Thoughts on the Book of Job - Chapters 1 - 8

 


I should probably rename this blog as it's morphing into more of an overall biblical study. I'm trying to be more diligent in studying the Bible, but wasn't sure where to start. I decided to put all the books of the Bible on a Wheel of Names spinner and let God decide. 

My first spin landed on Job. I admit I was a bit disappointed because I felt I was already familiar with the story and thought I knew it pretty well. Nevertheless, I decided to give it another read and see if anything new was revealed by reading it. 

I'm a genealogy enthusiast, so I decided to pay closer attention to names, titles, and locations of the characters this go-round. 

I haven't found anything definitive as to who Job is or his lineage. Some sources suggest this is a fictional story/ allegory, told to reveal some aspects of God. Others suggest he was an Edomite (We'll look at what an Edomite is a little later.) Others say he was a Gentile believer who was one of the Edomite kings. Some suggest the story takes place prior to Abraham, but I think I've found some solid reasons why this isn't so. 

On with the story. Job is a wealthy and righteous man whom God allows Satan (or a satan/accusing angel assigned by God to check on the humans and report back to Him. See Michael Heiser's books for an explanation of this interpretation: The Unseen Realm chapter 8, Demons chapter 3.)

After Job loses everything, he is visited by three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. 

The way I remembered the story was that these were false friends who came to further torment him and judge him as being unrighteous to explain his loss of fortune, but this isn't quite accurate. In fact these three friends upon seeing Job's condition: 

. . . they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. They then sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. Job 2: 12-13.

So they were well-meaning, sincere friends, but they were sincerely wrong in their understanding of the cause of Job's reversal of fortune. 

Now let's take a closer look at each friend. Starting with Eliphaz the Temanite, the first to break the silence. Eliphaz means "God is pure gold," and Temanite is a descendant of Esau's grandson Teman from the Edomite clan. This means Eliphaz is a descendant of Abraham (therefore the story must have originated after Abraham) but not in the Israel branch. (Abraham produced Isaac, who produced Jacob and Esau, and Jacob became called Israel after wrestling with God.) From what I could find on the internet - sorry, I forgot to note the source - is that Temanites were known for their wisdom. This makes sense because Eliphaz' response to Job's lament about wishing he had never been born, reads a lot like a passage in Proverbs and brings up wisdom and foolishness. His understanding is you reap what you sow, a concept which is echoed throughout the Bible (see Psalms 37:25 and Proverbs 22:8). Eliphaz assumes Job has sinned against God in some way (out of foolishness) and needs to repent and "appeal to God."

Job says he can't think of any sin he has committed. Laments some more, first addressing Eliphaz and then God. 

The next to speak is Bildad the Shuhite. Bildad means "countries or lands," and he is a decendant of Abraham, but not through Sarah. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Abraham took a second wife (not Hagar, the maidservant Sarah offered to him and who produced Ishmael, but someone else) Keturah. Keturah and Abraham had six kids, Shuah being one of them. The Bible Hub online says Shuah means "wealth" or "prosperity." 

Bildad suggests that Job's children were killed due to their own sins (despite Job's diligence with sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of the children's sins. See Job 1:5) Bildad warns that a man who forgets God and gets distracted and wrapped up in his success and wealth will suffer for it, but if he turns back to God, "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Job 8:21

This is the end of Chapter 8. I skipped forward to check on the meaning of the name and title of the 3rd friend Zophar the Naamathite, but I haven't read what he has to say yet. Zophar means "chirping" or "early rising." Naamathite is most likely from Naamah and is likely a Gentile from either Arabia or Transjordan. 

On to Chapter 9 . . . . 

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