextually and aesthetically. As an
example, the relationship between wisdom, silver, and gold is illustrated in the way the latter two
reflect wisdom’s incomparable value as an immaterial good in (Job 28:15; Prov 2:4; 3:13-18;
8:1-11, 18-21; 16:16). The figuration allows for the possibility to see the metonymical movement
of Job 28:1-19 as leading the reader to the same discovery on the worth, source, and place of
wisdom as appearing by revelation from Yahweh alone apart from human convention (Job 28:23-
27). The resources described and acquired in Job 28 (silver, gold, iron, copper, sapphire vv. 1-6)
appear to be figurative archetypes that point to something of incomparable worth (wisdom). The
place and source of wisdom is inaccessible through human endeavor.
This study will explore the development and meaning of the three sections in Job 28 with
the following strophic arrangement: the first strophe of (Job 28:1-11) which describes the
achievement and limitations of humanity to discover the rare and precious, the second strophe
(Job 28:12-22) focuses on the subordinate worth of anything in creation by comparison to
wisdom, and the third strophe (Job 28:23-28) reinforces the polarity between human
achievement and God. God has direct access to the rare and precious wisdom. Humans may only
access wisdom “indirectly through submission to the Lord.”
25
This study will consider
Henderson’s proposed refrains as part of the rhetorical strategy of the second strophe because of
the way they appear to embellish humanity’s frustrated efforts to access wisdom anywhere in
creation apart from God. The following study of the words, grammar, and meaning of Job 28 is
offered to substantiate the claim that the chapter is embedded in the preceding context and
25
Henderson, “The Concentric Structure, 26.26–27.
165
prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns of the book. To accomplish the
purpose of this chapter, an exposition of Job 28 is offered to support the thesis that the chapter
serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and
functions as a thematic unifier clarifying human responsibility through the revelation of wisdom
and understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
5.3 The First Strophe: Job 28:1-11
This author observes that Job 28 begins with images of mining activity to prepare the
reader for the later realization that as valuable as silver, gold, iron, copper, and sapphire are, they
still fall behind the most precious thing sought in the world (Job 28:15). Though wisdom is
absent from the first eleven verses as the main subject of Job 28, it appears to be the implicit
focus of the mining activity in Job 28:1-11, evidenced by the question in Job 28:12a “but where
shall wisdom be found?” Through probing the depths of the earth (the place where minerals and
ore are found) the seeker discovers the place of silver (Job 28:1). The seeker discovers the place
set aside for the purpose of purifying gold (Job 28:1b). However, despite human ingenuity and
the ability to probe and illuminate the depths of darkness (Job 28:2-4) the source of wisdom and
the makom (place) of understanding is elusive (Job 28:12, 20). Wisdom comes only through
divine revelation to humanity (Job 28:23-28).
Each strophe is introduced with contextually similar key words. The reader discovers in
Job 28:1: “Surely there is a motza (mine)
26
for silver, a makom (place)
27
for gold to be refined”
26
Francis Brown, Samuel Driver, and Charles Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), [under, motza].
27
Jeremy Thompson, Bible Sense Lexicon: Dataset Documentation, electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA:
Faithlife, 2015). [under, makom which refers to a particular portion of space occupied by something. The same
word appears in Job 28:12, 20.
166
(NRSV). Job 28:12-13 questions the reader on the place, makom, of wisdom, khokmaw´
28
“but
where shall wisdom be found timatze?
29
And where is the makom of understanding (NRSV). The
questions in vv. 12-13 elude that the place of wisdom and understanding is undiscovered by
anyone or anything appearing in creation. Again, the poet asks: “where does wisdom come from
and where is the place of understanding” (Job 28:20, NRSV)? Bakon writes that the terms motza-
timatze and m’ayin yavo convey the source of wisdom and where it is found?”
30
There appears to be an intentional wordplay in Job 28:12, 20 to create dramatic effect on
the search for wisdom evidenced in the questions that later identifies wisdom and understanding
as the main theme of the poem (Job 28:23-28). In the first strophe, Clines observes that with a
purposeful lack of straightforwardness, the poet provides no hint of the theme or direction of the
poem at the beginning since it would subvert the mystery found in Job 28:12, 20.
31
The refrains
hint that wisdom is the primary theme of the poem and establishes the metonymical relationship
between wisdom, silver, gold, iron, copper, and sapphire. The first and second strophe prepares
the reader to discover the answer to the questions in the refrain as the third strophe identifies the
source and place of wisdom and understanding.
The ambiguity created in the first strophe energizes the dramatic effect of the poem and it
is reinforced by the refrains in vv. 12 and 20. The ambiguous nature of the poem is akin to the
uncertainty experienced in the defense and debate cycles. In the soliloquy of Job 3, the
protagonist questions “Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?”
28
Robin P. Nettelhorst, “Wisdom,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, electronic ed. (Bellingham, WA:
Lexham Press, 2014), [under, khok-maw´].
29
The Lexham Analytical Lexicon, [under, hāphakh]. The word means to overturn, overthrow, demolish,
change.
30
Shimon Bakon, “Two Hymns to Wisdom: Proverbs 8 and Job 28,” Jewish Bible Quarterly 36, no. 4
(2008): 227.
31
Clines, Job 21-37. [under, Job 28:1-6].
167
(NRSV). Job searched for answers again in Job 9:2 “how can a mortal be just before God?”
(NRSV). Job’s search for answers appears as exhaustive as the search for the rare and precious
resources mined from the earth. The mining activity produced only what was available in
creation. Likewise, the only answers available to Job is what is found in creation through human
reason offered by Eliphaz (Job 4-5; 15; 22), Bildad (Job 8; 18; 25), and Zophar (Job 11; 20).
Mining activity and copper smelting like what is described in Job 28:1-11 occurred in the
Early Bronze Age to the Byzantine era during a period of social change.
32
Advances in
metallurgy during the Early Bronze Age are linked with social change in the southern Levant and
the rise of early civilizations and urban centers.
33
Levy et al. observes evidence from the Khirbat
Hamry Ifdan (KHI) in the Faynan district of southern Jordan of the “largest Early Bronze Age
metal workshops.”
34
Archaeological evidence reveals shafts approximately twenty meters deep
with narrow galleries of seventy centimeters to one meter high carved into the cupriferous white
sandstone formations.
35
Rothenberg observes archaeological evidence of marks made by ropes
that scoured the surface of the earth from the Timna Valley
36
that persons and buckets of ore were
raised and lowered to another team (likely women)
37
who received the buckets of ore and crushed
32
Thomas Levy and Russell B. Adams, “Early Bronze Age Metallurgy: A Newly Discovered Copper
Manufactory in Southern Jordan,” Antiquity 76 (2002): 425.
33
Ibid.
34
Ibid.
35
Beno Rothenberg, Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines (London: Thames and Hudson, 1972), 15-
20.
36
The Timna Valley is also known as wadi Mene’iyeh in Arabic. In the Hebrew Bible, nahal is translated
twice as “wadi” in Num 21:12, 14-15; Job 6:15. The translation of nahal as wadi is relevant to the forthcoming
discussion on Job 28:4. The study explores the differences between the two terms and the attempts to resolve the
poetic tension in verse 4 through translating nahal as wadi to accommodate the prototypical use of the words. This
author argues that the poet appears to deliberately use words in an unconventional manner as part of the strategy of
leaving the reader with a sense of disappointment and the realization that human efforts and capacity never produced
the fruit of what they expected to find.
37
Beno Rothenberg, Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, ed. Michael Avi-Yonah
and Ephraim Stern (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), 1202. Rothenberg argues this type of work was
performed by women during the mining process.
168
it into smaller bits that were then thrown into a smelting furnace.
38
Ellen van Wolde observes that
copper was mined from deep, narrow tunnels by slaves, captives, and criminals who hammered
the ore.
39
The conceptual understanding of mining in the ancient Near East allows the reader to
envisage human skill at a high level,
40
as well as the energy expenditure in the search for what is
rare and precious and its effects on creation. Kleiman, Kleiman, and Ben-Yosef writes that
“‘know-how’ from people of a lower social status was a crucial commodity in highly advanced
metallurgical practices of acquiring”
41
and copper smelting such as what is described in the first
strophe (Job 28:1-11).
42
Sapir-Hen and Ben-Yosef informs of archaeological evidence of
metalworking sites such as ‘Slaves’ Hill’ that depict desert settings filled with armies of slaves
engaged in “backbreaking labor.”
43
The name ‘Slaves’ Hill’ was given after examination of the
site which was located on a hilltop and surrounded by cliffs intended to prevent workers from
escape; the site was indicative of forced labor by those who ruled society.
44
Job 28:1-6 appears to be a reference to the mining activity, skills, and the efforts involved
in the acquisition of precious resources that appear to be consistent with the practices of the
ancient Near East. Job 28:1-6 references the same type of resources of silver, gold, and iron that
38
Rothenberg, Encyclopedia of Archaeological, 1202.
39
Ellen van Wolde, “Cognitive Linguistics and the Hebrew Bible, illustrated with a Study of Job 28 and
Job 38,” The Professorship of Semitic Languages at Uppsala University 400 Years: Jubilee Volume from a
Symposium held at the University Hall 24 (September 2005): 255.
40
Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef, “The Socioeconomic Status of Iron Age Metalworkers: Animal
Economy in the 'Slaves' Hill,' Timna, Israel,” Antiquity 88, no. 341 (2014): 787.
41
Sabine Kleiman, Assaf Kleiman, and Erez Ben-Yosef, “Metalworkers' Material Culture in the Early Iron
Age Levant: The Ceramic Assemblage from Site 34 (Slaves’ Hill) in the Timna Valley,” Journal for the Institute of
Archaeology of Tel Aviv University 44, no. 2 (September 13th, 2017): 258.
42
Ibid.
43
Sapir-Hen and Ben-Yosef, “The Socioeconomic Status,” 775.
44
Ibid., 776.
169
are refined and or procured from the earth. Thus, the mining activity of the ancient Near East
provides contextual understanding on the meaning and function of the reference to similar
activity in Job 28:1-11. The mining activity of Job 28:1-11 describes the shift from human skill
and energy on the earth and portrays human limitations as well as the disastrous effects of human
convention upon the earth in the search for precious resources.
45
The miner possesses the skills
to acquire the rare and precious (silver, gold, iron, copper, sapphire). The miner knows the place
where the precious resources are found evidenced by the particle conjunction kî,
46
“surely” which
also means “verily and indeed,”
47
and the Hebrew yēš, “there is” which is a particle of
affirmation referring to the certain existence of an object,
48
“Sure there is a mine… and a
place…out of the earth” (Job28:1, NRSV). Job 28:1, 12, 20 sets the tone of what can be known
with relative certainty through human skill and effort in contrast to the mystery of the place of
wisdom and understanding in the refrain of vv. 12, 20. Mining the earth only produces what is
possible to discover in creation. The place of wisdom remains a mystery until it is revealed by
God (Job 28:12, 20, 28).
Wolde observes Job 28 to be a prototypical scenario of mining, exploring, and searching
in remote places for what is precious that parallels the fixed series of actions of mining activity
previously described.
49
In verse 1, Wolde observes “no reference to the minerals of silver and
gold themselves but to their place motza (mine) for silver, and their placer makom (place) for
45
Wolde, Cognitive Linguistics and the Hebrew Bible, 254-257.
46
The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017). [under, kî,
surely].
47
Ibid.
48
James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament),
electronic ed. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), [under entry: 3780].
49
Wolde, Cognitive Linguistics and the Hebrew Bible, 257.
170
gold to be refined” (Job 28:1, NRSV).”
50
The Hebrew word motza is used twenty-six times in the
Hebrew Bible, but only used once to refer to “mine” (Job 28:1).
51
Preuss observes that motza in
Job 28:1 has a wide range of meanings in the Hebrew Bible to refer to an “exit, going out,
intention, point of departure, or rising”
52
as a way of describing the place of origin.
53
Like the
skilled miner who probes the depths of the earth for precious resources, the poet knows the place
where silver is found.
In Job 28:2-4, mining for the rare and precious commodities involves skill, courage,
effort, and teamwork from the miners suspended on ropes in remote places; “they open shafts in
a valley away from human habitation” (vv. 2-4, NRSV). Mary Hom writes that in Job 28:4 the
Hebrew word naḥal, translated as “shafts” in English is an “unusual and difficult use of a word
in a profoundly nuanced passage”
54
which provides significant interpretive difficulty.
55
Anderson
writes “there is no evidence that nahal can mean a mining shaft”
56
as it appears in the English
text.
Nahal appears in the Hebrew Bible 137 times and is translated once as shaft, which refers
to a long, narrow passage sunk into the earth (Job 28:4).
57
Once, nahal is translated as “flowing”
50
Wolde, Cognitive Linguistics and the Hebrew Bible, 257.
51
Horst Dietrich Preuss, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and
Helmer Ringgren, trans. David E. Green (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990),
6:227.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Mary Katherine Yem Hing Hom, “Water, Wisdom, and Life: Literary Insights on the Use of Naḥal in Job
28:4 with Reference to Job 28:1-28 and 38:22-30,” Vetus Testamentum 67 (2017): 1.
55
Ibid., 2.
56
Anderson, Job: An Introduction. [under, Job 28:1-11].
57
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition
(Anaheim, CA: Foundation Publications, 1998). [under entry, 5158a, Nachalah].
171
in Job 20:17 and once the word is translated as “dreadful” in Job 30:6.
58
On four occasions in the
Hebrew Bible, nahal is translated as “ravine” or “ravines” in Nehemiah 2:15; Isaiah 7:19; 57:5-
6.
59
On five occasions nahal is translated as “wadi” (Num 21:12, 14-15; Job 6:15).
60
Ten times
nahal is translated as “torrent” in places such as: Judges 5:21; 2 Samuel 22:5, Psalms 18:4;
74:15; 83:9 as well as Isaiah 30: 28, 33, and Jeremiah 47:2.
61
In ten other places nahal is
translated as “stream” (Gen 32:23; 2 Chr 32:4; Pss 78:20; 124:4; Isa 11:15; 34:9; 35:6; 66:12; Jer
31:9, and Amos 5:24).
62
In eighteen of the 137 times nahal is used in the Hebrew Bible it refers
to a river or rivers (Lev 11:9-10; Deut 2:37; 3:16; Judg 4:7, 13; Ps 36:8; Ecc 1:7; Lam 2:18; Ezek
47:5-12, used seven times, and Mic 6:7).
63
The remaining eighty-seven occurrences of nahal in
the Hebrew Bible is translated as valley or brook.
64
A comparison of several versions of Job 28:4 reveals some disparity among Bible
translations. Nahal is often translated as shaft. However, the Biblia Sacra Juxta Vulgatam
Clementinam, refers to nahal as “torrēns” which refers to “stream” 119 times in the Latin
Vulgate.
65
Targum Job refers to nahala in Job 28:4 and it is defined as “wadi” in Palestinian
Aramaic and “stream” in Syriac.
66
It appears the most conventional use of nahal in the Hebrew
Bible refers to water rather than a mining shaft and supports Hom’s proposal to resolve the
58
Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic, [under entry, 5158a, Nachalah].
59
Ibid.
60
Ibid.
61
Ibid.
62
Ibid.
63
Ibid.
64
Ibid.
65
Analytical Lexicon of the Vulgate, ed. Isaiah Hoogendyk and Andrew Curtis, electronic ed. (Bellingham,
WA: Faithlife, 2018), [under, torrēns].
66
Targum Lexicon, [under, Nahala].
172
poetic tension in conversation with the forthcoming context of Job 38:22-30 through an
emendation of nahal as water instead of shaft.
67
The Septuagint translates the beginning of Job
28:4 as “διακοπὴ χειμάρρου ἀπὸ κονίας ….”
68
The Greek word χειμάρρου is translated as nahal
in Job 28:4 and refers to a “winter-flowing”
69
or a place “swollen by rain and melted snow,
mountain streams.”
70
The Lexham English Septuagint translates Job 28:4 as “there is a cleft of
the rain-swollen waters from ashes, and those who forget the way of the righteous stumble
according to mortals.”
71
To accommodate the conventional use of nahal as water or waterway, Hom argues for an
interpretation of Job 28 that absorbs the “poetic tension”
72
in Job 28:4 as being resolved in Job
38:25: “who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt” (NRSV).
Hom’s proposal argues this interpretation draws the necessary contrast between the efforts of
Yahweh and humanity evidenced by the “fruit they provide.”
73
However, the assumption that
poetic tension must be resolved is unnecessary given the way nahal is used in Job elsewhere to
refer to something other than water. Job 21:33 uses nahal as “valley.” Job 22:24 uses nahal as
part of the metaphor to describe gold being treated no different than the stones of a “torrent-bed”
(NRSV). Last, nahal is used in reference to the gullies of the ravines in Job 30:6. The translation
of nahal as shaft or deep pit instead of waterway is one of two examples in Job 28:4 where
67
Hom, “Water, Wisdom, and Life,” 2.
68
Septuaginta, [under, Job 28:4].
69
A Greek-English Lexicon, ed. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones, and Roderick
McKenzie, electronic ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 1982, [under, χειμάρρου].
70
Ibid.
71
The Lexham English Septuagint, ed. Rick Brannan, Ken Penner, Israel Loken, Michael Aubrey, and
Isaiah Hoogendyk (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), [under, Job 28:4].
72
Hom, “Water, Wisdom, and Life,” 2.
73
Ibid.
173
words are used in what appears to be an unconventional manner. For example, the Hebrew word
gûr is translated in a manner distinct from the Septuagint κονίας in Job 28:4.
74
The Hebrew word
gûr found in the Masoretic Text is translated in English as “human habitation” but the equivalent
Greek word κονίας in the Septuagint refers to “plaster or burnt limestone” which results in the
translation: “there is a cleft of the rain-swollen waters from ashes,” (LES, emphasis mine).
Perhaps the rationale behind contemporary English translations use of “shaft” for nahal is
the immediate context. The first word of Job 28:4 pāraṣ points the reader back to the prior verse
as a reference that identifies who “they” are in relation to the rest of the verse. The identity of
those who “open shafts in a valley” are the miners in Job 28:3. The poetry of Job 28 depicts a
certain type of mining activity without mention of the types of mining that occur in rivers. The
imagery in Job 28 is of miners who destroy the earth to acquire the precious material resources,
evidenced by a vision of the earth’s complete undoing which is evoked by use of hāphakh
75
“turned up” (vv. 5, 9). Mountains are overturned, shafts are opened, and the rivers are probed
(vv. 9-11). Through diligence and effort, the rare and precious is seen with the eye where “hidden
things are brought to light” (vs. 11b, NRSV). Alden observes the scene of vv. 10-11 as a
“moment of special triumph for a miner to break away rock and realize he has hit pay dirt.”
76
The
poet appears to intentionally use words in an unconventional manner to frustrate an anticipated
understanding of how things are supposed to function in creation evidenced by the lack of
wisdom and understanding evident in the debate cycles.
74
Johan Lust, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint: Revised
Edition (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2003), [under, κονίας].
75
The Lexham Analytical, [under, hāphakh]. The word means to overturn, overthrow, demolish, change.
76
Robert L. Alden, “Iv. The Wisdom Chapter,” in Job, electronic ed., vol. 11, The New American
Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Hoilman Publishers, 1993). [under, Job 28:10].
174
This author believes the unconventional use of words is analogous to the “dramatic irony
which continues throughout the whole book.”
77
The audience knows what is hidden from Job.
That which is truly precious is found in God alone.
78
From the prologue until this point, the
audience is aware of the decisions made in the council (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). The audience knows
what the miner has been unable to find through diligent efforts, the place of wisdom and
understanding (Job 28:23-28). Lo writes the “audience elevating strategy effectively engages the
audience to view the whole development of the story, to wrestle with the characters, to
experience a reformation of worldview and to venture on a new journey of character
transformation.”
79
This study argues that Job 28 functions in tension as a figurative interpolation in
relationship to the preceding and forthcoming context. Therefore, it is unnecessary to restructure
the book
80
or to make emendations to Job 28:4 to accommodate the prototypical use of words for
the sake of resolving any supposed poetic tension. The tension created by the unconventional use
of nahal and nearly every word of Job 28:4 appears to be part of the strategy of leaving the
reader with a sense of disappointment and the realization that human efforts and capacity never
produced the fruit of what they expected to find. This author proposes that the mining activity of
Job 28:1-11 and the unconventional use of words in Job 28:4 creates an expectation that is
immediately frustrated to emphasize the limitations of humanity to perceive the precious wisdom
sought after apart from divine revelation. Hom observes “the fact that there is no actual water in
the conceptual picture of Job 28:1-11 leaves the reader hanging in both cases, expecting a deluge
77
Lo, Job 28 as Rhetoric, 45.
78
Ibid.
79
Ibid.
80
See chapter three of this study regarding the restructuring proposals of Clines and Greenstein.
175
but left with hard earth and precious metals and gemstones.”
81
The sense of frustration
experienced by the language is Job 28:4 creates an expectation that ends in disappointment
through the intentional misuse of words from their ordinary sense. The scenario is analogous to
the disappointment experienced by the reader left with the assumption that a man who was
blameless, feared God, and shunned evil would have already discovered the fountain of blessing
and the paradigm that safeguarded him from suffering (Job 1:1; also see Deut 28:1).
Jones writes the couplets in Job 28:7-8 complement Job 28:5-6 which described the
topography whereas vv. 7-8 list the animals that occupy the space “between the known world and
the world beyond: animals of the air (vs. 7) and ground (vs. 8).”
82
The significance of vv. 5-8 in
relationship to the miner’s expedition is that it completes the description of the world in which
the search is undertaken and moves from the deep shafts to above and on the earth. Wisdom is
seen in the elements of creation but evades human acquisition because it is immaterial (Job
28:10). Gordis illustrated the point of Job 28:11 with “all hidden material things man can bring to
light, but not wisdom, the light of the world.”
83
Wisdom eludes the efforts of the most diligent
and innovative people regardless of how deep they channel through the earth in the quest (vv. 1-
6). The path of wisdom and understanding is imperceptible to animals with sharp eyesight (birds
of prey and the falcon, vv. 7, 21), and it cannot be seized by animals with the greatest capacity to
exert presence and strength (the lion, vv. 7-8).
Jones argues the poem draws imagery from models which are foundational to the rhetoric
of the poetry which demonstrate “wisdom through individual exploration and wisdom through
81
Hom, “Water, Wisdom, and Life,” 6.
82
Scott C. Jones, “Lions, Serpents, and Lion-Serpents in Job 28:8 and Beyond,” Journal of Biblical
Literature 130, no. 4 (Winter 2011): 681.
83
Robert Gordis, The Book of Job: Commentary, New Translation, and Special Studies (New York, NY:
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1978), 308.
176
revelation.”
84
In the first strophe, the miner challenges “divine-human boundaries”
85
by force
(Job 28:9-10). The “precious” (Job 28:11, NRSV) is removed from the depths and brought to
light. Jones writes the rare, precious objects mentioned in the first strophe found in the “ore in
gloom and deep darkness” (Job 28:3) is a metaphor for wisdom.
86
During the expedition the
explorer intends to find and remove wisdom from the earth in the same manner as silver and ore.
The expectation was set that the miner would find what was sought after though it only led to
emptiness. Job 28:7-8 underscores the difficulty of laying hold of wisdom from the earth
evidenced by “no” or “not” four times in these two verses which demonstrate the ignorance of
humanity and the animal kingdom on the whereabouts of wisdom’s place.
87
The poetry of Job 28 is embedded in the preceding context as an embellishment to the
disappointment experienced by Job and his interlocutors in their search for wisdom and
understanding with respect to his suffering and it is coupled with the expectation that if Job were
to “return to the Almighty, you will be restored” (Job 22:23, NRSV). The rhetoric of the poem
creates the expectation of finding what one is searching for but ends in disappointment because
the search begins and ends with human effort, perception, and limitations. The fear of the Lord
failed to keep Job safe even though there was a belief and expectation that it would. The tension
and sense of disappointment created in this first strophe gradually leads the reader to ask the
question in Job 28:12, “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of
understanding?”
Job creates conceptual tension by introducing the reader to an innocent character who
feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1) and through no fault or choice of his own became the
84
Scott C. Jones, “Job 28 and Modern Theories of Knowledg3e,” Theology Today 69, no. 4 (2013): 487.
85
Ibid., 492.
86
Jones, “Job 28 and Modern Theories,” 491.
87
Ibid., 492.
177
victim of evil. The evil was permitted by God after the challenger insinuated that Job’s devotion
was motivated by the prospect of reward (Job 1:9). This author observes that the tension and
ambiguity in the book is intentional and part of the rhetorical strategy. The tension builds during
the defense and debate cycles through the interlocutors’ insistence that if Job would simply
return to the practices that failed to protect him from suffering, that he would be restored (Job
22:23). However, Job and his friends experience the frustration of the miners that what is sought
and obtained through human skill and effort in creation alone fails to produce the true treasure of
wisdom (Job 28:12, 20). The treasure of wisdom must be divinely revealed since it is not
obtained through skill and effort, found in person, or place in creation. Thus, the poetry of Job 28
articulates human limitation (Job 28:1-22) and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to
Yahweh (Job 28:23-28; 38-42:6). The need to resolve the poetic tension fostered throughout the
book is unnecessary. In the end, Yahweh’s reply to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38-41) and Job’s
acknowledgement of God’s wisdom in creation (Job 42:5-6) serves the legitimizing ideology of
the author to substantiate the wisdom of God in, over, and through creation without the need for
an explanation for the cause of innocent suffering or to suggest that one’s piety and devotion is a
safeguard against personally troubling decisions made in the divine council (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6).
88
5.4 The Second Strophe: Job 28:12-22
Magallanes writes the first two strophes are in juxtaposition as a way of emphasizing
wisdom as the “overt topic of discussion.”
89
There is a place for treasure (Job 28:1-2, 5-8), but
88
Refer to chapters two and three of this study as a reference to the legitimizing ideology of the conflict
myth topos.
89
Sophia A. Magallanes, “4.2 Exegesis of Job 28:12-14 // Job 28:20-22, the "Where" of Wisdom,” in
Bringing Wisdom Back Down to Earth: A Wisdom Reading of Job 28 (Edinburgh, Scotland: PhD diss University of
Edinburgh, 2011), 115.
178
the place of the greater treasure in Job 28:15-19 remains a mystery to human beings. The first
strophe (Job 28:1-11) laid the foundation for the extrapolation of the analogy of wisdom as
treasure in the second (Job 28:12-22).
90
The earth yields iron, copper, ore, bread, sapphires, and
gold (Job 28:1-6), “but where shall wisdom be found” and where is the place of understanding?”
(Job 28:12, NRSV). The second strophe identifies the goal of the expedition—to find the place
of wisdom and understanding. Job 28:12 and 28:20 asks the central question of the poem.
Though wisdom is the overt topic of the poem, its place and acquisition by human effort is covert
and elusive. The question on the place of wisdom (Job 28:12, 20) imagines that it exists in a
discoverable place on earth. Job 28:13 reinforces the realization experienced by the miner in the
first strophe (Job 28:1-4, 10-11).
Regardless of how deep the earth is probed or how high and powerful the search (Job
28:7-11), wisdom evades natural human acquisition. In reference to the phrase “Mortals do not
know the way to it” in Job 28:13 (emphasis mine), Brannan and Loken observes the Septuagint
provides an emendation of the Hebrew ʿēreḵ as “the way” in Job 28:13 (ὁδὸν αὐτῆς) instead of
“its proper value.”
91
Clines writes ʿēreḵ connotes both arrangement and valuation and thus
dispenses with the insinuation that the emendation changes the intended meaning.
92
The context
of the verse suggests “the way” is an appropriate translation given the mining expedition failed
to result in the acquisition of wisdom in any physical location on earth (Job 28:1-11). Mortals
have been unable to discover the path of wisdom in any place in creation (Job 28:13-14). The
second strophe considers both the “where” (Job 28:12-14) and worth of wisdom (Job 28:15-19).
Thus, the translation of ʿēreḵ in Job 28:13 as way or value seems appropriate.
90
Magallanes, Bringing Wisdom Back, 115.
91
Rick Brannan and Israel Loken, The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible, Lexham Bible Reference
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), [under, Job 28:13].
92
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, ed. David J.A. Clines (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic
Press, 1993–2011), 7:279, [under, 6:561]. The author for this entry is unknown.
179
The attempt to purchase wisdom with precious treasure appears to have been part of the
search and mining expedition. In Job 28:15-19, humans have an awareness of the value of
wisdom evidenced by the statements made regarding its worth by comparison to precious
treasures acquired through human effort. Wisdom’s value is incomparable and unavailable for
purchase with valuable resources such as: gold, silver, onyx, sapphire, jewels of fine gold, coral,
crystal, pearls, the chrysolite of Ethiopia, and pure gold. Job 28:18 accentuates the experience of
frustration. The path of wisdom is unknown, and it cannot be obtained through an exchange of
earthly treasure: “and the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls” (Job 28:18b, NASB).
Job 28:20-22 reiterates the refrain of Job 28:12 embellished through desperation of the
miner to locate the place of wisdom in its response. The place of wisdom is “hidden from the
eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air” (Job 28:21, NRSV). Coupled with the
living in vs. 21 death and destruction are personified in vs. 22 as having heard rumors of wisdom
to emphasize that it is hidden from all beings both living and dead. Though Job 28 features the
hiddenness of wisdom in creation, it “does not negate the value of creation as a wisdom
teacher.”
93
The poem shows that creation provides a pattern that leads the reader to the realization
that “God has the sole, full perception of what wisdom is in the world.”
94
The first two strophes of Job 28 in juxtaposition to one another prepare the reader to
realize that the place and price of wisdom is beyond human capacity and acquisition through
effort and purchase power. Wisdom is as hidden from the miner as God is from Job’s plea to
appear in court for cross examination (Job 9-10). If wisdom is to be found, it must be revealed
and provided to humanity. The second strophe consists of questions and statements on the place
and value of wisdom and helps to foster the expectation and anticipation of the answer given in
93
Magallanes, 4.2 Exegesis of Job 28:12-14, 134.
94
Ibid.
180
the last strophe (Job 28:23-28). Wisdom and understanding are known and revealed to humanity
by God alone.
5.5 The Third Strophe: Job 28:23-28
Henderson observes Job 28 to have a concentric structure with section A (Job 28:1-11)
and section A1 (Job 28:23-28) to present two contrasting ways of acquiring wisdom.
95
In section
A, the search for wisdom is metaphorically embellished in the miner’s search for the rare and
precious found beneath the surface of the earth. The miner returned from the expedition with
only the resources available in creation through human ingenuity and effort. The treasure of
wisdom that exceeds the value of gold, silver, onyx, sapphire, coral, crystals, and pearls (Job
28:14-19) was elusive.
In section A1 (Job 28:23-24) “God understands its way, and he knows its place” (NASB).
While section A (Job 28:1-11) emphasizes the perspective of the miner under the earth, the last
strophe, section A1 (Job 28:23-28) assumes God’s perspective as the one who “understands the
way to it, and he knows its place … and sees everything under heaven” (vv. 23-24). The Hebrew
verb bîn, “understands,” refers to “activity of perception via the senses—seeing, hearing, and
feeling.”
96
The verb “understands” in Job 28:23 is used like it appears elsewhere, e.g., Nehemiah
13:7, Job 23:5, and Psalm 58:9, and draws the distinction between what is mentally
comprehended by the miner and God (Job 28:12; 20; 23).
Job 28:24b advises that God “knows its place.” The phrase presents God as being in
possession of a specific piece of information with respect to the place of wisdom (Job 28:12,
95
Henderson, “The Concentric Structure,” 35.
96
Nettelhorst, Lexham Theological Wordbook, [under, understands, bîn].
181
20).
97
The contrast between what is perceived by humanity and God is further articulated in Job
28:24a “For he looks to the ends of the earth” (NRSV). Humans and animals can discern the
evidence immediately within their limited field of vision. God looks to qā·ṣā, the “ends,” as in
the far extremities of the earth (Job 28:4b, NRSV) and sees the entirety of “everything under the
heavens” (Job 28:24b).
98
God perceives what is beyond the vision of humanity, lions, and birds
of prey (Job 28:1-11). God fully perceives and possesses what is impossible and imperceptible to
humanity. In Job 28, the miner discovers the answer to the questions in Job 28:12, 20 with God
(Job 28:23-28). This pattern of discovery points to what Job discovers through the revelation of
Yahweh’s power, providence, and wisdom in creation (Job 38-42:5). The answers sought must be
divinely revealed. Instead of resolving the poetic tension of a blameless man who suffered, the
answer provided clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh (Job 28:28; 42:5).
Job 28:23 provides the first mention of ʾElōhîm in the chapter. Elōhîm, is “usually
considered an abstract, intensifying, majestic, or dominical plural,”
99
that “from the outset also
apparently indicates the numerical plural ‘gods.’”
100
Without qualification, Thompson observes
the sense in which ʾElōhîm is used in Job 28:23 is a reference to the Israelite God.
101
However,
Thompson’s conclusion is problematic apart from forthcoming context (Job 28:28; 38-41). The
identification of Elohim as the Israelite God in Job 28:23 is challenged since there is no prior
mention of Yahweh or ʾAdhōnāi, in the preceding context of the book. Further, as Butler writes,
97
The Lexham Analytical Lexicon, [under, ydʿ "to know"].
98
The Dictionary of Classical, 279, [under, the plural form of qā·ṣā ]. The word appears in this form in the
Dictionary of Classical Hebrew.
99
Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. Jenni Ernst and Claus Westermann, trans. Mark E. Biddle
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 125, [under, ʾelōhîm]. The author of this entry is unknown.
100
Ibid.
101
Thompson, Bible Sense Lexicon, [under, ʾElōhîm].
182
“Israel acknowledged the existence of several gods, though they proclaimed Yahweh as the only
God they should worship.”
102
Heiser observes that the biblical usage of the term Elohim was often void of an
“exclusive set of divine attributes”
103
that would lead a Hebrew reader to think of God the way
modern readers do when the word appears.
104
Heiser writes that “a biblical writer would use
Elohim to refer to anything in the spirit world”
105
and that Elohim refers to the God of Israel as
well as other gods.
106
To explain this position, Heiser cites Psalm 82:1 with the plural Elohim, of
Yahweh’s council as well as the foreign deities Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom in 1 Kings
11:33 who were also identified as Elohim.
107
Heiser observes that in Deuteronomy 32:17, Elohim
appears in juxtaposition with shedim, often translated in many English Bibles as “demons” or
territorial spirits and entities.
108
In the story of the medium at Endor, (1 Sam 28:13), Elohim
describes the “disembodied dead.”
109
As a final example found in Genesis 35:1-7, Elohim may
refer to the angel of Yahweh.
110
Second, the lack of consensus on specific geographic indicators
regarding the location of Uz and the absence of genealogical indicators that identify the ethnicity
of Job presents an interpretive challenge to Thompson’s assertion that the text refers to the
102
Trent C. Butler, “God,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R.
Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy
Widder (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), [under, Introduction].
103
Michael S. Heiser, Sons and Daughters of God: The Believers Identity, Calling, and Destiny
(Bellingham, WA: Logos Mobile Education, 2019), [under, Objections: Part 2, Who is/Are Elohim].
104
Ibid.
105
Ibid.
106
Ibid.
107
Ibid.
108
Ibid.
109
Ibid.
110
Heiser, Sons and Daughters of God, [under, Objections: Part 2, Who is/Are Elohim?].
183
Israelite God.
111
Though the third strophe appears to lead the reader to discover the God known to
and worshipped by Israel as ʾAdhōnāi, (vs. 28), the current form of ʾElōhîm in Job 28:23 is plural
and the distinction between the only God known to Israel and ʾElōhîm is unclear in the verse as it
stands alone.
In Job, ʾElōhîm is referenced seventeen times (Job 1:1, 5-6, 8-9, 16, 22; 2:1, 3, 9-10; 5:8;
20:29; 28:23; 32:2; 34:9; 38:7). The inference to the Israelite God is deduced with the help of the
coordinating conjunction and third person, possessive singular masculine pronoun hûʾ “and he”
which identifies Elohim as a “specific member of a class”
112
instead of a plurality. Thompson’s
argument that Elohim is the Israelite God is revealed in Job 28:28 “And he said to humankind,
truly the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (NRSV). Job
28:28 provides the single mention of the divine name “Lord, “ʾAdhōnāi,” related to Elohim in the
book. The identity of the God who understands the way to wisdom and understanding is clarified
in vs. 28 as ʾAdhōnāi, the God of Israel. Therefore, if the author intended for the reader to arrive
at a different conclusion on the identity of Elohim as the God of Israel, then it seems unlikely
Elohim would point the reader to ʾAdhōnāi as worthy of fear as a human response to the
revelation of wisdom in creation.
113
The reference to ʾAdhōnāi (Lord) identified with Elohim
(God) is common in the Old Testament and first appears in Genesis 15:2 as a prayer from the
patriarch Abraham. Biblical examples of Adhōnāi identified as or with Elohim are found in:
Genesis 15:8; Deuteronomy 3:24; 9:26; 10:17; Joshua 7:7; Judges 6:2; 16:28; 2 Samuel 7:18-20,
22, 28-29; 1 Kings 2:26; Psalms 68:17, 19-20, 32; 69:6; 71:5, 16; 73:28; 86:12, 15;
90:17;109:21; 114:7; 140:7; 141:8; Isaiah 1:24; 3:1, 15; 7:7; 10:16, 23. Further, Ernst and
111
For additional information, see the discussion on Uz from chapter one of this study.
112
Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013), 2013. [under, common noun].
113
Theological Lexicon Of, 125, [under, ʾElōhîm].
184
Westermann write “the Old Testament recognizes only Israel’s God under the various
designations so that one must reconstruct an earlier form contrary to the sense of the text”
114
to
conclude otherwise.
God who understands, knows, looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under
heaven, also gave the wind its weight, apportioned the waters by measure, made a decree for the
rain, and a way for the thunderbolt (Job 28:25-27). Job 28:27 is a key verse in understanding that
the phrase “Then He saw it” as a reference to the wisdom known and exercised by God in the
creative acts of vv. 25-26. Hankins, however, argues that “God does not access wisdom directly
in vv. 23-27; God perceives wisdom only after it appears, surprisingly displaced from God’s
creative activities.”
115
Hankins argues that “Wisdom surprises God as a surplus that, upon
appearing, can be seen, recounted, and fathomed.”
116
Further, Hankins writes that wisdom neither
belongs to God or creation, but is separate from both.
117
In essence, God is an actor who becomes
the surprised observer once wisdom appears.
118
Thus, wisdom is an event instead of a
transcendent ideal and the poetry of Job 28 expresses that the “true sage is the fearer who
perceives the surprising event of wisdom’s immanent appearance, and who resists the futile quest
for wisdom as a transcendent ideal.”
119
This author agrees with Clines who writes “God knows
what is wisdom for humans (v. 23) because at creation, he comprehended the whole created
order … that is, when he created the universe, then he determined the nature of wisdom. Its
114
Theological Lexicon Of, 125, [under, ʾElōhîm].
115
Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent,” 211.
116
Ibid. 224
117
Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent,” 222.
118
Ibid., 224.
119
Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent,” 211.
185
character is therefore ingrained in the fabric of the world, its reality is as fixed as a law of
nature.”
120
The plain reading of the text may suggest that instead of possessing and exercising
wisdom in the creative acts of vv. 25-26, God perceives wisdom after it appears. However, the
argument is less convincing given the language of vv. 23-24. Job 28:23-24 conveys that God
fully perceives and is in possession of specific information on the place of wisdom in
relationship to humanity and creation. In Job 28:24, God “looks to the ends of the earth and sees
everything under heaven” (NRSV), which expresses the notion that nothing ever occurs or is
perceived by God after the fact. God sees everything as it is at once. Wisdom is an event to the
extent it appears as exercised by God in giving the wind its weight, measuring the waters, giving
a decree for the rain and a way for the thunderbolt (vv. 25-26).
121
Even though the phrase in vs. 27 begins with “Then did he see it” (KJV) which alludes to
wisdom as something that occurs to God, the context points back to vv. 25-26 as in “at that
time.”
122
At the time the wind received its weight, the waters were apportioned out by measure,
the rain was decreed, and a way for the thunderbolt was made, God perceived and declared
(sāp
ar) in the sense of “He established it and also searched it out” (NASB). The grammatical
voice relationship of the verb “established it” is hifʿîl
123
which points back to the cause. The
subject of the verb (God), “causes the object of the verb to participate in the action of the verb as
a sort of ‘under-subject’ or ‘secondary subject.’”
124
In this way, wisdom is both an event and an
120
Clines, Job 21-37, [under, Job 28:23-28].
121
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, ed. Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Book House, 1988), 2:2149. The author for this entry is unknown.
122
Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew, 23.
123
Heiser and Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic, 2013, [under, hifʿîl].
124
Ibid.
186
ideal. The wisdom referenced in the third strophe fails to surprise God as suggested by Hankins.
Rather, the text and grammar of Job 28:23-27 reveals God as the subject of the verb, the one who
possesses and exercises wisdom and then it appears in creation.
Wisdom is another way God is revealed in creation. Childs observes “there is a divine
mystery of creation which escapes human ingenuity and defies his diligent search. This
knowledge cannot be wrested from God. It lies concealed within the divine purpose and planted
within his creative works.”
125
Child’s argument is consistent with the theme of the first two
strophes of Job 28. Wisdom evades human ingenuity and reason. The third strophe both reveals
and prepares the reader to encounter God’s wisdom in creation through the Yahweh speeches of
Job 38-41 and is consistent with other portions of the Hebrew wisdom corpus. “The Lord by
wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens” (Prov 3:19, NRSV).
126
The treasure of wisdom in creation is revealed to humanity by God and the true sage is the one
who fears Adhōnāi upon discovery.
Childs writes “wisdom is built into the very structure of reality, and in this role seeks to
guide humanity to the way of truth. However, it cannot be found through reason nor by human
cleverness. The way to wisdom is in the fear of the Lord.”
127
Therefore, Hankins’s argument is
problematic and would require an emendation to the text of vs. 28 to suggest that the sage must
fear wisdom’s surprising appearance. The command of Job 28:28 has the Lord as the object of
fear in mind. The poem concludes in vs. 28 with a revelation from God to humanity to fear
Adhōnāi. The “fear of the Lord” is the human response to the wisdom revealed to humanity by
God. Thus, the true sage is to fear the Lord instead of wisdom’s immanent appearance. Contra
125
Childs, Old Testament Theology, 34.
126
Also see: Psalm 104:24-25; Proverbs 1:20-2:22 on wisdom calling out to the prudent to pay attention
and cherish her value; Proverbs 3:20; 8:17-9:6 express the Hebrew conviction of God’s principled use of wisdom in
establishing creation.
127
Childs, Old Testament Theology, 34.
187
Hankins, it appears that wisdom is a transcendent ideal, possessed and exercised by God in
creation since, “he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth” (vv. 23-24, NRSV).
The text establishes that wisdom has a place in creation rather than its own presence and power
as an event that surprises God only after it appears.
If wisdom was something that occurred to God after it appeared, then Yahweh’s creative
actions and decrees are reactive to its appearance instead of the one who “established it”
(NASB). Wisdom would have been the subject of the creative acts directing the verbs of vv. 25-
27. The consequence of following Hankin’s trajectory is that it presents God as an observer of
something outside of and beyond the creative acts, wisdom, and power articulated in the
forthcoming context (Job 38-41). Further, the revelation from God to humanity in Job 28:28 to
fear Adhōnāi as the beginning of wisdom would be misplaced since God’s relationship to
wisdom is that of a surprised observer.
128
Instead, God is the one who “established it” and
“searched it out” in creation. Wisdom is possessed and exercised by God in creation and the
discovery of its path is revealed to humanity as “the fear of the Lord” (Job 28:28). In this way,
the third strophe prepares the reader to encounter the answers to the concerns raised in the book
through Yahweh’s answer to Job in chapters 38-41.
The divine revelation of wisdom and understanding in creation evidenced by the
statement in Job 28:28 “and he said to humankind,” clarifies human responsibility in relationship
to Yahweh. The Lord is the worthy object of human reverence. God’s possession and exercise of
wisdom in the creative acts of Job 28:25-26 is expounded upon in the forthcoming context of
Yahweh’s reply to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38:1). Yahweh claimed responsibility for laying
the foundation of the earth, (Job 28:25-27 with Job 38:4a) apportioned the waters by measure
(Job 28:25 with 38:8a) and made a decree for the rain and clouds (Job 28:26 with Job 38:9-11,
128
Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent,” 224.
188
28-30). Another expression of Yahweh’s involvement in defining the clouds through wisdom is
found in the forthcoming context Job 38:37. In Job 38:36-37 the poet returns to the subject of
clouds and weather and the word “wisdom” links the main subject of the passage as the
“regulation of weather.”
129
These creative actions and Yahweh’s exercise of wisdom described in
Job 38:36-37, point back to the prior context and is described in the acts of Job 28:25-26. This
author argues that Job 28:28 is both consistent with the legitimizing ideology of kingship and
power and prepares the reader to discover the solution to the concerns in the book evidenced in
Job’s response to Yahweh from the whirlwind (Job 38-42:5).
130
5.6 Conclusion
This study approached the exposition of Job 28 in consideration of its placement,
function, and three strophic movements. The study expounded upon the first strophe (Job 28:1-
11) and demonstrated the mining activity and the related discoveries achievable through human
effort and ingenuity were metaphorically akin to the search for answers experienced by Job and
his interlocutors during the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27). The only resources available to
the miners are what could be harvested from creation. Likewise, the only answers available to
Job for his experience in creation while in his dialogue with his friends are limited to human
reason. The study demonstrated that the silver, gold, iron, copper, and sapphires mentioned in the
first strophe are metonymically related to wisdom as being the implicit focus of the poem,
evidenced by the question at the start of the second strophe “but where shall wisdom be found?
(Job 28:12a, NRSV).
129
Alden, Job, [under, Job 38:36-37].
130
See chapter three and four of this study for a discussion on the legitimizing ideology.
189
This study demonstrated that the first and second strophes are in juxtaposition to
demonstrate that while there is a place for treasure (Job 28:1-2, 5-6, 9-11) that the greater
treasure of wisdom remains a mystery to humanity (Job 28:12, 20). The second strophe clarified
the goal of the expedition—to locate the place of wisdom and understanding (Job 28:12, 20).
Further, the second strophe reinforced the frustrated notion that regardless of how deep the earth
is probed, how high and powerful the search (Job 28:7-11), that wisdom evades natural human
acquisition. Wisdom must appear to humanity through another means since “mortals do not
know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living” (Job 28:13, NRSV). The
movement of the first two strophes lead the reader to the source that transcends everyone and
everything in creation.
The context of Job 28:23-28 reveals the source of wisdom, understanding, and how it is
obtained. The logic of the poem has naturally led the reader to the creator God of Israel as the
final, “place” (vv. 12, 20) one might anticipate finding wisdom since it is unobtainable through
human ingenuity and effort (Job 28:1-11). Wisdom is “hidden from the eyes of all living,
concealed from the birds of the sky,” (Job 28:21, NASB) and merely rumored in the place of the
dead (Job 28:22). This study argues that the search for wisdom described in the first strophe is a
metaphorical embellishment to the search for answers in the preceding context of the defense and
debate cycles (Job 4-27).
The poem has moved from God in the abstract, plural, mythical sense, to the singular,
absolute sense evidenced by the identification of ʾAdhōnāi (Lord) in relationship to Elohim
(God) as the source and place of wisdom. Goldingay writes the reflective poem of Job 28 closes
with a description of God’s relationship to wisdom and understanding and the way humans
acquire this insight.
131
The distinction in sections A (Job 28:1-11) and sections A1 (Job 28:23-28)
131
John Goldingay, Old Testament Theology: Israel's Gospel, electronic ed. (Westmont, IL: InterVarsity
Academic, 2003), 1:45.
190
between humanity and God on wisdom that is accessible and known comes into greater focus in
Yahweh’s reply to Job (Job 38-41). Further, given the creation motif in each strophe of Job 28,
the metaphorical description of humanity’s search for wisdom, and the progressive way the poet
takes the reader to the person of ʾAdhōnāi in the third strophe, the poem prepares the reader to
experience the tension, the sharp distinctions, and encounter the solution to the questions posed
throughout the book in the forthcoming context of Yahweh’s reply (Job 38-41).
In Yahweh’s reply in chapters 38-41, human limitation and perception of how creation is
governed is emphasized in a way reminiscent of how they were poetically portrayed in Job 28:1-
22. This study argues that the wisdom of Yahweh in and over creation described in the speeches
of Job 38-41 is briefly summarized in the third strophe of Job 28:23-28. God “understands the
way to it and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under
the heavens.” Yahweh is the one who gave wind its weight and apportioned the waters by
measure, made a decree for the rain, and a way for the thunderbolt; he established it and searched
it out” (NRSV). The figurative interpolation of Job 28 in relationship to the forthcoming context
of Job 38-41 supply the reader with the “sharpest possible limitations on human wisdom … to
comprehend the divine”
132
and prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the questions the
book raises as experienced by the protagonist in the epilogue (Job 42:1-5). In this way, Job 28
can be understood and interpreted as it appears in its final form as embedded in the preceding
context as a metaphorical embellishment on the inquiry from Job and his interlocuters for
wisdom (Job 1-28:22). The poem then prepares the reader to experience the answer to the
concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming context in the revelation of wisdom and
understanding that clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh—the legitimate
132
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 539.
191
possessor of wisdom and power in creation (Job 28:23-42:5). In this way, Job 28 participates in
the rhetorical strategy of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation.
192
Chapter 6
Concluding Observations and Synthesizing the Project
6.1 The Goal of the Project
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize and synthesize the research of the study. The
goal of the project was to discern and articulate the function of Job 28 within its larger literary
context. The study demonstrated that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier through the
revelation of wisdom and understanding and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to
Yahweh. The relationship of Job 28 to its larger context was explored as part of the interpretive
process of the project and consideration was given to the way the chapter functions as a
figurative interpolation and the integrative center of the book. This author argued that Job 28:1-
22 is a metaphorical embellishment on the search for answers embedded in the prologue,
defense, and debate cycles while Job 28:23-28 prepares the reader to encounter the solution to
the concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming context that features Yahweh’s wisdom and
power in creation and subsequent legitimization of Yahweh’s kingship by the protagonist (Job
38-42:5).
6.2 Challenges to the Study
Childs writes that the “hallmark of the modern period seeks to achieve a unified reading
by various literary critical moves”
1
such as the “realignment of the different parts,”
2
and a
1
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 532.
2
Ibid.
193
“critical elimination of ‘secondary’ material such as the Elihu speeches, the prologue, or the
figure of Satan.”
3
By extension Childs observes that this interpretive feat involves a “theory of
historical development both on the oral and written levels by means of which the parts can be
aligned along a sequence of growth”
4
though “few would agree on how to reconstruct the alleged
history.”
5
A theory of the written development of Job complicates a unified reading of the book if
it is the work of multiple authors and editors during the course of Israel’s history. An
interpretation of Job 28 is met with challenges on authorship which complicates efforts to
capture scribal intention since the reader is faced with the task of discerning the anticipated
meaning a single author may have hoped for with an intended audience.
6
Another challenge to interpreting Job 28 was the identity of the speaking character.
7
Goldingay objects to Job as the speaking character for grammatical reasons. Job 27:1 and 29:1
each begin with “wayyōsep ’iyyôb śĕ’ēt mĕšālô wayyō’mar.”
8
Goldingay points elsewhere in
Scripture to show that the phrase introduces the speaking character in Job 27:1 and 29:1 as a
common way of “resuming after someone else has spoken.”
9
This study agrees with Goldingay
and Estes’s observations that Job 28 represents the reflections of someone other than Job such as
the narrator.
10
Further, Newsom argues the chapter can be understood as one voice among
3
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 532.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
See section “1.4 Challenges to the Study,” the author of Job is anonymous and is believed to be a
composite of multiple editorial revisions completed over different periods of history.
7
See section “1.1 Prolegomena and the Problems of Job” 28 for an expanded presentation on the grammar
and identity of the speaking character of Job 28.
8
Goldingay, “On Reading Job 22-28,” 481. Goldingay referenced Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20-21, 23 as
an example of how the phrase wayyōsep ’iyyôb śĕ’ēt mĕšālô wayyō’mar appears to use similar language to represent
a character resuming their speech after someone else finished.
9
Ibid.
10
Also see: Estes, “Job 28 in Its,” 157.
194
many.
11
The language of Job 29:1 “And Job again took up his discourse and said …” (NASB)
suggests that he is resuming his speech after being interrupted. The interpretive methodology of
this study approached an understanding of Job 28 based on the genre, the context, the words
used, and their literary typing. Insistence on knowing the identity of the speaking character
brought the interpretation of Job 28 to an impasse unless accommodations were made.
The study acknowledged the concerns on the placement and function of the chapter
within its larger context.
12
For example, Clines and Greenstein proposed restructuring the book
for rhetorical and or philological reasons under the premise the chapter is an interpolation forced
into the text during the formation of the final form of the book.
13
Vicchio and Habel acknowledge
a growing consensus for the interpolation hypothesis proposed by Clines and Greenstein.
14
Schmidt and Nel acknowledged that literary and editorial transformations are evident in Job.
15
11
Newsom, The Book of Job, 170.
12
See section 3.2 of this study: Daniel J. Estes. “Job in Its Literary Context,” JSEOT, no 2. (2013), 155.,
and John Goldingay, “On Reading Job 22-28,” The Expository Times 124, no10. (2013), 481. See sections 3.2 and
3.3 of this study: David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20, Volume 17 (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Christian Publisher, 2015),
192., David J.A. Clines, Job, ed. D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, New Bible
Commentary: 21st Century Edition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 481., David J.A. Clines, Job 21-
37, electronic ed., vol. 18A, World Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006). [under,
Job 37:24]., and Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), 8–9.
13
See sections 3.2 and 3.3 of this study: David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20, Volume 17 (Nashville, TN:
HarperCollins Christian Publisher, 2015), 192., David J.A. Clines, Job, ed. D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer,
and G. J. Wenham, New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994),
481., David J.A. Clines, Job 21-37, electronic ed., vol. 18A, World Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 2006). [under, Job 37:24]., and Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2019), 8–9.
14
See: Stephen J. Vicchio, The Book of Job: A History of Interpretation and Commentary (Eugene, OR:
Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020), 182., and Norman C. Habel, The Book of Job (London: SCM Press, 1985), 38.
Both scholars acknowledge the growing consensus for the interpolation hypothesis suggested by Greenstein and
Clines. See: Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), 8-9, 19, 33.,
and David J.A. Clines, “Putting Elihu in His Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37,” JSOT 29, no. 2
(2004): 243.
15
Schmidt and Nel, “Divine Darkness in the Human,” 127. The authors agree with David J.A. Clines, Job
1-20, Volume 17 (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Christian Publisher, 1989), 34-37 who in his proposal, structures the
Hebrew text in terms of the narrative framework, poetic core, and the speeches that reference the concept of
“darkness,” the Prologue: Framework-Narrator (1:1-2:13); the core dialogue containing three cycles of speeches
195
Schmidt and Nel argue the prologue and epilogue appear to reflect the language of the pre-exilic
Israelite and Judean monarchies (1000-587 BCE) as they appear to be the oldest narrative
framework.
16
Further, Schmidt and Nel observe the poetic dialogue and core chapters appear to
reflect the social circumstances of ancient Israelites and Jews during the Babylonian exile while
Job 28 and the Elihu speeches have an estimated dating from the Persian era (539-332 BCE).
17
Their rationale is based on the assumption that the tone of those chapters appear to have more in
common with Proverbs than the skeptical quality of Job and Ecclesiastes.
18
To the contrary, Estes, argues Job 28 is the “integrative center of the book … despite the
many proposed reconstructions….”
19
Estes appeals to “the earliest textual evidence, from the
Septuagint and Targum Job”
20
which provides the foundation for “the present sequence of
chapters and verses.”
21
Goldingay, Newsom, Lo, and this author also support the traditional
placement of Job 28 in the final form of the book.
22
Further, Childs observes that while there is a
(3:1-11:20, 12:1-20:29, 21:1-31:40), Elihu Speeches (32:1-37:24), Yahweh and (Job 38:1-42:6), and the Epilogue
(42:7-17).
16
Schmidt and Nel, “Divine Darkness in the Human,” 130. Schmidt and Nel rely on the scholarship of Leo
Perdue and W. Clark Gilpin in “Introduction,” in The Voice from the Whirlwind: Interpreting the Book of Job,
(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1992), 11-18. Perdue and Gilpin argue that Job underwent three significant literary
and editorial transformations prior to establishing its present canonical form. The three sections of folktale, poetic
core, and narrative framework were reconstructed based on linguistics (Job 1-2:13 and 42:7-17), the social
circumstances that reflect ancient Israelites and early Jews living in Babylonian exile (Job 3-27 and 29-31), with Job
28 and Elihu’s reply (Job 32-37) as scribal regressions that move away from the skeptical wisdom of Job to the
optimistic wisdom of Proverbs during the final edition of the text in the Persian era (BCE 539-332).
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid. Also see section 3.3 The Compositional Nature of Job 28 as a Figurative Interpolation. The study
acknowledged the literary concerns and challenge of demonstrating how the chapter functions as a thematic unifier
when there is alleged inconsistency in literary typing, the quality of the divine speech, and the canonical shape of the
book.
19
Estes, “Job 28 in Its Literary Context,” 161.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
See 1.1 of this study Prolegomena and the Problems of Job 28. Also see: John Goldingay, “On Reading
Job 22-28,” The Expository Times 124, no. 10 (2013): 484., Carol Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral
196
growing consensus for the interpolation hypothesis, that a universally agreed upon proposal has
failed to emerge.
23
This author supports the traditional placement of Job 28 in the final form of the text as
found in Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: according to the Traditional Hebrew Text,
24
A New
English Translation of the Septuagint (Primary Texts),
25
The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic
and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture,
26
and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.
27
The interpretive
methodology incorporated throughout this study considers Job 28 in its final form. In chapters
two to five, this project made efforts to dispense with the view that Job 28 is the result of scribal
error, or that it is an editorial interpolation forced into the text during the constitution of the final
form of the book.
28
This project demonstrates that Job 28 functions in a way that amalgamates
the preceding and forthcoming context of the book.
Another interpretive challenge to the study was reconstructing the geographical context
that shaped the text.
29
The precise location of Uz relevant to the protagonist is speculative.
MacNicoll observes there are “two traditions concerning the location of Uz: 1) Edom in the
Imaginations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 170., and Alison Lo, “Introduction,” in Job 28 as
Rhetoric: An Analysis of Job 28 in the Context of Job 22-31 (Leiden; Brill, 2003), 20.
23
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 530.
24
Tanakh: a New Translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the Traditional Hebrew Text
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985).
25
“Job 28,” in A New English Translation of the Septuagint (Primary Texts), ed. Albert Pietersma and
Benjamin G. Wright, trans. Claude E. Cox (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
26
Tov, The Parallel Aligned Hebrew, n.p.
27
“Job 28,” in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, electronic ed. (Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 2003).
28
Greenstein, Job: A New Translation 33. Greenstein argues Job 28 is likely the product of scribal error that
happened during the reconstitution process as pages of papyrus came unglued or were stuck together and then taken
apart for the purpose of interpolating the text. Also see pages 8-9 of this same work for Greenstein’s argument.
29
See section 1.4 of this study, John Walton, Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and
Historical Contexts, ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2019), 333.
197
southeast and 2) Syria in the northeast”
30
both of which remain unconvincing. These concerns
presented challenges to an interpretation of Job 28 based on the traditional, historical-
grammatical approach and an identity centered hermeneutic. The study observed the lack of
information on Job’s ethnicity and whether he was an Israelite. There are no tribal associations or
genealogy referenced in the book. Further, the onomastic evidence on the origin and meaning of
the name, Job, is uncertain. Thomas observed that while the name Iyyob is of uncertain
derivation the root identified him as someone “to be hostile to.”
31
Brown, Driver, and Briggs also
observed that while the meaning and origin of Job is uncertain, that he is an “object of
hostility.”
32
Concrete geographical and genealogical data would have been helpful for grasping
the historical, religious, and social context that shaped the teaching of the book. To bridge the
geographic and genealogical data gap the project considered the literary significance of Uz in
chapter three and the possible parodic nature of the name Job in relationship to the theology of
Deuteronomy in the literature review chapter two.
33
A final challenge to demonstrate the thesis that Job 28 is a thematic unifier was observed
in consideration of the large pool of available motifs contained in the book. The study
acknowledged an array of prominent motifs such as: suffering, divine justice, God, and
providence as indicative of the author’s conceptual processes.
34
The project demonstrated that
30
MacNicoll, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 1349. For more information on the geographical context
see section 1.4 Challenges to the Study.
31
Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew, entry 347.
32
Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs, 33, entry S347.
33
See chapter 1, section 1.4 Challenges to the Study,” 18-20 and chapter two, section 2.3 “Intertextuality
and Job,”. This author agrees with Clines who observes that leaving Job’s ethnicity open allows the wisdom of the
book to transcend the distinction between Israelite and non-Israelite. Also see: David J.A. Clines, Job 1-20, Volume
17 (Nashville, TN: Harper Collins Christian Publishing, 2015), 127., and Markus Witte, “Does the Torah Keep Its
Promise? Job's Critical Intertextual Dialogue with Deuteronomy,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katherine J.
Dell and Will Kynes (Camden: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012), 54.
34
Hawley, Metaphor Coherence in the Book, 16.
198
each of the available motifs are brought together under the search for wisdom and understanding
embedded in the preceding context (Job 1-27) and metaphorically embellished in miners
frustrated search for wisdom and understanding observed in Job 28:1-22. The logic of the poem
reveals where wisdom is found and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to the Lord in
the third strophe of Job 28:23-28. In this way, the logic of Job 28 both a figurative embellishment
on the struggle experienced by Job and his interlocutors in their frustrated search for wisdom and
understanding and prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the
book in the forthcoming context of Job 38-41.
6.3 The Interpretive Approach and Methodology
The study proposed a plurality of methods used conjunctively to accommodate the
interpretive challenges mentioned. Chapter two of the study provides a literature review that laid
the foundation for the subjective aesthetic methodology detailed in chapter three of the project.
Chapter three of the study discerned the compositional nature and function of Job 28 within its
literary context by way of an aesthetic methodology. Chapter four of the study demonstrated
Job’s relationship to the category of conflict myth evidenced by the presence of shared motifs
found in ancient Near Eastern parallels to discern the rhetorical purpose of the book to legitimize
the kingship of Yahweh. Finally, chapter five of the study provided an exposition of Job 28 as an
adjunct to balance the inherent subjectivity of the aesthetic methodology of chapter three and to
support the thesis of the project. The exposition considered the context, genre, words, and
literary typing with an aim to understand the chapter in its final form.
This project argued that Job 28 is a figurative rather than a literal interpolation, embedded
in the preceding context, and is a metaphorical embellishment to the search for wisdom and
understanding in the defense and debate cycles while it prepares the reader to encounter the
199
solution to the concerns raised in the book.
35
Chapters two, three, four, and five of this study
demonstrated the diversity, literary, and expositional complexity of interpreting Job 28. The
project interprets and supports the current placement and function of the chapter in the final form
of the text.
A plurality of interpretive choices and methods were used to demonstrate the chapter’s
meaning and rhetorical function within its larger literary context. Seen together, the interpretive
approach of the project observes that Job 28 can be interpreted and understood in its current
placement. The study observes that the presence of the divine assembly, a challenger, a
challenge, and the legitimating ideology observed in the sample of conflict myth topoi to
legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation appears to be in focus throughout Job. A
summary of the progression of the legitimizing ideology found in Job is provided. God’s exercise
of wisdom in creation was the subject of the challenge observed in the prologue (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-
6). Wisdom was sought after in the defense and debate cycles of Job 4-47 and the first two
strophes of Job 28:1-22 affirmed in the poetry of Job 28:23-28, articulated in Yahweh’s reply to
Job observed in Job 38-41, and legitimized by the protagonist in the epilogue, Job 42:2-5. In this
way, Job 28 is observed as serving the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship
of Yahweh over and against subordinate challengers in creation.
The aesthetic grammatical methodology of chapter three and the exposition provided in
chapter five of this study observed the theme of Job 28 is wisdom. As mentioned, wisdom was
sought after in the defense and debate cycles and metaphorically embellished in the mining
expedition of Job 28:1-22. The reader learns that the wisdom sought after in the book is found
and revealed by God alone (Job 28:23-28). Thus, every available motif of the author’s
conceptual network of ideas can be understood as sub-categories that fall under the theme of
35
See section 3.3 The Compositional Nature of Job 28 as a Figurative Interpolation.
200
wisdom and understanding communicated in Job 28. In this way, the study observes that Job 28
is embedded in the preceding context and prepares the reader for the answers to the questions
raised in the book. The project observes that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier through the
revelation of wisdom and understanding and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to
Yahweh.
6.4 Chapter Summaries
Chapter two of the study provided a literature review and sampling of Christian
interpretive approaches toward Job throughout history. The chapter considered intertextuality as
an interpretive methodology since the Bible is both foundational for the interpretation of the
biblical text and formed an early Hebrew and Christian hermeneutic.
36
Job’s inner-biblical
relationship with other portions of the Hebrew Bible was observed. The historically diverse
approach to Job 28 observed in the literature review laid the foundation for the acceptance of the
aesthetic, grammatical methodology incorporated in chapter three, the literary and rhetorical
relationship of Job to the conflict myth topoi in chapter four, and the objective exposition of Job
28 in chapter five of the project.
Chapter two considered the inner-biblical relationship of Job with how the Joban author
either quoted or alluded to earlier citations in the Hebrew Bible and how other biblical writers
quoted or alluded to Job. The intertextual study featured examples of Joban engagement with
Genesis, Deuteronomy, Ketuvim, and the Old Testament prophetic corpus. Job appeared to
engage with Genesis in the frequent reference to ʾādhām which is found forty-six times in
Genesis and twenty-seven times in Job.
37
The frequent reference to ʾādhām in Job suggested the
36
Chou, The Hermeneutics of the, 13–14.
37
Oeming, Reading Job Intertextually, 21.
201
author shared similar anthropological convictions on the origin and use of the word found in
Genesis.
The study considered Joban engagement with the Deuteronomic tradition as informing
Job’s devotional life described in Job 1:1. Witte observed that tradition-historical and redaction
approaches traced references to Deuteronomy in each layer of the development of Job.
38
The
study acknowledged the possible relationship of Job with the Deuteronomistic tradition in the
juridical offer of an explanation for the suffering of the protagonist evidence in the defense and
debate cycles (Job 4-27). Job’s friends appeared to be influenced by the Deuteronomistic
tradition given their understanding of justice and the consequences for disobedience evidenced
by the promises made in Deuteronomy 28:15-67. Frevel argued the Joban author may have used
bitter parody as engagement with Deuteronomy and the Psalms.
39
Job’s misfortune despite being “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned
away from evil” (Job 1:1, NRSV) placed him at odds with the Deuteronomistic tradition that
regarded an upright life and obedience as the path to blessing and protection (Deuteronomy 28:1-
2, 15). The Joban author appeared to continue the sarcastic tone in the reference to Psalm 8:4. In
Job 7:17-18 the tone of reverence articulated in Psalm 8:4 appeared to be changed to one of
protest “what is man that you magnify him, and that you are concerned about him, that you
examine him every morning and try him every moment?” (NASB). Kynes observed that Job
engaged with Psalm 8 as an “appeal to the God it presents against the God who afflicted him.”
40
The paradox in Job is that the Deuteronomic theology of living an upright life failed to protect
him.
38
Witte, Reading Job Intertextually, 54.
39
Frevel, Das Manna Manna Fällt, 262.
40
Kynes, My Psalm Has Turned into, 70. Kynes observed additional close parallels between Job and the
Psalms between Job 12:21, 24 and Psalm 107:40.
202
The study observed that Job’s alleged use of sarcasm toward the Deuteronomistic
tradition was observed as interesting, but problematic. Job’s relationship to the patriarchs and
Moses is never described in the book. Further, the absence of concrete geographical and tribal
indicators made it difficult to discern that Job was an Israelite with specific concern for
obedience to the law given at Sinai. Another potential concern in identifying Job as an Israelite is
the notion that the book represents the composite work of multiple scribes. If Job is a composite
of multiple editorial revisions and interpolations, it is reasonable for the name of the deity in Job
38 to be different than when it appeared in the prologue and Job 28 which dispenses with the
need or desire to make Job an Israelite.
This author observes the way the book progressed in its revelation of God as part of the
rhetorical strategy of revealing Yahweh—the one who was identified and spoke to Moses in
Exodus 3:14 and Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4. This author believes the progressive revelation from
ʾElōhîmi to ʾAdhōnāi to YHWH as a means of identifying Job as an Israelite or at least one
influenced by the theology of Deuteronomy is tenable given Job’s intertextual engagement with
the Deuteronomic tradition observed in this study. An additional connection was observed by
Witte who argued that there was compelling literary and semantic evidence between the theology
of Job and Deuteronomy evidenced in the mention of the “Torah in the early-medieval targum of
Job.”
41
In Job 1:1 the name ʾElōhîmi is used as a reference for God. The book then identified
ʾElōhîmi as ʾAdhōnāi (Lord) for where the search for wisdom ends Job 28:28. In Job 38:1, it is
YHWH who spoke to Job from the whirlwind and reveals unsurpassed wisdom and power in and
41
Witte, Reading Job Intertextually, 54. Witte proposed no specific date on the final form of Deuteronomy
but argues that Job was completed after its conclusion between the fifth and third centuries B.C.E. in a “circle of
Jewish wisdom teachers as a dialogue about the basic questions of the character of God and human beings,” 55. Also
see: (Tg. Job 3:16; 5:7; 11:8; 22:22; 24:13; 30:4; 36:33; 37:21), and Targum Lexicon, Comprehensive Aramaic
Lexicon (Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College, 2004). The author, editor, and translators are unknown. This
work is an ongoing project of Aramaic texts in all dialects from the 9th century BCE to the 13th Century CE. In
Targum Job 5:7 the Aramaic word ‘wryyh appears as the equivalent of Torah, the written law, or Pentateuch.
203
over creation.
42
Additional intertextual engagement was observed between the creation motif
observed in Job 38-41 with Psalm 104. Schifferdecker writes Psalm 104 is the “the longest and
most detailed description of creation in the Bible is found in Psalm 104”
43
and “bears a great deal
of resemblance to the divine speeches.”
44
Another observation was made in the frequent
occurrence of the “fear of the Lord” and “depart from evil” motif observed in Job 1:1, 8; 2:3 and
Psalm 34:14; 110:10, Proverbs 1:7; 3:7; 9:10; 13:14; 16:17; Ecclesiastes 12:13, and Isaiah 1:16.
With respect to the prophetic text, Kynes argued for the need to move beyond the
“scholarly impasse”
45
of wanting to understand authorial intention and the development of the
text over time to having the ideas and concepts be part of a large “web of meaning to be
untangled by the reader.”
46
Kynes observed that Job appeared to engage with the prophetic text of
“Deutero-Isaiah”
47
in Job 9:2-12; 12:7-25, and 16:17 with select passages from Isaiah 40-55.
48
Brinks-Rea observed that Job 12:9 is a shared phrase with Isiaah 41:20.
49
The difference between
the way Isaiah and Job use the phrase is that Isaiah 41:20 appears to be a description of God’s
redemptive actions whereas Job 12:9, 14-25 carries the tone of a sarcastic hymn connected to
God’s judgment.
50
Joyce observed that Ezekiel 14:14 was the only explicit reference to Job apart
42
The Lexham Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012). See: Deuteronomy 6:4, Job 1:1,
28:28, 38:1.
43
Schifferdecker, Out of the Whirlwind, 225.
44
Additional comparisons were made between Job 26:7 with Psalm 104:5. Yahweh’s reply to Job from the
whirlwind found in Job 38-41 appears to demonstrate the divine wisdom in creation articulated in the poetry of
Psalm 104:9, 11, 14, 26. For more information see chapter two, section 2.3 “Intertextuality and Job.”
45
Kynes, Reading Job Intertextually, 94.
46
Ibid.
47
Ibid.
48
Ibid.
49
Brooks-Rea, The Thematic, Stylistic, 170-175.
50
Ibid., also see Job 12:17 where he appears to allude to Isaiah 44:25.
204
from the book that bears his name and points back to Job as the one who effected deliverance for
himself and his friends through righteous conduct (Job 42:7-10).
51
The literature review provided a sampling of patristic and medieval interpretive
approaches to Job. Patristic engagement with the biblical text appeared to rely on intertextuality
as their interpretive methodology evidenced by their ““scripturam ex scriptura explicandam esse
(Scripture is best explained from Scripture) interpretive approach.
52
However, patristic and
medieval exegetical determination on the inner-biblical relationship of Job 28 was problematic
and subjective at times. As an example, Philip the Priest, Gregory the Great, and Ephrem the
Syrian appeared to rely on typology as an interpretive methodology and imposed salvific
reference to the grace of Jesus Christ to demonstrate how Job 28 is understood as a reference to
the gospels. However, typology without consideration of the words, context, and grammar lead
to erroneous conclusions on the function of Job 28 within the book.
53
Chrysostom, Isho’Dad of
Merv, Julian the Arian, and Julian of Eclanum appeared to interpret Job 28 contextually, in the
literal, grammatical sense, evidenced by their consideration of the sense and meaning of the
words used.
Chapter two considered the work of Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas as medieval
exegetes. Augustine considered Job 28:28 as a foundational text for understanding sapienta
(wisdom and discernment).
54
Augustine used Job 28:28 to develop a theology of wisdom and
held the passage in tension with philosophers who wrote of the subject with “no element of
piety.”
55
Augustine observed the discovery of philosophers was reminiscent of the skill of the
51
Joyce, Reading Job Intertextually, 118.
52
Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary, 34.
53
See Chapter Two, section 2.4 “The Patristics and Job,” 11-17 of the study for additional information.
54
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way, 26.
55
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way, [under, 5.5].
205
miners in Job 28:1-22 who locate “the place of silver” (Job 28:1a, NRSV) and see “every
precious thing” (Job 28:10b, NRSV) but fail to lay hold of true wisdom.
56
For Augustine, true
wisdom was the exercise of piety and reverence toward God.
57
With Yahweh’s creative acts and
wisdom in creation articulated in the forthcoming context (Job 38-41) and the shared
anthropological convictions on the origin of humanity between Job and Gensis, Augustine
articulates the full expression of the beginning of wisdom as the “service of God”
58
and fear of
the Lord.
59
Augustine considered the piety and reverence toward God described in Job 28:28 as a
summary text for human responsibility in relationship to providence.
60
Augustine’s observations
appear to support a portion of the thesis that Job 28 clarifies human responsibility in relationship
to Yahweh.
In Expositio super Iob ad Litteram, Thomas Aquinas grappled with the problem of evil
by interpreting the book in a way that encouraged understanding and acceptance of divine
providence.
61
In his treatment of Job 28, Aquinas expounded on the imagery of the first strophe
(Job 28:1-11) of silver, gold, copper, and bronze to lead the reader to discover the greater
treasure is hidden from humanity and is “under divine disposition and so are subject to divine
knowledge.”
62
St. Thomas Aquinas follows the logic of the poem which appears to lead the
reader to conclude that the greater treasure of wisdom comes through divine revelation and is
given to humanity by God. Aquinas divided Job 28 into two lessons to demonstrate that 1)
56
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, The Confessions of St. Augustine, [under, Book 5.3].
57
Augustine, Handbook on Faith, Hope, 2.2.
58
Ibid.
59
For additional information see Chapter Two: 2.5 “Medieval Scholarship and Job.”
60
Quinn and Ayres, Christ the Way, 82.
61
Stump, Reasoned Faith: Essays in, 333.
62
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob Ad Litteram, [under, The First Lesson: Wisdom is not in a Determined
Place].
206
wisdom is not in a determined place and 2) where wisdom is found.
63
In his exposition, Aquinas
demonstrates both the worth and hidden origin of wisdom and leads the reader to realize “God
understands the way to it” (Job 28:23a, NRSV).
Aquinas followed the rhetoric of the poem which sees God as the one who “does not
acquire wisdom from creatures themselves as we do, but rather, he produces creatures according
to his wisdom.”
64
The treasure of wisdom comes through divine revelation as the fear of the Lord
and clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh in the words “to depart from evil is
understanding” (Job 28:28, NRSV). Aquinas emphasized acceptance of divine providence in his
treatment of Job and consideration of theodicy and observed Job 28 to be conceptually and
functionally related to the prior context. Aquinas’s interpretation of Job 28 compliments and
supports the thesis of the project. Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize
the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier clarifying human
responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
The study considered the three expositional sermons of Job 28 from John Calvin. In his
first sermon on the chapter, Calvin connected Job 28 to the last paragraph of the previous chapter
(Job 27:13-23). In doing so, Calvin (like Aquinas)
65
believes Job to be the speaking character and
accepts the traditional placement of the chapter in the final form of the book.
66
In recognition of
the poetry and rhetoric of the chapter, Calvin interprets the language of Job 28:1-9 figuratively as
pointing the reader back to the previous struggle for answers while leading them to discover the
answer found at the conclusion of the chapter (Job 28:23-28). Calvin’s treatment of Job 28
63
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob, [under, Chapter Twenty-Eight: Job Continues His Discourse in Praise of
Wisdom].
64
Aquinas, Expositio Super Iob, [under, The Second Lesson: Where Wisdom is Found].
65
See Chapter Two: 2.5 “Medieval Scholarship and Job,” 21-22.
66
Calvin, Sermons on Job, 2:590.
207
supports the aesthetic methodology of the project and lends credibility that the chapter is a
figurative interpolation that clarifies human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh.
Last, the literature review considered the work of liberation theologian, Gustavo
Gutiérrez in his treatment of Job 28. As an interpretive approach, liberation theology critiques
systems of oppression and observes the suffering of the innocent. For Gutiérrez, the poor and
suffering is the starting point for discussion of God as love.
67
Gutiérrez observed Job 28 as the
poet’s acknowledgement of the longing for an answer to the questions formed during the defense
and debate cycles. The answer to the questions comes through the “esprit de finesse or intuitive
mind, which is capable of a penetrating, comprehensive vision of a reality accessible to all.”
68
Gutiérrez writes the poem of Job 28 is the “poetic hinge… in the development of the book.”
69
In
this observation, Gutiérrez accepts the traditional placement of Job 28 within the book and views
it as providing closure to the preceding context while preparing the reader to hear Yahweh’s
answer from the whirlwind. This author supports the interpretive treatment provided by
Gutiérrez. Gutiérrez demonstrates the literary relationship of Job 28 to the context of the book.
However, there was a missed opportunity inherent in the interpretive framework of liberation
theology to critique the divine council as the system of oppression that resulted in Job’s suffering
and cry for justice.
70
The literature review offered insight into a variety of Christian interpretive approaches to
Job 28 throughout the history of the Christian church. The interpretive sampling provided in the
study demonstrated acceptance of the traditional placement of Job 28 in the final form of the
book, the function of Job 28 serving the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the
67
Gutiérrez, On Job: God-Talk, 12.
68
Ibid., 16.
69
Ibid., 61.
70
See Chapter Two: 2.7 “Liberation Theology and Job,” 29-34.
208
kingship of Yahweh over creation, and the way the chapter clarifies human responsibility in
relationship to Yahweh. The interpretive diversity experienced in the literature review also laid
the foundation for the subjective aesthetic, grammatical methodology incorporated in chapter
three, the literary and rhetorical relationship of Job to the conflict myth topoi in chapter four, and
the objective exposition of Job 28 in chapter five of this project to provide balance to the
inherent subjectivity of the aesthetic methodology.
The goal of chapter three was to discern and articulate the compositional nature and
function of Job 28 in its larger literary context. The interpretive methodology focused on
aesthetics. The study demonstrates the conceptual and semantic relationship of the “fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” in relationship to Job who is
described as a man who embodied the characteristics of wisdom and understanding articulated in
(Job 28:28, also see Job 1:1; 8, 2:3). The study argues that Job 28 is a metaphorical
embellishment on the search for answers embedded in the preceding context (Job 4-27, Job 28:1-
22). Last, the chapter prepares the reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the
book in the forthcoming context in the third strophe (Job 28:23-28, 38-42:5).
As mentioned, the chapter argues the first and second strophes of Job 28:1-22 appear to
be a metaphorical embellishment on the search for wisdom and answers during the defense and
debate cycles (Job 4-27). The third strophe (Job 28:23-28) prepares the reader for the
forthcoming context which describes the source, place, and exercise of wisdom in creation by
YHWH (Job 38-41). YHWH’s reply to Job from the whirlwind is the “last speech event in the
book of Job”
71
and it established Job’s inferiority, and by extension, the rest of humanity as being
wise enough to govern the cosmos.
72
The revelation of how YHWH governs creation points back
71
Yu, To Comfort Job, 401.
72
Ibid.
209
to the wisdom and understanding sought by Job, his friends, and the miners and is described as
out of reach for mortals (Job 28:12-13, 20-21). YHWH’s reply appears to be the summit of
where the author intended his reader to arrive since God’s wisdom in creation was on trial from
the beginning (Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6). Through YHWH’s reply to Job, he experienced the realization
of the kingship and providence of God in and over creation and it was the end of his suffering
(Job 42:5). The realization of YHWH’s wisdom and kingship in creation is reminiscent of the
discovery of God’s possession and exercise of wisdom in creation articulated in the third strophe
of Job 28:23-28.
The identity of the speaking character and the chapter’s placement and function in the
book presented two challenges to discerning the relationship of Job 28 to its larger literary
context. Both concerns have resulted in proposals to restructure the book by Clines and
Greenstein under the assumption that errors were made in the reconstitution of the book.
73
This
author observes that an identity centered hermeneutic is problematic for two reasons. The first
problem with insistence on an identity centered hermeneutic is the lack of consensus on who is
speaking in Job 28. The second problem is that if the identity of the speaking character is
unknown, discerning the intended meaning of the text is filtered through the subjective lens of
the interpreter. The concerns on the identity of the speaking character challenged the position of
the project that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author since it is unclear whether a
single author is responsible for the content.
To address the concerns on the identity of the speaking character of Job 28, views from
various scholars such as Clines, Greenstein, Estes, Goldingay, Lo, and Newsom were offered in
73
See chapter 3 of the study in sections: 3.2 “The Speaking Character of Job 28: the Problem of Identity”
and 3.3 “The Compositional Nature and Function of Job 28 as a Figurative Interpolation.” Also see: Daniel J. Estes,
“Job 28 in Its Literary Context,” JESOT 2, no. 2 (2013): 151, David J.A. Clines, “Putting Elihu in His Place: A
Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37,” JSOT 29, no. 2 (2004), and Edward L. Greenstein, Job: A New
Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019).
210
the study. This author supports the position of an implied author—one voice among many in the
book. The study agreed with Newsom who argues the speaker of Job 28 is “one voice among
others within the original polyphonic text”
74
and identifying the speaking character as the author,
narrator, or the voice of Job is unnecessary since the interpretive consequences are minor.
75
Duane Garrett offers sentiments in agreement with Newsom that the interpretive consequences of
identifying the speaker as Job or another voice is minimal.
76
This position helped to bridge the
gap between knowing and not knowing who speaks in Job 28. To that end, an accommodation
was made in the study to move beyond the interpretive impasse of an identity centered
hermeneutic in the proposal of an implied author.
The compositional nature and function of Job 28 in its larger literary context was marked
with literary issues observed by Childs who observes the prologue and epilogue to be written in
prose with the rest of the book written in poetic dialogue,
77
the varying literary quality of
Yahweh’s reply to Job (Job 38-41),
78
and the Elihu speeches which are believed to be “secondary
and disruptive of the original composition.”
79
The concerns observed by Childs, Clines, and
Greenstein challenge the notion that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier since there appears to
be inconsistency in literary typing, the quality of the divine speech, the chapter’s placement in
the book, and the canonical shape of Job. The function of Job 28 in relationship to the whole is
complex because of the assumptions acknowledged by Childs, Clines, and Greenstein that the
74
Newsom, The Book of Job, 170.
75
Ibid.
76
Garrett, Holman Concise Bible Commentary, 209.
77
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 529.
78
Ibid.
79
Childs, Introduction to the Old, 529.
211
chapter is a literal interpolation.
80
However, Henderson observed the wisdom poem of Job 28 is
distinct from the book in “structure and style”
81
and is “made for the purpose of offering a
critique on the sentiments expressed in the preceding dialogues”
82
(Job 4-27) while preparing the
reader for the words of YHWH in Job 38-42.
83
In consideration of the nature and poetic literary
typing observed in Job 28 the study proposed the chapter is a figurative interpolation, a
metaphorical embellishment to the struggle Job and his friends faced in their search for wisdom
and understanding to make sense of his suffering.
The chapter was interpreted and understood based on the genre, words, and literary
typing in conversation with the preceding and forthcoming context. As a figurative interpolation,
the study observes Job 28 to be metaphorically embedded in the prologue (Job 1:1, 6; 2:3) and
preceding context on the search for answers and wisdom (Job 4-27) and points back to the
protagonist as the one who embodied the characteristics of wisdom and understanding described
in Job 28:28. The chapter illustrates the elusive nature of wisdom and understanding as beyond
the grasp of humanity (Job 28:12-13, 20-21) while acknowledging its value, the role wisdom
plays in creation, where it is found, and who provides it to humanity (Job 28:23-28).
84
As an interpretive adjunct to the aesthetic relationship of Job 28 to the whole, the chapter
explained and demonstrated the thesis that Job 28 functions as a thematic unifier in the
observation that the genre of the book is consistent with the conflict myth topos. The study
80
See chapter 3, 3.3 “The Compositional Nature and Function of Job 28 as a Figurative Interpolation” to
observe a broader discussion and proposal to address the concerns mentioned by these scholars.
81
Henderson, “The Concentric Structure,” 26–27.
82
Ibid.
83
Ibid.
84
See chapter 3, 3.6 “The Relationship of Job 28 to the First Speech and Debate Cycles (Job 3-37),” 3.7
“The Relationship of Job 28 to the Defense and Debate Cycles (Job 4-27),” 3.8 “The Relationship of Job 28 to the
Defense and Debate Cycles (Job 4-27),” and 3.8 “The Relationship of Job 28 to the Yahweh Speeches (Job 38-41)”
for a broader discussion and this author’s argument on the literary relationship of the chapter to the whole.
212
demonstrates that the kingship and wisdom of God in and over creation was challenged in the
beginning of the book (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). The rhetorical purpose of the conflict myth topos is
the legitimization or delegitimization of kingship. God’s exercise of wisdom in creation was the
subject of the challenge.
Chapter four of the project considers the conceptual, linguistic, and thematic relationship
of Job to a sample of extant conflict myth in consideration of historical ancient Near Eastern
parallels. The chapter demonstrates the congruent literary relationship between Job and the
parallels that permits the allocation of all available subthemes in the book to fall under the
category of wisdom and fits the rhetorical purpose of the conflict myth topoi to legitimize
kingship. To accomplish the goal of the chapter, a sampling of ancient Near Eastern parallels that
feature a divine council, decisions made in the council that impact creation, a creation motif, and
the legitimizing ideology of kingship and power
85
are provided and compared.
The relationship of Job to the framework of conflict myth and the rhetorical purpose of
legitimizing the kingship of a superior deity faced comparative and methodological challenges.
The comparative challenge was first observed in that only a small portion of Job (the prologue
and epilogue) is identified as prose and myth. Second, a smaller portion of Job (common with the
ancient conflict myth) is composed of two scenes that feature the divine assembly and the
decisions made that impact creation and the protagonist (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). Another comparative
challenge was observed in the numerous changes in literary typing found in Job. Mangum
observes that Job makes frequent changes from the prose and myth that frames the book (Job 1-
2:13; 42:1-7), to anecdote (Job 1:6-12), complaint (Job 3), dialogue (Job 4-27), didactic and
wisdom psalms (Job 12:1-25; 18:1-21; 28:1-28) and poetry (Job 32:6-42:6).
86
Ticciati observes
85
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 44.
86
Mangum, The Lexham Glossary of, [under, Literary Typing for Job].
213
that the transitions between the prose, myth, and the poetic core of Job appear to be evidence of
different authors.
87
If Job is the work of multiple authors and redactors, identifying a single
rhetorical purpose that agrees with the strategies found in relevant parallels is frustrated since
they may or may not share the same intentions.
To accommodate the comparative challenge based on typing, the differences were
reconciled aesthetically in chapter three of the study. The study argues that the prose and myth
frame of Job establishes the concerns raised and sets the tone for the purpose of the book. The
soliloquy of Job 3, the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27), the metaphorical embellishment on
the search and revelation of wisdom (Job 28), and the conceptual and semantic relationship
between Job 28:28 and Job 1:1, progressively lead the reader to discover the purpose of
legitimizing the kingship of Yahweh in and over creation evidenced in the reply to Job (38-41)
which were acknowledged and affirmed by the protagonist in the epilogue (Job 42:1-6). The
study argues that multivocality and the various literary types coalesce instead of competes with
one another and they point to a single rhetorical purpose that provides an answer to the challenge
of the satan (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; 38:42:5).
This author argues that the presence and activity of the divine assembly, a superior deity
and a subordinate challenger establishes the scene in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6 as participating in the
conflict myth paradigm.
88
Once the conflict myth paradigm is recognized, the rhetorical purpose
of the author to legitimize kingship becomes clear. In the end, Yahweh’s kingship and wisdom in
creation is recognized and legitimized by Job who replied, “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:1b, NRSV).
87
Ticciati, Job and the Disruption, 2.
88
For a broader discussion on the divine assembly see Chapter Three, section 3.4 “The Characters (Job 1-
2), Literature, and Purpose.”
214
The methodological challenge observes the limitations of establishing the historical
context that shaped Job through the discipline of “cognitive environment criticism.”
89
Another
methodological challenge was the manner the parallels differ in the way they present the
relationship between the divine realm, humanity, and nature. Oswalt argues that the biblical
tradition presents God as self-existent whereas humans and nature are contingent upon God.
90
To
the contrary, myth reinforces the continuity between nature, humanity, and the divine realm.
91
Through comparison, the study observes that the presence of the divine assembly (Job
1:6-12; 2:1-6) with the presence of a challenger, superior and subordinate deities, and the
decisions that were made that impact creation, are like the ancient Near Eastern parallels. Myth
in Scripture appears to function like the ancient Near Eastern parallels in that they point the
reader to truth in a way that transcends human experience and helps to make sense of the world.
Further, Niehaus wrote “we ought to affirm at the outset, however, that truth also exists in myth,
only figuratively.”
92
While myth may be the product of human convention, the presupposition
fails to dismiss the possibility of divine inspiration and the revelatory power of myth to inform
and shape human life.
93
The chapter observes the conceptual and semantic similarities between
the divine assembly in Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6 and a sampling of relevant ancient Near Eastern
89
Walton, Behind the Scenes of, 333. Also see Chapter One, section 1.4 “Challenges to the Study.” The
section acknowledges the challenge of authorship, the identity of the speaking character of Job 28, and the absence
of concrete geographical and tribal indicators that would ordinarily be helpful at reconstructing the context that
shaped the book.
90
Oswalt, The Bible among the Myths, 45–46.
91
Ibid.
92
Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes, 14.
93
Sterenberg, Myth and the Modern Problem, 3.
215
parallels as foundational evidence that situates Job within the framework of the conflict myth
paradigm and helps to establish the rhetorical purpose of legitimizing kingship.
94
The study observes a pattern of relationships between subordinates and superiors in Job
that are like the presence of the divine assembly in the parallels. The study observes the
taxonomy of relationships in Job is part of the rhetorical strategy of legitimizing kingship over
creation (Job 38-42:1-6). Ballentine observes that a consistent characteristic of the conflict myth
is the set of hierarchical relationships found between characters “in a dominant and subservient
position.”
95
These characteristics of dominant and subordinate relationships were observed in the
prologue where the heavenly beings and the satan present themselves before the Lord and are in
view as subservient and accountable to God (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). They are only permitted to act
within specified boundaries established by God (Job 1:12; 2:6).
The study argues that the hierarchy of relationships established in the prologue and
articulated in Yahweh’s reply to Job, serve the rhetorical purpose of the author to substantiate the
kingship and wisdom of Yahweh over creation. Specific to the function of Job 28, the wisdom
and understanding exercised by the Lord in creation (Job 28:23-28) further delineates the
relationship between the Creator and creation as superior and subordinate. The revelation of
Yahweh’s wisdom in creation (Job 28:23-28; 38-41) and Job’s acknowledgement found in the
epilogue (Job 42:5), points back to the poetry of Job 28 as a figurative interpolation where the
distinctions between divine and human capacity are embellished (Job 28:1-22). To accomplish
the goal of the chapter, a sample of conflict narratives and ancient Near Eastern parallels were
compared to demonstrate the conceptual and semantic relationship of the divine assembly and its
function in Job.
94
For a broader discussion and argument refer to Chapter four, section 4.4 “The Relationship of Job to the
Category of Myth.”
95
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 3.
216
The following parallels were studied, compared, and contrasted with Job: Anzu, Ninurta’s
Exploits, and Ninurta’s return to Nibru, The Epic of Atrahasis, Enuma Elish, The Keret Epic, The
Babylonian Theodicy, and a Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt.
96
The first three poems describe
Ninurta as a warrior deity who rose to power in the Sumerian pantheon.
97
The poems observe the
hierarchy of relationships within the assembly of the gods and the rhetorical strategy of
legitimizing kingship as observed by Ballentine.
98
Anzu is an early poem that tells the story of how Ninurta earned warrior status in
Mesopotamia after a victory over the demon, Anzu. Anzu stole the Tablet of Destinies which
provided power to the chief god, Enlil.
99
Stealing the tablet introduced chaos in the divine realm.
The gods sought someone to combat Anzu to restore power and order. Ninurta rose to the
challenge and overcame Anzu. Power was reclaimed from an illegitimate figure and
reconstructed in the preferred hierarchy. Anzu appears to represent a challenge to the wisdom
and power exercised in creation from the house of Enlil and is reminiscent of the satan in Job
1:6-12; 2:1-6 who also challenged God’s wisdom and policies in creation.
100
Ninurta’s Exploits is a long poem with 726 lines.
101
Ninurta is described as an agricultural
deity who facilitates agriculture for humanity by turning his enemies into a mountain rage.
102
The
96
See Chapter Four, sections 4.5-4.10 of the study for further information.
97
Black, The Literature of Ancient Sumer, 221.
98
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 30. Ballentine observes the Ninurta-centered combat traditions made
claims about kingship that were analogous to a larger pool of the conflict topos to promote specific deities and
institute kingship.
99
Wisnom, Weapons of Words, 33.
100
See Chapter Four, section 4.5 for additional information on Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, and Ninurta’s
return to Nibru.
101
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 228-245. Black’s translation of Ninurta’s Exploits was used for the
study.
102
Wisnom, Weapons of Words, 33.
217
middle section of the poem, (lines 411-644) features Ninurta exercising power and authority by
pronouncing a fixed destiny that causes the reader to observe the protagonist as the “God who
outstrips the heroes …king of Anuna gods”
103
followed by a rhetorical question “who can rival
your great works?”
104
The question bears similarity with Job’s acknowledgement of Yahweh’s
wisdom and power in creation “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours
can be thwarted” (Job 42:2, NRSV). The middle section of the poem bears semblance with
Yahweh’s reply from the whirlwind in the sense that it features the exercise of wisdom and
power in creation.
Ninurta’s return to Nibru features the protagonist as the “mightiest of the Anuna gods,”
105
in possession of power over creation,
106
and “king of all lands.”
107
The poem features all of
creation as subservient to the power of Ninurta. The poem appears to use the conflict topos as
Ninurta becomes the legitimate possessor of power through victory over the Anzud, the multi-
headed serpent.
108
Enlil and Ninurta appear in the Akkadian version of the Epic of Atrahsis which is
believed to be the oldest narrative in primeval history.
109
In the epic, the Anuna gods burdened
the Igigi gods with force labor. The subordinate deities rebelled and went to the home of Enlil,
“counsellor of the gods, the warrior.”
110
Enlil’s home is known as “the assembly of all the
103
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 244.
104
Ibid.
105
Black, The Literature of Ancient, 229.
106
Ibid.
107
Ibid.
108
Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 24.
109
Kyanvig, Primeval History, 2, 4.
110
Foster, Context of Scripture, 450.
218
gods,”
111
and is the place where they convened with the rebel deities. Decisions were made in the
assembly to create human beings from the clay of the earth as the workforce that would relieve
the Igigi gods of their burden.
112
The Babylonian version of Atrahasis features the creation of
humanity to relieve the gods as short lived since the noise they made threatened the peace of the
gods.
113
To solve the noise complaint Enlil ordered the destruction of humanity in a flood.
114
The Mesopotamian story of Enuman Elish appears to use both the creation motif and the
conflict myth topos to promote Marduk over Tiamat. Tiamat is described as troubled after the
gods were created and is “chaos, the ocean.”
115
The story describes Marduk’s rise to kingship
through a victory over Tiamat, (chaos) in a violent battle, and the creation of humanity to inhabit
the earth and serve the gods.
116
The Keret Epic, also known as the Legend of King Keret, is a Ugaritic poem from the
second-millennium BCE.
117
Mullen observes the Keret Epic, provides the clearest examples of
the divine council in ancient Ugaritic texts.
118
In the story, the assembly of the gods convened and
El created an expeller to undo the curse inflicted on Keret from Asherah. While Keret is at the
point of death, he is confronted by Yasib who desires kingship because a sick king is unable to
rule effectively. Keret was accused of surrendering to weakness, and failing to stand up for the
111
Foster, Context of Scripture, 451.
112
Ibid.
113
Wisnom, Weapons of Words, 52.
114
Ibid.
115
Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 22–31, [under, Enuma Elish, columns 40-59].
116
For additional information refer to Enuma Elish taken from Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament
Parallels, [under, I:132-40; III: 115-22; IV: 3-32, 35-58, 77-86; V:71-76.
117
Dodson and Smith, Exploring Biblical Backgrounds, 75. [under, "The Legend of King Keret].
118
Mullen, Anchor Bible Dictionary, 216.
219
widows, orphans, and powerless.
119
Keret Epic features sickness and rebellion as challenges to
the preservation of the household. Keret needed an heir. With the help of El, Keret can overcome
the challenge and preserve the patrimonial household and kingship.
120
The story features the
decisions made in the assembly of the gods as having an impact on creation and the preservation
of legitimate kingship from a challenger.
The Babylonian Theodicy explores questions of how a person who lives according to
conventional wisdom, is obedient, judicious, and pious can be overcome with misfortune without
concern expressed from the gods. The story features a suffering protagonist who questions
justice and order while a friend offers an explanation that maintains traditionally held beliefs.
121
In this way, Biggs observed the poem is like the defense and debate encounter between Job and
his friends over his misfortune (Job 4-27).
122
The story features a sufferer who questions the
viability of devotion to the gods in view of his “unmerited plight.”
123
The answer the sufferer
receives is ”you are as stable as the earth, but the plan of the gods is remote.”
124
In other words,
the wisdom of the gods is inaccessible to humanity. The conversation between the sufferer and
friend shows no sign of progress in convincing each other of their position. Like Job, obedience
and devotion failed to protect the sufferer from misfortune and the wisdom and answers sought
were elusive in a way analogous to the treasure and search for wisdom in Job 28.
119
Wyatt, Religious Texts from Ugarit, [under, KTU 1.14]. This citation also summarizes the remainder of
the poem from KTU 1.14-1.16.
120
Smith, The World around the Old Testament, 159.
121
Dodson and Smith, Exploring Biblical Backgrounds, 129.
122
Biggs, The Ancient Near Eastern Texts, [under, Akkadian Observations on Life and the World: The
Babylonian Theodicy].
123
Oshima, “The Babylonian Theodicy,” 483.
124
Biggs, The Ancient Near Eastern Texts, [the sixth stanza, line 58].
220
The poem A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt, also known as a Dispute over Suicide, or
Dialogue of a Man with his Soul, is the best-known source of Egyptian speculative wisdom that
corresponds to Job.
125
The story is like the Babylonian Theodicy because the sufferer questions
the profitability of devotion despite living an upright life. Matthews and Benjamin observe that
between 2258-2050, teachers in Egypt began to question traditionally views on life and the poem
essentially prosecutes them for their views on life and death.
126
The sufferer is the attorney for
death and the soul is the advocate for life.
127
The sufferer contemplates suicide and favors death
as the way to peace and prosperity.
128
The wish for death or non-existence is like Job’s soliloquy
in Job 3:3-11 where he cursed the day of his birth and questions why he did not die at birth. Like
the sufferer, Job views death as the way to peace and rest (Job 3:16-19).
The conceptual similarities between the previous sample of ancient Near Eastern parallels
and Job is observed in various portions of the Bible. As the chief god, Enlil demonstrates power
in creation like Yahweh. Enlil’s relationship and creative acts in the cosmos are like the biblical
record of humans being fashioned from the earth after consulting with the assembly (Gen 1:26-
27; 2:7). Another motif is observed in the ordering of a flood by Enlil to destroy humanity that is
shared with Genesis 6:11-7:1-24.
Another similarity observed between Job and the parallels is the function and taxonomy
of relationships in the divine assembly between subordinates and a supreme deity. In Job, the
assembly is referred to as the “heavenly beings” in the NRSV and “sons of God” in the NASB
(Job 1:6; 2:1-6; 38:7). Heiser acknowledged the challenge of many Bible readers to discern the
unseen world as a hierarchy of relationships because they are unaccustomed to viewing the realm
125
Shupak, Behind the Scenes, 109-111.
126
Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 238.
127
Ibid.
128
Ibid., 240, [under lines 40-59].
221
as a dynastic household, like the way it was viewed in the ancient Near East.
129
The assembly of
the gods discovered in the Old Testament is composed of both divine and created beings that are
grounded in a hierarchy of relationships and form the household of God.
130
The divine beings
were given responsibility and jurisdiction over the affairs of the cosmos and are part of God’s
plan, rule, and reign over creation.
131
Mullen observed the divine assembly met to determine the
fate of the cosmos and were the standard, organized, decision-making body in the divine realm.
132
In Job 1:6, God presides over the assembly as the superior and the sons of God present
themselves as subordinates like what is observed in the Epic of Atrahasis, Exodus 8:16; 9:13,
Deuteronomy 31:14, and Joshua 24:1. Like Anzu, Ninurta’s Exploits, Ninurta’s return to Nibru,
and the Epic of Atrahasis, the decisions made by the divine assembly in Job 1:6-22 and Job 2:1-9
directly impacted creation, the protagonist, and his family. The Epic of Atrahasis bears similarity
with the experience of Job in that the decisions made in the assembly introduced suffering to
humanity.
133
The similarity between Job and the Epic of Keret, The Babylonian Theodicy, and A
Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt is observed in that the protagonist suffers misfortune that involves
disease, storms, and the attack of an enemy.
134
The taxonomy of relationships between superior
and subordinates is observed between the Epic of Keret and the prologue of Job (1:1, 6-8; 2:3-6).
In both stories, the challenge to existence is overcome with the help of El and Yahweh.
129
Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 20.
130
Ibid., 20-22.
131
Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 331.
132
Mullen, The Anchor Yale Bible, [under, Divine Assembly].
133
Also see Chapter Four, section 4.6 “The Epic of Atrahasis” where the details of this account are offered
in more depth.
134
See Chapter Four, sections 4.8-4.10 of this project for more information.
222
Though suffering is present in The Babylonian Theodicy, A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt,
and Job, the answers the protagonist receives is different. In The Babylonian Theodicy,
Saggilkīnam-ubbib the exorcist, an adorant of the god and king, was left with an unanswered
appeal from the god who forsook him whereas Job concludes with him in a state of awe after
hearing Yahweh’s reply (Job 42:1-5). Yahwe’s reply to Job revealed the depths of divine wisdom
and power in creation. In A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt and Job, the character is in search of
answers to the challenge against the conventional ideas of suffering, death, and morality. Job
receives an answer from God that grounds him in his role in creation whereas the sufferer is left
with his unanswered questions.
The creation motif and legitimating ideology is observed in Enuma Elish and the Hebrew
Bible. In Enuma Elish, Marduk rose to power in the pantheon after a victory over Tiamiat
(chaos). Marduk’s victory over chaos brought order to the cosmos and resembles the biblical
account of the creation of humanity and the governing of the cosmos observed in Genesis 1,
Isaiah 27:1-2, Psalms 74:12-17; 104:1-30, and Job 38-41. Though the waters in the biblical
account of creation assume a different role than Tiamat, the creation and conflict motif in Enuma
Elish is like the biblical pattern of creation, order, and governance of the cosmos.
135
In the
biblical account of creation, order is brought out of chaos. The “deep”
136
functioned as a literal
and figurative antagonist that was transformed by a word from God. Childs observed that the
waters in Genesis 1:2 stand in opposition to the will of God and were the “mystery of a
primordial threat against creation”
137
that “God strove to overcome.”
138
135
For more information refer to Chapter Four, section 4.11, “Comparison and Contrast,” 30-33.
136
See Chapter four, section 4.11, “Comparison and Contrast,” 30-32 where the conceptual relationship
between tehôm and Tiamat as a force of chaos is presented in more depth.
137
Childs, Old Testament Theology, 223–24. In an earlier work, Myth and Reality in the Old Testament,
(London: SCM, 1960), 42. Childs argued the waters represented chaos as a reality rejected by God.
138
Ibid.
223
In Job, the darkness of struggle was permitted to function within certain parameters
established by God in the assembly (Job 1:6-22; 2:1-9). The darkness was figuratively
embellished in the poetry of Job 28:14 in the search for the treasure of wisdom and
understanding that would have helped Job make sense of his suffering. In Job 38:16, 30, Yahweh
walked through and imprisons the darkness. In Job 41:32, Yahweh goes through tehôm and leaves
a shiny wake behind. The tehôm in Job presents a reality that was permitted to function according
to its nature but acquiesced when encountered by the wisdom and power of Yahweh. In Job
28:14; 38:16, 30, the tehôm is overcome and transformed for Job through Yahweh’s reply. The
revelation of Yahweh’s wisdom and understanding in and over creation proved to Job that God
“can do all things and no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2, NASB). The revelation of
Yahweh’s wisdom and power in creation subverted the satan’s challenge to God’s policies since
Job’s suffering failed to produce the challenger’s belief that he would curse God to his face (Job
1:11; 2:5; 42:5). The revelation of the kingship of Yahweh over creation was the end of Job’s
suffering (Job 38-42:5).
The comparative analysis of the ancient Near Eastern parallels and Job was concerned
with linking the observations and similarities made to demonstrate the thesis that Job 28
functions in part, to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and clarify human
responsibility in relationship to Yahweh through the revelation of wisdom and understanding.
The study demonstrated the conceptual relationship of the divine assembly and the hierarchy of
relationships in the assembly of the gods observed in the parallels and Job as establishing the
basic structure for decision making which impacts creation, societal functioning, and religious
thought common in the ancient Near East. The relevance of the observations made in the study
was offered to balance the inherent subjectivity of the aesthetic methodology in chapter three of
the project. The parallels were an important adjunct to the project to demonstrate the conceptual
224
relationship of the divine assembly, the presence of a challenge and challenger, and the
legitimizing ideology of kingship. Each of the parallels demonstrated in some dimension, the
search for wisdom to aid in the sense-making experience of suffering found in the debate cycles
and metaphorically embellished in the poetry of Job 28.
Chapter five of the project provides an exposition of Job 28 to support the argument that
the chapter can be understood in its current placement within the book despite the challenge of
authorship, the identity of the speaking character, and restructuring proposals observed in chapter
three of the study. The interpretive methodology of the chapter considered the words, literature,
typing, and context, to grasp the rhetorical function of Job 28 within the book. Hankins argued,
however, that there is an interpretive difficulty with Job 28 that comes from misreading the poem
as the juxtaposition of wisdom unattainable to humans versus God’s unrestricted access to
wisdom.
139
As a result, Hankins proposed a nuanced reading of the structure and rhetoric of the
poem as the movement from metonymy in the first two strophes (Job 28:1-19) to metaphorical
logic in Job 28:20-28
140
to clarify the manner the poem “evokes wisdom as perpetually
transcendent (Job 28:1-19) against the discovery of wisdom in metaphoric effects that appear as
displaced from their causes.
141
Wisdom is thus, transcendent but evoked and perceived in the
human quest for what is precious and seen in the objects where it appears, but it evades direct
human access. The study supports Hankins’s methodological approach and nuanced reading but
disagrees with his later conclusions that wisdom is an event that appears displaced from God’s
creative activities described in Job 28:25-26 because it implies that wisdom is perceived by God
only after it occurs.
142
The nuanced reading helps to make sense of the poem’s apparent
139
Hankins, “Wisdom as an Imminent,” 210.
140
Ibid.
141
Ibid.
142
Ibid., 211.
225
displacement in the book since the characteristic of wisdom in the poem is that it is displaced.
The study observed that wisdom appears as displaced in the poem as the chapter appears to be in
the larger context of the book. The study argues that the rhetoric of the poem leads the reader to
conclude that the treasure of wisdom that the miners are in search of (Job 28:1-22),
143
is only
available through revelation by God who possessed and exercised it in creation (Job 28:23-25).
The study argues that the juxtaposition between human and divine access to wisdom is the point
of the poem.
To accomplish the goal of the study, the exposition observes the linear progression of
three identifiable strophes generally agreed upon in the scholarship consulted in the study: part
one (Job 28:1-11), part two (Job 28:12-22), and part three (Job 28:23-28). The study
acknowledged the poetry of Job 28 as a metaphorical embellishment on the search for wisdom
and understanding depicted in the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-27). The recognition of the
poetry of Job 28 allows the language to be “verbally inventive in a way that biblical narrative
cannot be.”
144
The exposition was offered to support the thesis that Job 28 serves the rhetorical
purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation and functions as a
thematic unifier clarifying human responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and
understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
The exposition considered the first strophe (Job 28:1-11) which begins with mining
activity and the harvest of precious resources like: silver, gold, iron, copper, and sapphire, to help
the reader discover that they are not as valuable as wisdom (Job 28:12-13, 15). Though wisdom
is missing from the first eleven verses as the main subject of the chapter, it appears to be the
implicit focus of the mining activity evidenced by the question posed at the start of the second
143
Chapter Five argues the miners are metonymically used to describe Job and his friends.
144
Winafelt, “Why Is There Poetry,” 689.
226
strophe “but where shall wisdom be found?” (Job 28:12a, 20, NRSV). Despite human ingenuity
and skill to probe the depths of darkness in creation (Job 28:2-4), the source and place of wisdom
and understanding is elusive (Job 28:12, 20). The question on the place of wisdom and
understanding prepares the reader to recognize and conclude that the source and place wisdom
and understanding comes only through divine revelation to humanity articulated in the third
strophe (Job 28:23-28).
This author argues that Job 28 functions in tension as a figurative interpolation in
relationship to the preceding and forthcoming context. The author appears to create the tension
through the unconventional use of words such as nahal (Job 28:4)
145
as part of the strategy of
leaving the reader with a sense of disappointment and the realization that human effort fails to
produce the fruit of what is expected. Hom observes “the fact that there is no actual water in the
conceptual picture of Job 28:1-11 leaves the reader hanging in both cases, expecting a deluge but
left with hard earth and precious metals and gemstones.”
146
Thus the intentional use of words
from their prototypical sense is intentional and analogous to the frustration and disappointment
experienced by the reader and Job that a man who was blameless, feared God, and shunned evil
would have already discovered the fountain of blessing that safeguards him from the drought of
suffering (Job 1:1; also see Deut 28:1).
The exposition demonstrated the first and second strophes are in juxtaposition to
demonstrate that while there is a place for treasure (Job 28:1-2, 5-6, 9-11) that the place of the
greater treasure of wisdom remains a mystery to humanity (Job 28:12, 20). Thus, the second
strophe clarifies the goal of the expedition in the first and reinforces the notion that regardless of
145
For a broader discussion on the use of nahal in the Hebrew Bible and the manner the Joban author
appears to intentionally use such a word in an unconventional way to create poetic tension see Chapter Five 5.3
“The First Strophe,” 15-19.
146
Hom, “Water, Wisdom, and Life,” 6.
227
how deep the earth is probed or high and powerful the search (Job 28:7-11), that wisdom evades
direct human access “in the land of the living” (Job 28:13, NRSV). The study argues that the
creation motif appears in each strophe of Job 28 and is a metaphorical description of humanity’s
search for wisdom that progressively takes the reader to the person of ʾAdhōnāi (Job 28:28). The
poem engages the reader with poetic tension and sharp distinctions to prepare them for the
solution to the questions posed throughout the book. The movement of the first two strophes
logically lead the reader to the source that transcends everyone and everything in creation (Job
28:23-28) and prepares the reader for the answers to the concerns raised in the book in the
forthcoming context (Job 38-41).
6.5 Synthesizing the Study and the Implications of the Project
The plurality of interpretive methods used conjunctively is believed to demonstrate the
thesis that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh
and clarify human responsibility through the revelation and lived experience of wisdom and
understanding in relationship to Yahweh. The second chapter of the study featured a sampling of
Christian interpretive approaches to Job 28 throughout church history. The interpretive sampling
demonstrated acceptance of the traditional placement of Job 28 by scholars within the context of
the book despite voices of dissent previously mentioned. Further, the interpretive diversity
experienced in chapter two provides space and acceptance for the subjective aesthetic
methodology of chapter three.
Chapter three considers the literary typing and its relationship to the preceding context
(Job 4-17) as a metaphorical embellishment on the search for answers while it prepares the
reader to encounter the solution to the concerns raised in the book in the forthcoming context
(Job 28:23-28; 38-41). The first two strophes of Job 28 depict the search for the treasure of
228
wisdom as the implicit focus of the poem evidenced by the questions that appear in Job 28:12,
20. The third strophe (Job 28:23-28) prepares the reader for the forthcoming context which
describes the source, place, and exercise of wisdom in creation by YHWH (Job 38-41). Chapter
three demonstrates that Job 28 can be interpreted in its current placement within the book as
fitting the rhetorical strategy of the author to legitimize the kingship of Yahweh over creation.
To support the legitimizing ideology argued in chapter three, the fourth chapter provides
a sample comparison of relevant ancient Near Eastern conflict topoi and argues for the genre of
Job as related to the legitimizing ideology of the conflict myth paradigm evidenced by the
presence of the divine assembly, a challenger, challenge, and the decisions made in the council
that impacted Job and creation (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; 38:1-7). In the end, Yahweh’s kingship and
wisdom in creation is recognized and legitimized by Job who replied, “I know that you can do all
things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:1b, NRSV). The study observed
similar legitimizing ideologies present in the sample of conflict myth provided.
To balance the inherent subjectivity of the aesthetic methodology of chapter three, the
fifth chapter provided an exposition of Job 28 in consideration of the words, literary typing, and
context to demonstrate that the rhetoric of the poem is embedded in the preceding context (Job 1-
27). The study argued that the first two strophes are metaphorically embellished in the preceding
context evidenced in the depiction of the miner’s search for the place of wisdom and
understanding as depicting the search for wisdom and understanding in the defense and debate
cycles (Job 4-27). The exposition argued that the miners are metonymically portrayed as Job and
his friends in their search for wisdom and understanding. Chapter five argued that the apparent
displacement of Job 28 and the intentional misuse of words from their prototypical sense was
intentional as a way of creating frustration and poetic tension to lead the reader to realize that
wisdom is as displaced in the poem as the chapter was from the book. After an exhaustive search
229
for wisdom in creation, the poem logically leads the reader to the only source of wisdom which
comes through the Lord to humanity and clarifies their responsibility in relationship to Yahweh
(Job 28:23-28).
Seen conjunctively, the interpretive methodology of the project recognized the traditional
function and nature of Job 28 as fitting the preceding and forthcoming context through the
literature review and aesthetic methodology of chapters two and three. Second, the study
observes the relationship of Job to the category of myth evidenced by the presence of the divine
council, a challenger, and challenge to God’s policies in creation that bear strong similarity to the
legitimizing ideology of the sample of ancient Near Eastern conflict myth provided. The
rhetorical strategy of Job, specifically that of Job 28, serves to legitimize the wisdom, superiority,
and kingship of Yahweh over creation by comparison to subordinate subjects evidenced in the
third strophe (Job 28:23-28) and the forthcoming context (Job 38-42:5). The exposition provided
in chapter five demonstrates the frustration in the search for wisdom created through the poetic
tension of Job 28 as an intentional way of leading the reader to discover the only source of
wisdom and understanding available to humanity comes through divine revelation as a way of
clarifying human responsibility in relationship to Yahweh. In these ways the project demonstrates
the thesis that Job 28 serves the rhetorical purpose of the author to legitimize the kingship of
Yahweh over creation and functions as a thematic unifier clarifying human responsibility through
the revelation and lived experience of wisdom and understanding in relationship to Yahweh.
230
Appendix
Mythic Influence in the Bible: Acknowledgement, Proposed Definitions, and the
Interpretive Treatment of Mythic Motifs in the Project
The supporting material provided in this section is offered with sensitivity to those who
study, interpret the Bible, and communicate their findings to an audience, but find difficulty
acknowledging myth in the same sentence as the Bible to characterize any portion of its genre.
Discussion of the various comparative methodologies used to analyze the Bible in conversation
with the literature of the ancient Near East is beyond the scope of the supplementary material
offered. This section aims to reduce the aversion some may have toward the relationship of Job
to the category of myth by observing its function. To be clear, the project made no attempt to
conflate Job or the Bible as myth. The project observes the Bible to contain mythic motifs that
are shared with certain ancient Near Eastern parallels. The interpretive goal of the project in
chapter four was to observe the way those shared motifs functioned in Job to point the reader to
realization that Yahweh is the legitimate king and ruler of creation.
It is important to acknowledge that Job and the “textual traditions of the ancient Near
East are homologous”
1
because each were fashioned in shared cultural and geographical space.
2
Additionally, MacSweeney observes that “myths were told across the ancient world in many
different forms and can be found in poetry and prose”
3
and “must therefore have interacted:
feeding off one another, borrowing ideas and motifs from one another, contradicting or adding
1
Adam Miglio, “Chapter 11: Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature,” in Behind the Scenes of the
Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Wilbur, and John H.
Walton, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 94-95.
2
Ibid.
3
Naoíse Mac Sweeney, “Introduction,” in Foundation Myths in Ancient Societies: Dialogues and
Discourses, ed. Naoíse Mac Sweeney (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2014), 1, 3.
231
nuance to one another.”
4
Further, Barker observes linguistic affinities between Biblical Hebrew
and Ugaritic as “Northwest Semitic Languages,”
5
that share “vocabulary, semantic domain,
syntax, and overarching grammatical structure,”
6
in common. The homologous relationship
between the biblical text and ancient Near Eastern parallels are relieved through comparison
instead of conflation.
7
To that end, the project aimed to provide both historical and contextual
comparative analysis between Job and the sample of ancient Near Eastern parallels in
consideration of the shared geography, history, and culture, to illumine the rhetorical purpose of
Job in its final form. The project observed similarities between the parallels and Job in the
taxonomy of relationships observed in the divine assembly, their function, the transformation of
chaos, and conventional ideas of suffering, death, and morality found in the speculative wisdom
genre, minus the suggestion that shared common features communicate an identical worldview.
This author believes at least one reason for the reluctance to acknowledge and embrace
myth as an element that comprises portions of the biblical text appears to stem from how the
term is defined. Cho observes that myth is first “a story”
8
though not every story is a myth.”
9
Neglect of this fundamental observation has “contributed to the failure of biblical scholars to
4
Mac Sweeney, Foundation Myths in Ancient, 3.
5
William D. Barker, “Chapter 15: Ugaritic Literature,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament:
Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Wilbur, and John H. Walton, electronic ed.
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 122.
6
Ibid.
7
Refer to 4.11 “Comparison and Contrast” of this project. This author offered a comparative analysis
between Job and a sampling of ancient Near Eastern parallels through observation of the conceptual and semantic
similarities without overemphasizing the distinction of the biblical text as being morally superior or in conflating the
rhetorical purpose of the author.
8
Paul K. Cho, Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2019), 11-38.
9
Ibid.
232
notice the full narrative impact of myth on biblical literature.”
10
Cho observes that “myth in
popular parlance, is regarded as synonymous with falsehood,”
11
which presents both a “fictional
story”
12
with the intention to “deceive.”
13
As a reaction to understanding myth as something false with the single intention of
deception, Currid argues that scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
believed that the biblical writers engaged in polemics. Currid argues that the intention of the
Hebrew writers was polemical and that they went beyond appropriation of Mesopotamian myths
to sanitize them of their pagan elements.
14
In other words, the biblical writers intentionally
refuted the myths of their pagan neighbors and suffused them with the superiority of their God as
the only “true Creator and Ruler of the cosmos and of history.”
15
The problem with polemic
methodology as a means of comparison is that it is anachronistic and based on the assumption
the biblical writers were undeniably averse to the polytheism of their neighbors. Smith argues
that “monotheism and polytheism in themselves hold little meaning for the ancients apart from
the identity of the deities whom they revered and served,”
16
and that if “ancient Israelites were
asked if they were monotheists, they would not have understood the question.”
17
This author
believes it is unnecessary to view myth solely as a false story with nefarious intent. Further, this
10
Cho, Myth, History, and Metaphor, 11-38.
11
Cho, Myth, History, and Metaphor, 1-10.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
John D. Currid, Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament (Wheaton, Il: Crossway,
n.d.), 17.
15
Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 200.
16
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic
Texts, electronic ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 11.
17
Ibid.
233
author disagrees with the suggestion that the parallels were intentionally sanitized by the
Hebrews before they could point the reader to truth.
Kirk cautions against the difficulty in proposing such a limited definition of the genre
since “there is no one definition of myth.”
18
O’ Flaherty argues, however, that while myth may be
“impossible to define,”
19
it is “cowardly not to try.”
20
To that end, O’ Flaherty defines myth as “a
story that is sacred to and shared by a group of people who find their most important meanings in
it; it is a story believed to have been composed in the past about an event in the past … an event
that continues to have meaning in the present because it is remembered; it is a story about a
larger group of stories.”
21
O’Connor writes that “myth is the distilled essence of human
experience expressed in metaphor.”
22
Segal argues that myth “whether in fact it must be true,”
23
is
a “story which can of course express a conviction”
24
that is “held tenaciously by its adherents.”
25
In consideration of these proposed definitions and insights, this author observes myth to
be a story where truth is communicated in figurative language using shared social, cultural,
linguistic, and theological motifs that appear in the biblical text and ancient Near Eastern
parallels to communicate ancient convictions about their role in the world and their
understanding of the cosmos in relationship to the gods or God. Therefore, as story, myth
18
Geoffrey S. Kirk, Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures (London: Cambridge
University Press, 1973), 7.
19
Wendy Donigher O'Flaherty, Other People's Myths: The Cave of Echoes (Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago Press, 1995), 25.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid., 27.
22
Peter O'Connor, Beyond the Mist: What Irish Mythology Can Teach Us About Ourselves (London: Orion,
2000), 3.
23
Robert A. Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 6.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
234
functions to point the reader and community to what is true or believed to be true in a way that
transcends the concepts and figurative language used. Mitariu writes that Jesus also used
“familiar analogies, metaphors, or stories”
26
known as parables, “to explain the nature of God or
His Kingdom.”
27
Mitariu writes that the word parable is “a comparison, a juxtaposition, a
resemblance or allegory, a speech with a figurative meaning that aims at the concrete rendering
of some ideas or teachings.”
28
Mitariu observes that “the words of the parable are clear and
become a guide to life, based on revealed truth, not proven.”
29
Specific to this project is the juxtaposition observed in Job 28 with figurative language as
a metaphorical embellishment on the search for answers in the preceding context (Job 4-27). The
poetic language of Job 28:1-22, metaphorically describes human incapacity and the elusiveness
of wisdom and then logically reveals to the reader to the place where wisdom is possessed,
exercised, and clarified as the human responsibility in relationship to God (Job 28:23-28). Thus,
the poem of Job 28 becomes a guide for life based on revealed truth using figurative language.
This author believes that theological and confessional commitments as well as the belief
that myth by nature is false and univocally tied to the intent to deceive as its sole function,
contributes to an interpretive impasse. Ballentine considers the history of “biblical scholarship,
departments, programs, and publications as absorbed with confessional commitments that impact
the rate progress from “old models.”
30
Ballentine proposes the need for new models of biblical
26
Christina Andreea Mitariu, “The Parable, Valuable Pedagogical Tool in Christian Teaching,” Quaestus
19, no. 6 (2021): 350. Mitariu observes that among the near forty parables in the New Testament, Jesus used
figurative language as a pedagogical method to address those in Palestine and those of subsequent generations who
would learn and study his teaching until the end of the ages.
27
Ibid.
28
Ibid., 351.
29
Mitariu, Abstract in “The Parable, Valuable Pedagogical,” 350.
30
Debra Scoggins Ballentine, “Theorizing Myth to Facilitate Comparison and Re-Description in Biblical
Studies,” Religions 13, no. 767 (2022): 1–9.
235
scholarship that improves upon “theoretical models and explanations of the ancient data.”
31
Ballentine observes a way forward in the treatment of myth is to move beyond comparison of the
story’s content to emphasize its function.
32
Callender observes that “myth and scripture”
33
are two
categories used to describe and analyze the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament and that each
has functioned to provide the “truth of human experience.”
34
Myth is a story that summarizes a
“cultural worldview”
35
and “explains how life as we know it came to be; it expresses hopes and
fears. It is true, in the same way that a parable is true.”
36
Therefore, myth functions as an
instrument that points the reader to truth in a way that transcends the reality and sense experience
of the individual without being the truth to which it refers since the message is often conveyed in
metaphor and symbolism.
37
Instead of polemics, this author proposes the biblical writers were
moved by divine inspiration in their treatment of myth as something that informed their
relationship to Yahweh and carried “revelatory power for modern life.”
38
Walton writes
There is nothing to suggest that ontological thinking in Israel was any different from what
is observed in the rest of the ancient Near East. While Israelite ontology seems to have
focused on functions and relationships, however, it is still possible that their self-identity
developed a sense of interiority to complement the more common exteriority that
characterized the era. Whether an understanding of Yahweh with an interior focus led to
an understanding of themselves in those terms, or vice versa, this sense of interiority on
31
Ballentine, “Theorizing Myth to Facilitate,” 9.
32
Debra Scoggins Ballentine, The Conflict Myth and the Bible Tradition (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2015), 3.
33
Dexter E. Callender Jr., and William Scott Green, Myth and Scripture: Contemporary Perspectives on
Religion, Language, and Imagination, ed. Dexter E. Callender Jr. (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature,
2014), 2.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
37
Refer to section 4.3 “The Methodological Challenge,” 11.
38
Matthew Kane Sterenberg, Myth and the Modern Problem: Mythic Thinking in Twentieth Century Brittan
(Illinois: Northwestern University, PhD Diss, 2009), 3.
236
both levels is at the heart of those features that distinguish Israel from its neighbors. The
belief that Yahweh had revealed himself—not only his actions, but his character—to the
Israelites, and that he expected them to imitate him on both levels, was key in these
developments.
39
The study of ancient Near Eastern sources and the Bible requires care and judicious
investigation through various modalities such as: textual analysis, transmission, the role of the
authors, editors, and those responsible for preserving and handing down the oral traditions that
gave rise to the final form of the biblical text.
40
This project acknowledged the comparative
difficulty and assertion that Job fits the rhetorical strategy of the conflict myth topos to legitimize
the kingship of a superior deity since only a small portion of the book (the prologue and
epilogue) is identified as prose and myth. Second, a smaller portion of the book (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-
6) features the presence of the divine assembly shared in common with the parallels.
41
The study
was met with additional challenges observed in the frequent change in literary typing, assertions
of multivocality, and the probability of multiple editorial revisions that gave rise to the final form
of the Joban text as an interpretive complication that frustrates the identification of a single
rhetorical purpose of the book.
42
While Job appears to be a polyphonic text, Newsom argued that it should be read as a
conversation between the prose, myth, and poetry in which no part is “subordinated to a single
controlling perspective.”
43
In agreement with Newson, this author argued that the literary
changes and multivocality coalesce instead of compete and point the reader to a single rhetorical
purpose that legitimizes the kingship of Yahweh over creation and provides an answer to the
39
John Walton, Ancient near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of
the Hebrew Bible, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 75.
40
Miglio, Behind the Scenes, 94.
41
Refer to section 4.2 of the project, “The Comparative Challenge,” for additional information.
42
Refer to section 4.2 of the project, “The Comparative Challenge,” 5-7.
43
Carol Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (New York: Oxford University Press,
2003), 260.
237
challenge of the satan in the prologue; the story does so in apparent relationship to the conflict
myth paradigm observed in the sample of ancient Near Eastern parallels.
44
Specific to the project was the logical progression of Job 28 which led the reader to the
creator God of Israel as the final, “place” (Job 28:12, 20) one might find wisdom. The first
strophe demonstrated that wisdom is unattainable through human ingenuity and effort (Job 28:1-
11). The second strophe demonstrated the elusive nature of wisdom in creation as “hidden from
the eyes of all living, concealed from the birds of the sky,” (Job 28:21, NASB). The third strophe
moves from human incapacity and hiddenness in creation, from God in the abstract, plural,
mythical sense Elohim (Job 1:1), to the singular, absolute sense evidenced in the identification of
ʾAdhōnāi (Lord) as the one in possession of the wisdom for which Job and his friends searched.
The book appears to progress in its revelation of who God is in relationship to humanity. Job
moves from ʾElōhîmi (Job 1:1) to ʾAdhōnāi (Job 28:28b) to YHWH (Job 38:1). Freedman,
Ringgren, and O’Connor observe the name YHWH is “generally thought to be a verbal form
derived from the root hyh (Exodus 3:14) which means be at hand, exist (phenomenally).”
45
The
one revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14 as “I AM,” and Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4 as YHWH
appears to be the same one revealed in Job 38:1 and legitimized as the wise ruler and legitimate
possessor of power over creation in the epilogue (Job 42:2).
As a feature of the speculative wisdom genre of “seeking and finding.”
46
Job 28 is a poem
that participates in the rhetorical strategy to legitimize kingship the kingship of Yahweh because
it figuratively portrays the search for wisdom and God in the defense and debate cycles (Job 4-
44
Refer to section 4.2 of the project, “The Comparative Challenge,” 5-7. Also see section 3.4 of the project
for additional information on the reference to “the satan” as a general term for adversary.
45
David Noel Freedman, Helmer Ringgren, and M.P. O'Connor, Theological Dictionary of the Old
Testament, ed. David E. Green, rev. ed., 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Willilam B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986),
500.
46
Newsom, The Book of Job, 172.
238
27; 28:1-22) as the human reaction and experience to what was permitted in the divine assembly
(Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). The poem then points the reader to the answer to the concerns raised in the
book in the forthcoming context (Job 28:23-28; 38-42:5). The conflict myth paradigm observed
in chapter four of this project appears to function in the sample of ancient Near Eastern parallels
and Job as part of a rhetorical strategy to legitimize kingship. In the end, Yahweh’s kingship and
wisdom over the cosmos is legitimized by the protagonist in the confession “I know that you can
do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2, NRSV). The need to
sanitize the myth as part of a polemic strategy was unnecessary since the Joban author appeared
to use it to clarify human responsibility through the revelation of wisdom and understanding in
relationship to Yahweh.
239
Bibliography
Alden, Robert L. “Iv. The Wisdom Chapter.” In Job. Electronic ed. Vol. 11, The New American
Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993.
——— “Introduction.” In Job. Vol. 11. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1993.
Allen, James P. The Debate Between a Man and His Soul: A Masterpiece of Ancient Egyptian
Literature. Electronic ed. Boston, MA: Brill, 2010.
Analytical Lexicon of the Vulgate. Edited by Isaiah Hoogendyk and Andrew Curtis. Electronic
ed. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2018.
Andersen, and Francis I. Job: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 14, Tyndale Old Testament
Commentaries, 240–52. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1976.
André, G. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by Johannes Botterweck and
Helmer Ringgren. Translated by Helmer Ringgren, 121. Grand Rapids, MI: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990.
A New English Translation of the Septuagint (Primary Texts), edited by Albert Pietersma and
Benjamin G. Wright., translated by Claude E. Cox. New York: Oxford University Press,
2007.
Augustine. “The Occasion and Purpose of This "Manual.” In Handbook on Faith, Hope, and
Love, edited by Albert C. Outler. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library,
2004. Accessed March 7, 2024.
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/enchiridion.chapter1.html?scrBook=Job&scrCh=28
&scrV=28#chapter1-p2.2.
——— of Hippo. Confessions. Edited by Roy Joseph Deferrari. Translated by Vernon J. Bourke.
Vol. 21. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1953.
——— of Hippo. The Confessions of St. Augustine. Translated by E.B. Pusey. Oak Harbor, WA:
Logos Research Systems, 1996.
Aquinas, Thomas. “Chapter Twenty-Eight: Job Continues His Discourse in Praise of Wisdom.”
In Expositio Super Iob Ad Litteram: Commentary on the Book of Job, edited by Joseph
Kenny., translated by Brian Mulladay. N.P.: St. Isidore, n.d.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Edited by Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel. Vol. 2. Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.
Bakon, Shimon. “Two Hymns to Wisdom: Proverbs 8 and Job 28.” Jewish Bible Quarterly 36,
no. 4 (2008): 222–29.
240
Ballentine, Debra Scoggins. The Conflict Myth and the Bible Tradition. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2015.
———. “Theorizing Myth to Facilitate Comparison and Re-Description in Biblical Studies,”
Religions 13, no. 767 (2022): 1-13.
Banister, Jamie A. “Enlil.” In The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry, David
Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair
Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Electronic ed. Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Barker, William D. “Chapter 15: Ugaritic Literature.” In Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament:
Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, edited by Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Wilbur,
and John H. Walton. Electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of
Baker Publishing Group, 2018.
Barton, John. “D Éjà Lu: Method or Intertextuality.” In Reading Job Intertextually, edited by
Katherine Dell and Will Kynes. Camden, England: Bloomsbury Academic &
Professional, 2012.
Beaulieu, Paul-Alain. “The Setting of Babylonian Wisdom Literature.” In Wisdom Literature in
Mesopotamia and Israel, edited by Richard J. Clifford. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical
Literature, 2007.
Biblia Hebraica Westmonasteriensis with Westminster Hebrew Morphology 4.18. Edited by J.
Alan Groves. Electronic ed. Glenside, PA: Center for Advanced Biblical Research, 2013.
Biggs, Robert D. “Part 6: Didactic and Wisdom Literature.” In The Ancient Near Eastern Texts
Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James Bennett Pritchard. 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1969.
Black, Jeremy. The Literature of Ancient Sumer. Edited by Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham,
Eleanor Robson, and Gábor Zólyomi. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Bosserman, Christina. “Uz.” In The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Berry, David
Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair
Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Electronic ed. Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Boström, Lennart. “Retribution and Wisdom Literature.” In Exploring Old Testament Wisdom:
Literature and Themes, edited by David G. Firth and Lindsay Wilson. London: Apollos,
2016.
Brannan, Rick, and Israel Loken. The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible. Lexham Bible
Reference. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
Brooks-Rea, Christina L. “The Thematic, Stylistic, and Verbal Similarities between Isaiah 40-55
and the Book of Job.” In The Thematic, Stylistic, and Verbal Similarities between Isaiah
241
40-55 and the Book of Job, 170–75. Notre Dame: PhD Diss., University of Notre Dame,
2010.
Brown, Francis, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs. Enhanced Brown-Driver-
Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
Butler, Trent C. “God.” In The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar,
Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott,
Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press,
2016.
Callender, Dexter E., and Green, William Scott, Jr. Myth and Scripture: Contemporary
Perspectives on Religion, Language, and Imagination. Edited by Dexter E. Callender Jr.
Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014.
Calvin, John. Sermons on Job: Chapters 15-30. Translated by Rob Roy McGregory. EBook 2 ed.
Vol. 2. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2022.
Childs, Brevard S. “The Canonical Shape of the Book of Job.” In Introduction to the Old
Testament as Scripture. Electronic ed. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1979.
———. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979.
———. Old Testament Theology in a Canonical Context. London: SCM, 1985.
Cho, Paul K. Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible, 1–10. United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press, 2019.
———. “Job 2 and Job 42:7-10 as Narrative Bridge and Theological Pivot.” Journal of Biblical
Literature 136, no. 4 (2017): 857–87.
Chou, Abner. The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the
Apostles and Prophets. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2018.
Chrysostom, John. “Job 27:14-28:3.” In Commentary on Job. Patristische Text und Studien ed.
Vol. 35. New York: de Gruyter, 1964.
Clines, David J.A. Job. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham.
New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
1994.
——— Job 1-20, Volume 17. Nashville, TN: Harper Collins Christian Publishing, 2015.
——— Job 21-37. Electronic ed. Vol. 18A. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006.
——— “Putting Elihu in His Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37.” JSOT 29, no. 2
(2004): 243–53.
Cone, James H. God of the Oppressed. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997.
242
Coogan, Michael D., and Mark S. Smith. “Baal.” In Stories from Ancient Canaan, edited by
Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith. 2nd ed. Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Publishing
Corporation, 2012.
Cross, Frank Moore. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of
Israel. Electronic ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973.
Currid, John D. Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament, 2013.
Wheaton, Il: Crossway.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. Edited by David J.A. Clines. Vol. 7. Sheffield, England:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1993–2011.
Dodson, Derek S., and Katherine E. Smith. Exploring Biblical Backgrounds: A Reader in
Historical & Literary Contexts, edited by Derek S. Dodson and Katherine E. Smith.
Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2018.
Estes, Daniel. “Job 28 in Its Literary Context.” JESOT 2, no. 2 (2013): 151–64.
Everett Theodore Mullen. “Divine Assembly.” In Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David
Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Fishbane, Michael. Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.
Foster, Benjamin R. “Atra-Hasis 1.130.” In Context of Scripture: Canonical Compositions,
Monumental Inscriptions and Archival Documents from the Biblical World, edited by W
William. Electronic ed. Boston, MA: Brill, 2003.
Foster, John L. “The Debate between a Man Tired of Life and His Soul.” In Ancient Egyptian
Literature: An Anthology. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2001.
Freedman, David Noel, Ringgren, Helmer and O'Connor, M.P. Theological Dictionary of the Old
Testament. Edited by David E. Green. Rev. ed. 5. Grand Rapids, MI: Willilam B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986.
Frevel, Christian. “‘Eine Kleine Theologie der Menschenwürde’: Ps 8 und Seine Rezeption im
Buch Ijob.” In Das Manna Manna Fällt Auch Heute Noch: Beiträge zur Geschichte und
Theologie des Alten, Ersten Testaments, edited by Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Ludger
Schwienhorst-Schönberger, 244–77. Freiburg: Herders Biblische Studien, 2004.
Fyall, Robert S. Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job.
Edited by D.A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL; England: InterVarsity Press and Apollos,
2002.
Gardiner, Eileen. Ancient near Eastern Hell: Visions, Tours and Descriptions of the Infernal
Otherworld, 26–27. New York City, NY: Italica Press, 2013.
243
Garrett, Duane A. “The Poetic and Wisdom Books.” In Holman Concise Bible Commentary,
edited by David S. Dockery. Electronic ed. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1998.
Goldingay, John. Old Testament Theology: Israel's Gospel. Electronic ed. Vol. 1. Westmont, IL:
InterVarsity Academic, 2003.
———. “On Reading Job 22-28.” The Expository Times 124, no. 10 (2013): 480–84.
Gordis, Robert. The Book of Job: Commentary, New Translation, and Special Studies. New York,
NY: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1978.
A Greek-English Lexicon. Edited by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones,
and Roderick McKenzie. Electronic ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Greenstein, Edward L. Job: A New Translation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.
Greer, Jonathan S., John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton. Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament:
Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019.
Gregory the Great. Morals on the Book of Job. Edited by John Henry Parker. Translated by
Members of the English Church. Vol. 18, A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic
Church Anterior to the Division of the East and West, 358–59. Oxford: J.G. & F.
Rivington, 1800.
Gutiérrez, Gustavo. On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books, 1987.
Habel, Norman. The Book of Job (1985): A Commentary. Louisville, KY: Presbyterian
Publishing Corporation, 1985.
Haag, Herbert. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes Botterweck.
Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977.
Hagedorn, Ursula, and Dieter Hagedorn. Die Älteren Griechischen Katenen zum Buch Hiob, IV.
Patristische Texte und Studien. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2004.
Hamilton, Matthew James. “Sons of God.” In The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D.
Berry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie
Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Electronic ed.
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
———. “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15.”
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 10 (2006): 30–54.
Handy, Lowell K. “The Authorization of Divine Power and the Guilt of God in the Book of Job:
Useful Ugaritic Parallels.” JSOT 60 (1993): 107–18.
244
Hankins, Davis. “Wisdom as an Imminent Event in Job 28, Not a Transcendent Ideal.” Vetus
Testamentum 63 (2013): 210–35.
Harkins, Franklin T. “Chapter 6 Christ and the Eternal Extent of Divine Providence in the
Expositio Super Iob Ad Litteram of Thomas Aquinas.” In A Companion to Job in the
Middle Ages, edited by Franklin Harkins and Aaron Canty. Boston, MA: Brill, 2016.
Hawley, Lance R. Metaphor Coherence in the Book of Job. Madison, WI: PhD Diss University
of Wisconsin-Madison, 2016.
Heckl, Raik. “The Relationship between Job 1-2, 42 and 1 Samuel 1-4 as Intertextual Guidance
for Reading.” In Reading Job Intertextually. Camden: Bloomsbury Academic &
Professional, 2012.
Heiser, Michael S. “Divine Council.” In The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry,
David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair
Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. Electronic ed. Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
———, and Vincent M. Setterholm. Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology.
Electronic ed. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013.
———. Sons and Daughters of God: The Believers Identity, Calling, and Destiny. Bellingham,
WA: Logos Mobile Education, 2019.
———. “Part 2: The Households of God.” In The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural
Worldview of the Bible. Electronic ed. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2015.
Henderson, Ruth. “The Concentric Structure of the Wisdom Poem in Job 28.” Journal of Ancient
Judaism 9 (2019): 26–45.
Herion, Gary A. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. Vol. 5. New
York: Doubleday, 1992.
Hess, Richard S. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. Vol. 1.
New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Hom, Mary Katherine Yem Hing. “Water, Wisdom, and Life: Literary Insights on the Use of
Naḥal in Job 28:4 with Reference to Job 28:1-28 and 38:22-30.” Vetus Testamentum 67
(2017): 1–8.
Hoogendyk, Isaiah. “Yâtsab.” In The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible. Electronic
ed. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017.
Horst Dietrich Preuss. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes
Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Translated by David E. Green. Vol. 6. Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990.
245
Humphreys Frackson Zgambo and Angelo Nicolaides. “A Brief Exposition on the Notions of
Human Suffering, Theodicy, and Theocracy in the Book of Job.” Pharos Journal of
Theology 103 (2022): 1–11.
Irwin, William. “Against Intertextuality.” Philosophy and Literature 28 (2004): 227–42.
Irvin, Dale T. The Protestant Reformation and World Christianity: Global Perspectives. Edited
by Dale T. Irvin. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2017.
Isho'Dad of Merv. Commentary on Job. Vol. 229. Louvain, Belgium: Corpus Scriptorum
Christianorum Orientalium, 1903.
“Job 28.” In Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Electronic ed. Stuttgart: German Bible Society,
2003.
Jacob, Ashna Mary, and Nirmala Menon. “Mythos to Myth to Mythpoeia.” Mythlore 42, no. 1
(Fall/Winter 2023): 147–64.
Joffman, Yair. A Blemished Perfection: The Book of Job in Context. London, NY: Bloomsbury
Publishing Place, 2019.
Jones, Scott C. “Job 28 and Modern Theories of Knowledge.” Theology Today 69, no. 4 (2013):
486–96.
———. “Lions, Serpents, and Lion-Serpents in Job 28:8 and Beyond.” Journal of Biblical
Literature 130, no. 4 (Winter 2011): 663–86.
Joyce, Paul M. “Even If Noah, Daniel, and Job Were in It ... " (Ezekiel 14:14): The Case of Job
in Ezekiel.” In Reading Job Intertextually, edited by Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes.
Camden: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012.
Julian of Eclanum. “Intro.” In Ancient Christian Texts: Commentaries on Job, Hosea, Joel, and
Amos, edited by Thomas P. Series Editors Gerald L. Bray Scheck, Michael Glerup, and
Thomas C. Oden. , translated by Thomas P. Scheck. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 2021.
Julian the Arian. Commentary on Job. Vol. 14, Patristische Texte und Studien. New York: de
Gruyter, 1964.
Kannengiesser, Charles. Handbook of Patristric Exegesis: The Bible in Ancient Christianity.
Boston, MA: Brill, 2004.
Kaske, Carol V. Spenser and Biblical Poetics. New York: Cornell University Press, 2019.
Kirk, Geoffrey S. Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures. London:
Cambridge University Press, 1973.
246
Kleiman, Sabine, Assaf Kleiman, and Erez Ben-Yosef. “Metalworkers' Material Culture in the
Early Iron Age Levant: The Ceramic Assemblage from Site 34 (Slaves' Hill) in the Timna
Valley.” Journal for the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University 44, no. 2
(September 13th, 2017): 232–64.
Konkel, August H., and Tremper Longman. “Eliphaz: The Harvest of Sorrows (4:1-5:27).” In
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 6: Job, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
Electronic ed. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.
Kyanvig, Helga. Primeval History: Babylonian, Biblical, and Enochic: an Intertextual Reading.
Boston, MA: Brill, 2011.
Kynes, Will. My Psalm Has Turned into Weeping: Job's Dialogue with the Psalms. Berlin: De
Gruyter, 2012.
———. “Job and Isaiah 40-55: Intertextualities in Dialogue.” In Reading Job Intertextually,
edited by Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes. Camden: Bloomsbury Academic &
Professional, 2012.
Levy, Thomas, and Russell B. Adams. “Early Bronze Age Metallurgy: A Newly Discovered
Copper Manufactory in Southern Jordan.” Antiquity 76 (2002): 425–37.
Lo, Alison. Job 28 as Rhetoric: An Analysis of Job 28 in the Context of Job 22-31. Boston: Brill,
2003.
Lopez-Garcia, F., and Fabry Josef-Heinz. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited
by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Translated by David E. Green. Rev.
ed. Vol. 15. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006.
Lust, Johan, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie. A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint:
Revised Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2003.
MacNicoll, Patricia A. “Uz.” In Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, edited by David Noel
Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans,
2000.
Madigan, Kevin. Medieval Christianity: A New History. New York: Yale University Press, 2015.
Magallanes, Sophia A. “4.2 Exegesis of Job 28:12-14 // Job 28:20-22, the "Where" of Wisdom.”
In Bringing Wisdom Back Down to Earth: A Wisdom Reading of Job 28. Edinburgh,
Scotland: PhD diss University of Edinburgh, 2011.
Manetsch, Scott M. The Reformation and the Irrepressible Word of God: Interpretation,
Theology, and Practice. Edited by Scott M. Manetsch. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 2019.
Mangum, Douglas. The Lexham Glossary of Literary Types. Electronic ed. Bellingham, WA:
Lexham Press, 2014.
247
McCutcheon, Russell T. “Myth.” In Guide to the Study of Religion, edited by Willi Braun and
Russell T. McCutcheon. New York: Cassell, 2000.
Moore, Stephen D., and Yvonne Sherwood. The Invention of the Biblical Scholar: A Critical
Manifesto. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2011.
Matthews, Victor H., and Don C. Benjamin. “Job, Ecclesiastes: A Sufferer and a Soul in Egypt.”
In Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East. Electronic ed.
Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2016.
Miglio, Adam. “Chapter 11: Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature.” In Behind the
Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, edited by
Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Wilbur, and John H. Walton. Electronic ed., 94–95. Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018.
Mitariu, Christina Andreea. “The Parable, Valuable Pedagogical Tool in Christian Teaching.”
Quaestus 19, no. 6 (2021): 350–57.
Nettelhorst, Robin P. “Wisdom.” In Lexham Theological Wordbook. Electronic ed. Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
Newsom, Carol. The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2003.
Niehaus, Jeffrey J. Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology. Electronic ed. Grand
Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2008.
Nikkel, David H. “The Wildness of Creation: An Interpretation of the Voice from the Whirlwind
in Job.” DeGruyter Open Theology 2 (2016): 849–54.
Nutt, Roger W. “Providence, Wisdom, and the Justice of Job's Afflictions: Considerations from
Aquinas' Literal Exposition on Job.” The Heythrop Journal, no. LVI (2015): 44–66.
O'Connor, Peter. Beyond the Mist: What Irish Mythology Can Teach Us About Ourselves.
London: Orion, 2000.
Oden, Thomas C. “Job 28:1-11 Human Beings Have Knowledge of Natural Things and Wisdom
Belongs to God, Job 28:12-28.” In Ancient Christian Commentary: Job, edited by Manlio
Simonetti and Marco Conti. Old Testament: VI. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2006.
Oeming, Manfred. “To Be Adam or Not to Be Adam: The Hidden Fundamental Anthropological
Discourse Revealed in an Intertextual Reading of Adam in Job and Genesis.” In Reading
Job Intertextually, edited by Katherine J. Dell and Will Kynes. Camden: Bloomsbury
Academic & Professional, 2012.
O'Flaherty, Wendy Donigher. Other People's Myths: The Cave of Echoes. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press, 1995.
248
Oshima, Takayoshi. “The Babylonian Theodicy: An Ancient Babylonian Discourse on Human
Piety and Divine Justice.” Religion Compass 9, no. 12 (2015): 483–92.
Oswalt, John N. The Bible among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.
Otzen, Benedikt. “The Use of Myth in Genesis.” In Myths in the Old Testament, edited by
Benedikt Otzen, Hans Gottlieb, and Knud Jeppsen. London: SCM, 1980.
———. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes Botterweck,
Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry. Translated by Davie E. Green. Vol. 11. Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001.
Perdue, Leo G. Wisdom in Revolt: Metaphorical Theology in the Book of Job. Electronic ed.
London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2009.
Philip the Priest. Commentary on Job. Edited by Jacques Paul Migne. Vol. 26, 696–97. Brepols,
Belgium: Patrologiae Cursus Completetus. Series Latina, 1903.
Pritchard, James Bennett. “Atrahasis.” In The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old
Testament. 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969.
Quinn, Benjamin T., and Lewis Ayres. Christ the Way: Augustine's Theology of Wisdom.
Bellingham, WA: Faithlife corporation, 2022.
Rothenberg, Beno. Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Edited by
Michael Avi-Yonah and Ephraim Stern. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
———. Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines, 15–20. London: Thames and Hudson, 1972.
Rowald, Henry Lawrence. The Theology of Creation in the Yahweh Speeches of the Book of Job
as a Solution to the Problem Posed by the Book of Job. Clayton, MO: Concordia
Seminary in Exile (Seminex), 1977.
Ryken, Leland. Short Sentences Long Remembered: A Guided Study of Proverbs and Other
Wisdom Literature. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Sapir-Hen, Lidar, and Erez Ben-Yosef. “The Socioeconomic Status of Iron Age Metalworkers:
Animal Economy in the 'Slaves' Hill,' Timna, Israel.” Antiquity 88, no. 341 (2014): 775–
90.
Schifferdecker, Kathryn M. Out of the Whirlwind: Creation Theology in the Book of Job.
Cambridge, MA: PhD Diss., Harvard Divinity School, 2004.
Schloen, David. The Patrimonial Household in the Kingdom of Ugarit: A Weberian Analysis of
Ancient Near Eastern Society. Cambridge, MA: Ph.D. Diss., Harvard University, 1995.
249
Schmidt, Nic, and Petrus Nel. “Divine Darkness in the Human Discourses of Job.” Acta
Theological 36, no. 2 (2016): 125–47.
Scholnick, Sylvia Huberman. “11 Poetry in The Courtroom: Job 38-41.” In Directions in Biblical
Hebrew Poetry, edited by Elaine R. Follis. London, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing Place,
1997.
Schultz, Carl. “Job.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Electronic ed. Vol. 3, 343–44.
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995.
Segal, Robert A. Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Seow, Choon-Leong. Job 1-21: Interpretation and Commentary. Vol. 1, Illumination
Commentaries. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2013.
———. “The Deep.” In The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman.
Electronic ed. Vol. 2. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Septuaginta: With Morphology. Electronic ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1979.
Shupak, Nili. “Egyptian Literature.” In Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social,
and Historical Contexts, edited by Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Wilbur, and John H.
Walton. Electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker
Publishing Group, 2018.
Smith, Mark S. The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the
Ugaritic Texts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
———. “Ugarit and the Ugaritians.” In The World around the Old Testament: The People and
Placecs of the Ancient Near East, edited by Bill T. Arnold and Brent A. Strawn.
Electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing
Group, 2016.
Stump, Eleonore. “Aquinas on the Sufferings of Job.” In Reasoned Faith: Essays in
Philosophical Theology in Honor of Norman Kretzmann, edited by Eleonore Stump.
Ithaca, NY: Echo Print Books & Media, 1993.
Sterenberg, Matthew Kane. Myth and the Modern Problem: Mythic Thinking in Twentieth
Century Brittan. Illinois: Northwestern University, PhD Diss, 2009.
Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old
Testament). Electronic ed. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997.
Sweeney, Mac, Naoíse. “Introduction.” In Foundation Myths in Ancient Societies: Dialogues and
Discourses, edited by Naoíse Mac Sweeney. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,
2014.
250
Talmon, Shemaryahu. Literary Studies in the Hebrew Bible: Form and Context. Jerusalem:
Magnes Press, 1993.
Targum Lexicon. Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College,
2004.
Terrien, Samuel. Job: Poet of Existence. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004.
The Lexham English Septuagint. Edited by Rick Brannan, Ken Penner, Israel Loken, Michael
Aubrey, and Isaiah Hoogendyk. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.
The Lexham Hebrew Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.
The Lexham Latin-English Interlinear Vulgate. Edited by Andrew Curtis and Isaac Hoogendyk.
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament. Edited by Jenni Ernst and Claus Westermann.
Translated by Mark E. Biddle. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.
Thomas, Robert L. New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated
Edition. Anaheim, CA: Foundation Publications, 1998.
Thompson, Jeremy. Bible Sense Lexicon: Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife,
2016.
Ticciati, Susannah. Job and the Disruption of Identity: Reading beyond Barth. London: T&T
Clark, 2005.
Tov, Emmanuel. The Parallel Aligned Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture.
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2003.
Tsumura, David Toshio. “The Chaoskampf Myth in the Biblical Tradition.” Journal of the
American Oriental Society 140, no. 4 (2020): 963–69.
———. Creation and Destruction: A Reappraisal of the Chaoskampf Theory in the Old
Testament. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005.
Van Leeuwen, Raymond C. “Cosmos, Temple, House: Building and Wisdom in Mesopotamia
and Israel.” In Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel, edited by Richard J.
Clifford. Electronic ed. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.
van Wolde, Ellen. “Cognitive Linguistics and the Hebrew Bible, Illustrated with a Study of Job
28 and Job 38.” The Professorship of Semitic Languages at Uppsala University 400
Years: Jubilee Volume from a Symposium held at the University Hall 24 (September
2005): 247–77.
251
Vargon, Shmuel. “The Date of Composition of the Book of Job in the Context of S.D. Luzzato's
Attitude to Biblical Criticism.” The Jewish Quarterly Review 91, no. 3/4 (Jan-April
2001), under “377–3943/4.”
Vicchio, Stephen J. The Book of Job: A History of Interpretation and Commentary. Eugene, Or:
Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020.
Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton. The IVP Bible Background
Commentary: Old Testament. Electronic ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Wagner, Thomas. “Contingency or Divine Justice: What Matters in Job's Fate? Synchronic
Perspectives on Prologue and Dialogue in the Book of Job.” Religions 10 (2019): 149–
64.
Waltke, Bruce K. An Old Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.
Walton, John. Ancient near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual
World of the Hebrew Bible. Electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
———. “Wisdom Literature.” In Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Electronic ed.
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013.
———. “Book of Job 1.” In Dictionary of the Old Testament Wisdom, Poetry, and Writings,
edited by Tremper Longman and Peter Enns. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
2008.
———. and Tremper Longman. How to Read Job. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015.
Waschke, Ernst-Joachim. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by Johannes
Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry. Translated by David E. Green.
Rev. ed. Vol. 15. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006.
White, Ellen. Yahweh's Council: Its Structure and Membership. 2014: Mohr Siebeck, 2014.
William David Reyburn. A Handbook on the Book of Job. UBS Handbook. New York: United
Bible Societies, 1992.
Winafelt, Tod. “Why Is There Poetry in the Book of Job.” Journal of Biblical Literature 140, no.
4 (2021): 683–701.
Wisnom, Selena. Intertextual Competition in Babylonian Poetry: A Study of Anzu, Enuma Elish,
and Erra and Issum. Electronic ed. Boston, MA: Brill, 2019.
Witte, Markus. “Does the Torah Keep Its Promise? Job's Critical Intertextual Dialogue with
Deuteronomy.” In Reading Job Intertextually, edited by Katherine J. Dell and Will
Kynes. Camden: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 2012.
Wittig, Susan. “A Theory of Multiple Meanings.” Semeia 9 (1977): 75–103.
252
Wyatt, Nicolas. Religious Texts from Ugarit. 2nd ed. Vol. 53, Biblical Seminar. New York:
Sheffield Academic Press, 2002.
Wyckoff, Chris. “Have We Come Full Circle Yet? Closure, Psycholinguistics, and Problems of
Recognition with the Inclusio.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 30, no. 4 (June
2006): 475–505.
Yu, Charles. To Comfort Job: The Speeches in the Book of Job as Rhetorical Discourse.
Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, PhD Diss, 2011.
