It is plain, from this history, that the lord watched over his servant job with the affection of a wise and loving father. This past week ive been looking at the last chapters of the book of job. This strong statement of the godliness of job is important to understanding the rest. This means the bookends are the same, and working toward the middle are sections that mirror each other. As i said before, these passages have always bothered me because they dont make sense. Commentary on the book of job by matthew henry old. Satan is permitted to strip him of all his children and property, job 1. As the book unfolds, we are going to discover that jobs motives are indeed pure he values righteousness over benefits, but his concept of god and his understanding of gods policies are going to need modification. The book of job cambridge bible commentaries on the old. Read making sense of salvation one of seven parts from grudems systematic theology by wayne a.
That was the task i faced over the past year in writing pence the path to power, the first comprehensive biography of the hoosier vice president. In the latter sense, a solemn thought is suggested by it to those who join in the public worship of god. You can find the best commentary on job for you using the tools on the right side. Job 42 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. Study guide for job 1 by david guzik blue letter bible. I would speak to the almighty, and i desire to reason with god. Its subject matter is the allimportant question, why, in a world over which yahweh has jurisdiction, should innocent persons have to suffer when at the same time the wicked escape. The mention of this here should not be taken as evidence that job believed either in leviathan, or such experts. The book of job is among the other old testament books both a philosophical riddle and a historical riddle. But the odious judgments made by his friends caution us against making toocertain application of any model to our own lives. Job 40 god concludes his speech to job job 4041 this concluding speech of god to job falls into three parts. Brown professor of biblical studies and theology, st.
In this series of blogs i shall revisit the book of job, the personality and some of its meaning for. However, the adversarial charges that job lays out against god in the book make it quite unlikely that even in this notorious difficult verse to translate that job wishes to see god as the. Join sam harris as he explores some of the most important. Academically sound, pastorally useful, spiritually inspiring. Serious, indepth biblical commentary by modern orthodox scholars is extremely rare. Sam harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, new york times bestselling author, host of the making sense podcast, and creator of the waking up course. To bring us up to speed, for the last few lessons weve seen job speak in response to his friends assertions concerning him. Gods response to jobs demand and jobs response to gods response makes up the last few chapters of the book. It seems strange that god should give satan such a permission as this. A free bible version and commentary on the old testament book of job in easyenglish. The lord said, behold, all that he hath is in thy power i give thee full power to do with his property, his servants, his children, and his wife, whatsoever thy craft or malice shall prompt thee to do.
Job, in the bible knowledge commentary, old testament, ed. Satan accuses him to god as a selfish person, who served god only for the hope of secular rewards, job 1. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. Making sense of the old testament god catholic culture. The book of job and many psalms are concerned with this and similar themes. Lets open our bibles to job chapter 15 for this job 15 commentary. Introduction to the book of job society of gilbert keith. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. Eliphaz charges job with impiety in attempting to justify himself, job 15. But, if we trust god, god will make us perfect in heaven 1 corinthians. Three things we have met with in this book which, i confess, have troubled me very much. A helpful start is to recognize the books structureleviticus uses a hebrew literary device known as a chiasm. Making sense of the difficult sayings of jesus orthodox research institute, 2010.
Solomon says, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof, eccl. Williamson, drawing on the best scholarship, has done an excellent job making sense out of a book that is notoriously difficult to interpret. And so, job starts off in verses 14 by claiming that hes been free of sexual immorality even in the form of lusting after women. One of the achievements of this remarkable and scholarly book is to illuminate jungs entire opus though its comprehensive attention to one of the most striking and distinctive of the collected works. Why would a loving and compassionate god show up and affirm that job did not bring his suffering on himself and then tell him to. Job, ecclesiastes making sense of life adult commentary summer 20 indepth commentary for explore the bible leaders and learners e xplore the b ible. Peter williamsons commentary on the book of revelation is well balanced and judicious on issues of the books authorship. It is the philosophical riddle that concerns us in such an introduction as this. Over time, a deeper and more spiritual approach to such questions develops, which again is fulfilled in christ.
Guidelines for understanding and proclaiming the book of job. As the first poetic book of the english bible, job introduces the reader to the idea of hebrew poetry, which involves the repetition and combination of ideas more than sounds. Job 1 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. The book of job is the first document in history to. But things started not making sense real quick and job lost everything. Revelation catholic commentary on sacred scripture. Commentary on the book of job bible study notes and comments by david e.
In the words of aquinas, he uses more penetrating arguments against job than the prior speeches and approaches nearer the truth. The loss of jobs property, and the death of his children. Making sense of the bible is borne of a great love for the bible, along with years of study and pastoral ministry. Jobs wealth, with his wisdom, entitled him to the honour and power he had in his country, which he describes job 29. A dult c ommentary job, ecclesiastes summer 20 writers name writer bio text dig deeper with the new downloadable etb adult commentary. Thus the sacred numbers, three and seven, often occur. The author, date, and place of the book of job are all uncertain.
Job proves faithful to god in prosperity and in adversity. Job free bible commentary in easy english easyenglish bible. Job here developed a theme that would end with a virtual demand that god make sense of his suffering. Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. Job was upright and honest, and yet grew rich, nay, therefore grew rich. The book of job is rightly understood to be a masterpiece of hebrew poetry and western literature. Orthodox biblical scholar daniel fanous has done us a great service by publishing taught by god. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament.
Progres sive national baptist convention, 1988, 41, and the table of contents in ord l. It is now common to interpret leviathan as the crocodile. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. That point should be underlined because some folks sometimes rather angrily insist for tackling tough issues that require careful thought and. Divisions of the book description of job s trials ch. Nephis commentary doesnt really have much to do with the quoted isaiah material but presents a lot of christian doctrine. Moreover, hamilton is always charitable toward those with whom he disagrees. The isaiah yale anchor bible trilogy does a great job being even handed talking about both sides of the argument. Making sense or not of isaiah in the book of mormon. David guzik commentary on job 1, where satan asks god for permission to. Since the book of job exists as more than what is written in the book itself, some preachers will be content to identify the goel as god or even jesus.
The traditional surface understanding doesnt make sense with scripture or the actual text. The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense. This is the most singular book in the whole of the sacred code. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. A message to jobs children, a guide to teaching and preaching the book of job elgin. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author.
At any moment god could stop satan from doing what he is doing. In this sense the book is about the nature of righteousness, not the nature of suffering. With clear writingtechnical terms kept to a minimumand a contemporary approach, emphasizing how each doctrine should b. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him.