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Legal language in the Book of Job.
Frye, John Beresford
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-1-
LEGAL LANGUAGE IN THE BOOK OF JOB
ý3
ýI
This dissertation is
submitted
for the degree
of
Doctor Philosophy
of
in the Faculty Theology,
of
University London,
of
by John Beresford Frye.
rreý"d
ýä
ý',
jj .. ý: hý
J
-2-
ABSTRACT. '
The this thesis is to investigate the in
aim of way
legal terminology legal forms in the Book
which and are used
Job. As the basis for this discussion, it first be
of will
that the Joban Prologue two distinctive
argued makes use of
J OW
the figure the the
concepts :- of and assembly of
,
O'i1'7Xi1 ' ]ý
the
1CXIl
From the legal language the
which employs, and
Yyl'
from the development the legal
adduced of as a
1CXU
in Ezra 4.5f., it be that the
counsellor, will argued
functions legal the judicial
as a, counsellor within assembly
13'1ýKi 1 73: )
the Both later
of antecedent and usage
.
indicate that this the the
portrait reflects position of
the D' l10 the Babylonian
exilic counsellor within of exiles.
A legal terminology discursive
consideration of and
the the Book Job
usage within speeches of of similarly
indicates that the Jobara discourse literary
presents a
the
expression legal discourse
of varied nature of within
D'-11D,
the
exilic
An
these
assimilation
of considerations of usage shows
that the literary
the Book
and stylistic characteristics of of
-3..
Job the background,
reflect author's contemporary social and
that the himself legal To
suggests author was a counsellor.
this his
contingency we may reasonably ascribe pervasive
knowledge legal language.
and use of
Y'Y 11
The the, function the
secular nature of of exilic
indicates
that the to
author's purpose was not simply record
literary dissatisfaction the disorder
a expression of with of
1YY
life, but to indicate the his
pragmatic application of
in his leader the On this
capacity as a of exilic community.
basis I to that from the
shall attempt show within context of
the Babylonian he to to describe
exile, sought comment on, and
the towards the disaster 587 B. C.. The
proper attitude of
this he to demonstrate
achievement of attitude, as attempted
to Job, lead to Restoration.
with reference would ultimately
The this by the
expression of comment a portrayal of
fortunes the Job is facilitated by the
of man presentation
the in the legal discussion,
of author's views style of a
he
evidently as a mode of reference with which was most
familiar by his function, this
virtue of and provided an
basis for the his i1YY both to
appropriate application of
the individual, to the
and exilic community as a whole.
-4-
n
PREFACE:
Method
of reference:
In`the interest length for the
of maintaining a reasonable
footnotes, the limit 90,000 in
and with statutory of words mind,
to books has been in the following
reference and articles made
manner:
In the books, by titles.
a: case of generally short
b): In-the by the
case of articles, generally abbreviated
title the journal
of or series.
Full titles be found in the bibliography.
and specifications will
All journals
abbreviations of series, and composite works are
identifiable, listed before the bibliography.
readily and are
The devices 'op. ', is
use of sigla, and of such as cit. explained
in the Further to the bibliography
miscellany. remarks relative
the list
are given after of abbreviations and sigla.
Biblical to the Hebrew, following the
references are enumeration
of
text-division Kittel's Biblia Hebraica.
and
English from the Old Testament double
quotations given with
from the Revised Standard Version,
quotation marks are unless
Single translation.
otherwise stated. quotation marks signify my own
German in the English
quotation marks are rendered manner.
denoted by Italics
Italics
are single underlining. which occur
in from belong to the
passages quoted other works respective
authors, unless otherwise stated.
Square brackets
are mine, unless otherwise stated.
This thesis, during March 1973,
which was completed was prepared
the Professor P. R. Ackroyd, Kings College,
under supervision of of
London, to the thesis I indebted for friendly
whom and are much
ýnx
xin 'nxy w+x
counsel and sound advice:
A debt is to Mr. N. Wyatt, the University
of gratitude owed also of
the thesis,
of-Glasgow, who read and offered many useful suggestions
in to
addition some scholarly criticism.
Finally, thanks due to the
particular are my wife, who without
benefit knowledge Hebrew, the task
of a of undertook painstaking
the
of correcting material.
The thesis does 90,000
it is
not exceed words, and no part of
the
done in
outcome of work collaboration.
9 t... h. gpril, 1973"
-5-
CONTENTS:
Page
ABSTRACT
-2
PREFACE
4
1
Introduction: The Provenance the 7
of
Polk-Tale.
2
The Council in Mesopotamia
18
andýIsrael.
3
The Israelite Royal Council the 34
and
Heavenly Council.
4
YHWH the Heavenly: Council.
41
and
5 Conclusions Implications
and with regard 54
to the Council Scenes Job I II.
of and
6 1T
The Figure the Divine 62
of as a
Counsellor.
A: The the in the 62
counsellor of gods
Ancient Near East.
IM
B: The functional
the 72
autonomy of
YHWH.
as counsellor of
C: The historical
the 84
antecedents of
1D
legal
the
and malefic aspects of
D: The 1t71/ 'legal
96
as a counsellor'.
7 The Legal Antecedents Counselling.
123
of
-
A: The Chronistic
its
123
evidence and
Ezra 4.1-6,7ff..
presuppositions:
B: The historical
the
antecedents of 142
Chronistic
evidence.
8 The Function the YY 1P in the
of 148
Exilic Community.
9 The Setting of the Legal Language in the 178
Book Job.
of
A: Implications
the diversity
of 178
of
legal language.
B: Legal terminology
discursive
and usage. 193
10
The Background
to the Use Lamentation
of 220
in the Book
Job.
of
A: The 1 YY
YHWH,
of 220
-6-
B: The legäl structure the 233
of
Lamentation in the Book Job.
of
C: The to the heavenly 243
appeal council.
D: Lament theophany. 257
structure and
11 The Function the Lament in Chapter 3. 261
of
A: Some the 261
preliminary remarks on
literary the Book Job.
context of of
B: The literary function 271
poetic and
Job 3-
of
12 The- 3'1- Element in the Book Job. 280
of
,
13 The Meaning Job 42.10a 288
of.
(M'M n'= me ' mcv "1111111)
A: The 'to turn the 288
synonymity of
, _
'to
captivity' with render a
restoration'.
B: The legal Job's 300
aspect of restoration.
(i):
Job 42.10b, 12,16. 300
(ii):
42.13-15. 302
A Possible Elucidation Job 1.1a 309
14 of
(.. YlY Y1K3 WIN)
11'i1
A: Implications the Study legal 309
of of
language.
B: Y 1Y / Edom the for the
314
as setting
in to the
work relation exile.
15 The Achievement of the Author's Purpose: 321
?M (19.23-27).
Job 's
CONCLUSIONS 326
NOTES ON THE BIBLIOGRAPHY 331
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 332
MISCELLANY 339
SIGLA 340
BIBLIOGRAPHY
341
-7-
THE PROVENANCE OF THE-FOLK-TALE.
ONE: INTRODUCTION: -
The the Book Job
opening and closing narratives of of are
fairly being based folk-tale
generally regarded as on an earlier
framework for
which the author of the speeches utilized as a r
1
his'composition. It be-argued that the,
will subsequently use of
(E.
1 O. Eissfeldt: The Old Testament: Introduction T. 1965), 1966,
4an
held
The
P-456. general consensus of earlier critical opinion
that either the author composed the speeches in accordance with
literary for the Prologue Epilogue,
an existing source and or else
(oral)
he the latter the basis tradition the
on of as
composed
for the dialogues. For the former in
view, see variously
setting
J. Wellhausen: JDTh. 16.1871, p. 555*; K. Budde: Beitrdge zur Kritik
des Buches Hiob. 1876, T. K. Cheyne: Job Solomon. 1887,
pp. xiiif.; and
63ff. (cf.
66f.; D. B. Macdonald: JBL. 14.1895, AJSL. 14.1898,
pp. pp.
P p.
); B. Duhm: Das Buch Hiob. KHC. 1897, F. Delitzsch: Das
37ff. p. vii;
Buch Hiob. 1902, 13.
p.
For the latter G. Ewald: Commentary the Book Job.
view, cf. on of
(S.
1882, 29; R. Driver B. Gray: The Book Job. ICC. 1921
p. and)G. of
G. HÖlscher: Das Buch Hiob. HAT. 17.1937,
1964,
p. xxxvii; PP"4-5;
H. H. Rowley: BJRL. 41.1958-9, 184; E. Dhorme: A Commentary the
P. on
Book Job. E. T. 1967,
p. xxxv.
of
There is hand tendency the later
on-the other a among some of
(but
to them) to the Prologue
critics not. confined regard and
later to the K. Kautzsch: Das
Epilogue
as additions speeches:
Volksbuch Hiob der Ursprung Hiob Kap. i, ii,
von und von
sogenannte
xlii, 7-17.1900 (p. 58) takes the 1tm the
episodes as one of
the the
strongest pieces of evidence against pre-exilic origin of
Prologue. E. KÖnig: Das Buch Hiob. 1929, the Prologue,
rejected
65,67
M. Buttenwimer: The Book Job. 1922, K.
whereas of p. and
Fullerton: ZAW. 42.1924, 116ff. doubt that the Epilogue is
pp.
B. Eerdmans: Studies in Job. 1939, N. H. Tur-Sinai:
primitive.
P"5 and
The Book Job. 1957, both the Prologue Epilogue
of P"31 consider and
to be later than the Tur-Sinai
speeches, supposing unnecessarily
that the is literary type,
narrative material an example of a an
older version of which may have been replaced by the present
W. Stevenson: The Poem Job. 1947, 2lff.. A
arrangement: comp.
of pp.
-8-
language in the dialogues is to in the
aalarge extent-grounded;
ideas in the it is in,, this
set out narrative, and primarily,
that the legal terminology is to
connection extensive use of
be The legal forms:
viewed. speeches-employ-a variety of some-of-,,
the 9f., 13,16,19,23,31,. is: the,
materialýin, ch's reminiscent of
'lawsuit', to the the
prophetic particularly with regard use of
2
term : )'i,! The, indictment Job in 22.5-11,
contention!. of and
Job's his innocence in. the form
protestation, of, of'asseverative
3
belong`clearly to, forensic, literature. The to-,
oaths, reference
[' 7Y]
17117 1YW in, 29-7- is to the local,
a clear allusion
ý
4,
jurisprudence the 'City-Gate'. The background to-this
of
to be in the
variety of similarly orientated material-is,, sought
Prologue, the has in
where, author a-variety. of ways manipulated
the folk-tale in to basis for the
order provide=a ensuing
5,
disputation between Job-and YHWH. A form-critical
assessment of,
to the issue, has become
recent example of-the-extent which
is by Fohrer: Das Buch Hiob UT 1963 29ff.
complicated provided pp.
(see
in J. Hermann, Fest. f. F. Baumgä. 1959, 41-62).
also rtel. pp.
2 Cf. K. Fullerton: AJSL(Hebraica). 55.1938, 225-269; JBL.
Pp. also
53.1934, 321-349.
pp.
3 R. H. Pfeiffer: Introduction to-the Old Testament(1952), 686.
p.
.
4 L. KÖhler: Hebrew Man. E. T. 1956: 'Justice in the Gate',
appendix:
158ff..
pp"149-175, esp.
5 The Prologue the
like-the to
on whole reads preliminary a
trial-scene. The form is the Justice YHWH,
apposite, since of
the
disinterestedness
and relative Job's legal the
of piety are
for
subjects consideration. The legal the
nature of problem would
have from (cf.
arisen antiquity the law
over maladministration of
the Egyptian 'Prayer for Help in the Law Court'. ANET, 380). The
p.
difficulty became
it that the human
greater when
was realized
problem was not being resolved by divine
agency.
-9-
1-2,42 indicates that the this
ch's extent of manipulation
Some
is towards the folk-
considerable. clarification of attitude
tale is therefore desirable.
The literary type the hard to determine.
of narrative-i8 not
The that the Book historical fact in its
view
reports character-
6
ization
individual is ` improbable. The
of a wealthy most opening
verses 1 imitation the formof the
of ch. are an of patriarchal
7
M 1M 1M 1WY, 1' ]: 2 1'11.
but the in
saga, allusion vv-4-5:
...
D' OWfI I DV1 '1
betrays the the
artificial nature of setting.
However°the tale features in the
evidences additional archaizing
O''im][il]
in 1.17 to desert
reference apparently as nomads, and
the later times, further in the
not yet military-Colossus=of and
(1.1S),
0'il?, Y UK
to the the doings
reference which echoes of
(I (18.38
AUK)).
Elijah Carmel Kings 18.24 These
on 'Ä11i1'
features indication the the
may present a more accurate of age of
in in form the the
material which written or oral author of speeches
This impression is by the
utilized. strengthened presence alongside
this thought
older material of elements of which are quite
distinctly later
characteristic of a age, particularly 1.6-12;
TL'WjJ
2.1-7, the
the 'accuser'
where appearance of apparently as
par excellence provides a contrast to the older usage without the
article, the function the 1t Z1 had
where of a much more secular
6
Some
early scholars extended a belief in the veracity of the
tale to
an acceptance of the speeches as ipsissima verba: cf.
S. Lee: The Book
the Patriarch 6-12.
of Job. 1837,
pp.
7-R. de Vaux: Ancient Israel. E. T., 2 1965, 22f.. Literal
ed. pp.