The Book of Job PDF
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THE BOOK OF JOB The Text of the Hebrew Bible, 1 Series Editor David J.A. Clines THE BOOK OF JOB John Gray Edited by David J.A. Clines SHEFFIELD PHOENIX PRESS 2010 Copyright © 2010 Sheffield Phoenix Press Published by Sheffield Phoenix Press Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield 45 Victoria Street, Sheffield S3 7QB www.sheffieldphoenix.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the publishers’ permission in writing. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset by Forthcoming Publications Printed by Lightning Source ISBN 978-1-905048-02-1 ISSN 1747-9622 CONTENTS Preface ix Abbreviations x Part I GENERAL INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 3 Chapter 2 JOB IN THE CONTEXT OF NEAR EASTERN WISDOM LITERATURE 5 Chapter 3 JOB IN HEBREW WISDOM 21 Chapter 4 DATE AND PROVENANCE 32 Chapter 5 LITERARY FORMS IN THE BOOK OF JOB 39 Chapter 6 THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF JOB 56 Chapter 7 TEXT AND VERSIONS 76 Chapter 8 THE LANGUAGE OF THE BOOK OF JOB 93 Chapter 9 THE ARGUMENT 108 Part II COMMENTARY Job 1 and 2 THE PROLOGUE 119 Job 3 JOB’S EXPOSTULATION 138 1 vi The Book of Job Job 4 and 5 ELIPHAZ’S FIRST ADDRESS 148 Job 6 and 7 JOB’S FIRST REJOINDER TO ELIPHAZ (CHAPTER 6) AND HIS EXPOSTULATION WITH GOD (CHAPTER 7) 167 Job 8 BILDAD’S FIRST EXPOSTULATION 183 Job 9 and 10 JOB’S SECOND REJOINDER 190 Job 11 ZOPHAR’S FIRST ADDRESS 206 Job 12–14 JOB’S STATEMENT 213 Job 15 ELIPHAZ’S SECOND REPLY: A REMONSTRATION TO JOB’S OBSTINACY IN QUESTIONING THE THEODICY 235 Job 16 and 17 JOB’S REJOINDER TO ELIPHAZ 247 Job 18 THE REPLY OF BILDAD 261 Job 19 JOB’S REJOINDER TO BILDAD 267 Job 20 THE REPLY OF ZOPHAR 279 Job 21 JOB’S REJOINDER TO ZOPHAR 289 Job 22 ELIPHAZ’S STATEMENT 301 Job 23 JOB’S RESPONSE TO ELIPHAZ: HIS ARDENT DESIRE FOR CONFRONTATION WITH GOD 310 Job 24 JOB’S RESPONSE TO ELIPHAZ (CONTINUED, VV. 1-12), WITH TWO CITATIONS FROM WISDOM POETRY (VV. 13-18, 19-25) 314 1 Contents vii Job 25 and 26 THE INTRODUCTION OF BILDAD’S THIRD ADDRESS: INTRODUCED BY 26.2-4, CONTINUED BY 25.2-6 AND CONCLUDED BY 26.5-15 325 Job 27 JOB’S FINAL RESPONSE TO HIS FRIENDS 333 Job 28 AN INDEPENDENT POEM ON THE TRANSCENDENCE OF WISDOM 340 Job 29 JOB’S REVIEW OF HIS FORMER PROSPERITY 351 Job 30 JOB’S PLAINT 363 Job 31 JOB’S GREAT OATH OF PURGATION 376 Job 32–37 INTERPOLATION 392 Job 32 ELIHU’S FIRST ADDRESS (VV. 6-22) AFTER THE PROSE INTRODUCTION (VV. 1-5) 393 Job 33 ELIHU’S FIRST STATEMENT 399 Job 34 ELIHU’S SECOND STATEMENT 412 Job 35.1; 33.31-33; 35.2–36.25 ELIHU’S THIRD ADDRESS 423 Job 36.26–37.13 ELIHU’S CITATION OF A HYMN OF PRAISE 435 Job 37.14-24 CONCLUSION OF THE ELIHU SECTION: ADDRESS TO JOB 447 INTRODUCTION TO JOB 38–41 451 Job 38 THE DIVINE DECLARATION: PART I 455 Job 39 and 40.25-30 (EVV 41.1-6) THE DIVINE DECLARATION: CONTINUED 469 1 viii The Book of Job Job 40.2, 7-14 THE DIVINE DECLARATION: CONCLUSION 482 Job 40.3-5; 42.2-6 JOB’S SUBMISSION 485 Job 40.15–41.26 (EVV 34) WISDOM POEMS ON NATURAL THEMES 489 Job 42.7-17 THE EPILOGUE 503 Bibliography 508 1 PREFACE At his death in 2000, John Gray, who was Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages in the University of Aberdeen, left a complete manuscript of a commentary on the Book of Job. It came into my hands through the good of(cid:2)ces of Professor William Johnstone, Gray’s successor at Aberdeen, and was entrusted to Shef(cid:2)eld Phoenix Press by his daughter Mrs Jean Reynolds, who, with a certain degree of trepidation, personally conveyed the sole type- script copy of the book to Shef(cid:2)eld. The very lengthy manuscript had to be completely retyped, a heroic task which Duncan Burns undertook with his characteristic skill and enthusiasm. It needed nevertheless a number of readings of the proofs and very many editorial interventions to remove inconsistencies and minor blemishes, not least in standardizing and checking the transliteration of the Hebrew. I was glad to have the opportunity of doing the editorial work, which could not be farmed out to a copy-editor, but needed the expertise of a fellow-commentator on the Book of Job. I apologize for the unconscionable delay in completing the work, which was sadly competing for time with various other projects. The chief interest of the present volume lies in its philological observations, all of them worthy of consideration. Gray brought to his work on the Hebrew text of Job a lifetime of experience with Arabic and Ugaritic texts, and made many original suggestions for the meaning of passages. When it came to emendations of the text, which the Book of Job is sorely in need of at many places, Gray’s instinct everywhere was to accept only those where he could show that the original text had been corrupted in the old script. This was an unusual self-imposed limitation, but it had striking results. In addition, Gray conceived his work on Job as an all-purpose commentary, pre(cid:2)xing a substantial General Introduction to the book as a whole and prefac- ing each section of translation and critical notes with an essay displaying his own special form-critical and theological interests. In all these essays his own distinctive approach is evident. I believe that this outstanding commentary will be a (cid:2)tting tribute to the sound judgment and innovative scholarship of its author. David J.A. Clines October 2010 1
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