Introduction

__ Authorship: __ One cannot say with certainty who wrote the Book of Job. The Talmud ascribes authorship to Moses, whereas other critics claim Job himself to be the author. Authorship was not as important in Antiquity as it is in our modern world. What is important is the story itself, passed down orally from generation to generation, and the message within the story.

__ Date of writing and origin: __ Although there is much contention from Biblical scholars that suggests that the Book of Job was written after the Babylonian exile (5th century B.C.), there is no factual evidence to support, nor refute this claim. The book itself makes no allusions to specific and historical events, making the task of pinpointing a date, place and author a colossal task. [1] Traditionally, Job is placed within the patriarchal period and the story is one of the oldest in the Old Testament. Job lived in the land of Uz (Job 1:1) and was the greatest man of the people of the east (Job 1:3). He did not live in Palestine, and it is suggested that he was an Aramaean. [2]

Critics often divide the Book of Job into three sections: a prose prologue (Ch. 1 and 2), a poetic dialogue (Ch. 3 – 42:6), and a prose epilogue (42:7-17). Clearly the poetic dialogue forms the vast bulk of the book itself. The use of poetic and symbolic language to convey a message is an important feature within Hebrew writing. The most important feature is parallelism, which involves the repetition of words or ideas in successive lines of a verse, as well as various similes and metaphors. [3]

[1] Alberto Soggin, J., //Introduction to the Old Testament//, tr J.Bowden, London: SCM Press Ltd, 1980, p.391 [2] //ibid// [3] The NRSV Catholic Youth Bible – International Edition, New York: Saint Mary’s Press, 2004, p.556