There is not any record of Job observing the Sabbath. Yet he is God's greatest servant? Was he a non Israelite or did he live before the exodus of the Isrealites from Egypt when the Sabbath covenant was made? Who is Job?
WHO IS JOB?
by GodisRight 21 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Narkissos
The fictional hero of the Book of Job is named after an older legendary character (along with Noah and Danel in Ezekiel 14:14,20). In both cases he is depicted as non-Israelite (cf., in the Book of Job: "in the land of Uz," Edomite friends, deliberate avoidance of the name Yhwh, etc.).
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greendawn
Job belonged to the races of the East which means he was an Edomite or more likely an Aramean. It is not certain when he lived or if he is real at all and scholars place him at any time between Abraham and Moses, most likely he was a real person but the story itself seems to be a myth with a historic kernel that developed over time and it also has a parabolic nature ie faithfulness under testing conditins is likely rewarded.
I personally can't see how God would expect humans to love him if he makes them suffer as in the case of Job, that is obviously a masochistic mythical element.
If you treat your dog nicely it will love you and stay with you if you beat it and ill treat it will run away from you, and who can blame it? -
GodisRight
The fictional ;hero of the Book of Job is named after an older legendary character (along with Noah and Danel in Ezekiel 14:14,20). In both cases he is depicted as non-Israelite (cf., in the Book of Job: "in the land of Uz," Edomite friends, deliberate avoidance of the name Yhwh, etc.).
What legendary character is this? How do you know that this "character" is older? I personally do not know how old the character of Job is. He could be 10,000 years old for all I know. I am just saying that I don't know.
Job belonged to the races of the East which means he was an Edomite or more likely an Aramean. It is not certain when he lived or if he is real at all and scholars place him at any time between Abraham and Moses, most likely he was a real person but the story itself seems to be a myth with a historic kernel that developed over time and it also has a parabolic nature ie faithfulness under testing conditins is likely rewarded.
Esau the brother of Jacob is the forefather of the Edomites right? So maybe Job lived during the time of Israel's slave captivity in Egypt?
I personally can't see how God would expect humans to love him if he makes them suffer as in the case of Job, that is obviously a masochistic mythical element.
Do the modern day Jews believe the book of Job is credible? If so, for how long? Is there any mentioning of the book of Job in the rest of the bible? Did any the apostles qouate from it? God allowed the Isrealites to suffer slavery in Egypt and allow his son to be nailed to stake or cross. So it is still hard for me to question the authenticy of the book of Job. There are examples through out the scriptures of God allowing his servants to suffer. I am not saying that you are wrong, but God did allow for John the Baptise to be thrown in prison and then have his head cut off. So I can't say for sure if God would have allow Satan to do all those horrible things to Job or not.
If you treat your dog nicely it will love you and stay with you if you beat it and ill treat it will run away from you, and who can blame it?
I agree with this statement, but God sees and thinks differently then we do. -
GodisRight
I have done some quick researching on biblegateway.com
It seems that James believes Job is a literal character.
James 5:11 (New International Version)
11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
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greendawn
Job may have lived during the time of Israeli captivity in Egypt that falls at some time between the Abraham and Moses period already mentioned.
God certainly does allow his ppl to be persecuted and tested as was also the case with Jesus but in my opinion it's not to prove to him that they really love him but to gain power through suffering injustice, did Jesus need to prove his love for God?
There is no need as such to prove that their love for God is unselfish by being tortured as this they can prove in their day to day life, and I still think humans don't have to love God if he decides to harm them, which of course in reality He will never do.
These links may be useful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Job
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=331&letter=J -
Undecided
I used Jah's treatment of Job and his children as an illustration of how we should feel about killing our pets and getting a new one to my sister-in-law.
Job just had some more children and he felt blessed, it didn't matter about the killing of his previous ones. If your pets get sick, just kill them and get some new ones.
Ken P.
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greendawn
That story is obviously mythical probably produced to make the Jews believe that observing the law though difficult will bring great rewards while not observing it will bring punishment. It's a myth-parable.
The way I put it is would someone on a neighbour's advice have his wife tortured to see whether she really loves him when already he knows that she had always been faithful and loving towards him? That would be monstrous.
And whoever wrote Job created a lot of dangerous misconceptions about the way God operates and this book should have been among the non canonical apocrypha. -
Narkissos
How do you know that this "character" is older?
To most Bible scholars, the analysis of the language and ideas in the Book of Job clearly points a post-exilic date (5th-4th century BC).
On the other hand, Ezekiel in the 6th century BC refers to Job as a famous hero of ancient times, along with Noah and Danel (not to be confused with the later book of Daniel in spite of the Masoretic vowel-pointing); Danel is also referred to in 28:3 as a parangon of wisdom, in a passage strongly influenced by ancient Canaanite mythology. As a matter of fact, Danel was an important character in 2nd-millenium-BC Syria-Palestine as the Ras-Shamra/Ugarit texts show.
Now it is entirely possible that the ancient characters of Job and Danel have influenced the biblical books of Job and Daniel to some extent (just as Noah the Noah of Genesis). One interesting feature if that in Ezekiel 14 they are depicted as righteous intercessors known for their life-saving capacity (but would not save Israel from its fate). This has only a limited echo in the Bible books (they are righteous, Noah saves his family, Job prays for his friends, Daniel prays for Israel).
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AuldSoul
James 5:11 ;(New International Version)
; 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
GodIsRight,
I am not so sure that such comments are proof that a certain person believes in the historical existence of a person. I have referenced Paul Bunyan in letters, I have referenced Little Red Riding Hood and in several different contexts have referenced the Big Bad Wolf. That doesn't mean I believe in the historical athenticity of these. I have mentioned the Ant and the Lion, but I don't believe an ant pulled a thorn from the lion's paw.
To me, it seems pretty clear that James referenced a story everyone was familiar with to make a point. The moral of the story of Job is pretty clear, don't get between God and the Devil. Oh, wait...that's not it. Don't have 10 kids 'cause they might all die. No...maybe it's don't make friends with sleazy people who make you feel bad when you are already low.
Anyway, they understood that Job was rewarded compassionately by God for his perseverance despite all obstacles. So the object lesson from that story was easy to see. That's my take on it, anyway.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul