Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/480

 JOB

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JOB

Eccl.", IV, iv, 2G, and vi, 25 (in P. G., XX, 398, 582). In the SjTiac Bible Job is placed directly after the Pentateuch and before Josue (cf. the lists in Hodius, "De Biblioruni textibus", Oxford, 1705, 644 sqq.; Samuel Berger, "Hist, de la Vulgate", Paris, 1893, 331-39).

II. Authority. — (1) Historical Accuracy. — Many look upon the entire contents of the book as a freely in- vented parable which is neither historical nor intended to be considered historical; no such man as Job ever lived. Catholic commentators, however, almost with- out exception, hold Job to have actually existed and his personality to have been preserved by popular tradi- tion. Nothing in the text makes it necessary to doubt his historical existence. The Scriptures seem repeat- edly to take this for granted (cf. Ezech., xiv, 14; James, v, 1 1 ; Tob., ii, 12-15, according to the Vulgate — in the Cireek text of Tobias there is no mention of Job). All the Fathers considered Job an historical person; some of their testimonies may be found in Knaben- bauer, "Zu Job" (Paris, 1886), 12-13. The Martyr- ology of the Latin Church mentions Job on 10 May, that of the Greek Church on 6 May (cf. Acta SS., II, May, 494). The Book of Job, therefore, has a ker- nel of fact, with which have been united many imagi- native additions that are not strictly historical. What is related by the poet in the prose prologue and epi- logue is in the main historical: the persons of the hero and his friends; the region where he lived; his good fortune and virtues; the great misfortune that over- whelmed him and the patience with which he bore it; the restoration of his prosperity. It is also to be ac- cepted that Job and his friends discussed the origin of his sufferings, and that in so doing views were ex- pressed similar to those the poet puts into the mouths of his characters. The details of the execution, the poetic form, and the art shown in the arrangement of the arguments in the dispute are, however, the free creation of the author. The figures expressive of the wealth of Job both before and after his trial are imagi- natively rounded. Also in the narrative of the misfor- tunes it is impossible not to recognize a poetic concep- tion which need not be considered as strictly historical. The scene in heaven (i, 6; ii, 1) is plainly an allegory which shows that the Providence of God guides the destiny of man (cf. St. Thomas, "In Job"). The manifestation of God (xxxviii, 1) generally receives a literal interpretation from commentators. St. Thomas, however, remarks that it may also be taken meta- phorically as an inner revelation accorded to Job.

(2) Divine Authority of the Book. — The Church teaches that the book was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Thus all that its author gives as historical fact or otherwise guarantees possesses unfailing Divine truth. The question, however, arises, what does the book guarantee? (a) Everything in prologue or epilogue that is the comment of the author is Divine truth; nevertheless, what is perhaps poetic ornament must not be confounded with historical verity or objective dogmatic precepts. The same authority is possessed by the utterances assigned by the poet to God. The like is true of the speeches of Eliu. Some think the speeches of Eliu are to be judged just as are those of Job and his friends, (b) The speeches of Job and his three friends have in themselves no Divine authority, but only such human importance as Job and his three friends are personally entitled to. They have, how- ever. Divine authurity when, and in as far as, they are approveil by the nutliur expressly or tacitly. In gen- eral, such tacit approlmtion is to Ik- understood for all points concerning which the (lis|)utants agree, un- less the author, or God, or Kliu, shows disapproval. Thus the words of Job have in liirge degree Divine aulliorilv, lieciiusc the view he ni;iint:iiii> against the three frii'iids is |.l:iirilv ehanietciizcd bv the author as the one relati\i-ly eoi'reet. \rt iiiucli' that the three friends say is of e((ual importance, because it is at

least tacitly approved. St. Paul argues (I Cor., iii, 19) from a speech of Eliphaz (Job, v, 13) as from an inspired writing, (c) In particular places, especially where descriptions of nature are given or other secular matters are referred to, the caution prescribed by the rules of hermeneutics should be observed.

III. The Characters op the Poem. — Apart from the prologue and epilogue, the Book of Job consists of a succession of speeches assigned to distinct persons. There are six speakers: Yahweh, Eliu, Job, and Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Baldad, and Sophar.

(1) Job. — The chief personage is Job. (a) Name. — He is called the "persecuted one", that is, the one tempted by (personified) suffering, the one hard beset, the patient sufferer. In the same way as "Wy, "the one born", is related to ^7', so does 3VX, "the per- secuted one", stand to 3'N. It is no longer possible to decide whether the name was originally different and was later changed into the expressive 3'N in folk- lore on account of Job's fate. Many commentators do not accept tliis explanation of the name.

(b) .\ge in which Job lived. — According to the usual and well-founded assumption. Job lived long before Mo.ses. This is shown by the great age he attained. He was no longer young when overtaken by his great misfortune (xii, 12; xxx, 1); after his restoration he lived one hundred and forty years longer (xlii, 16). His wealth, like that of the Patriarchs, consisted largely in flocks and herds (i, 3; xlii, 12). The kesttah or piece of money mentioned in xlii, 11, belongs to patriarchal times; the only other places in which the expression occurs are Gen., xxxiii, 19, and Jos., xxiv, 32. The musical instruments referred to (xxi, 12; xxx, 31) are only those mentioned in Genesis (Gen., iv, 21; xxxi, 27): organ, harp, and timbrel. Job him- self offers sacrifice as the father of the family (i, 5), as was also the custom of the Patriarchs. An actual offer- ing for sin in the Mosaic sense he was not acquainted with; the holocaust took its place (i, 5; xlii, 8).

(c) Religion of Job. — Job evidently did not belong to the chosen people. He lived, indeed, outside of Palestine. He and the other characters betray no knowledge of the specifically Israelitic institutions. Even the name of God peculiar to the chosen people, Ya)nveh, is carefully avoided by the speakers in the poetic part of the book, anil is only found, as if accidentally, in xii, 9, and according to some MSS. in xxviii, 28. The sacrifice in xlii, S, recalls the sacrifice of Balaam (Num., xxiii, 1), consequently a custom outside of Israel. For the solution of the problem of suffering the revelations made to the Patriarchs or even Moses are never referreil to. Never- theless Job and his friends venerated the one true God. They also knew of the Flood (xxii, 16), and the first man (.xv, 7, and Hebrew, xxxi, 33).

(d) Country in which Job lived. — Job belonged to the "people of the East" (i, 3). Under this name were included the Arabian (Gen., xxv, C) and Ara- ma>an (Num., xxxiii, 7) tribes which lived east of the Jordan basin and in the region of the Euphrates (Gen., xxix, 1). Job seems to have been an Araratean, for he hved in the land of Hus (i, 1; y^]!, Avants). Hus, a man's name in Genesis, is always useil there in close connexion with Aram and the .'Vramaean (Gen., x, 23; xxii, 21; xxxvi, 28). His home was certainly not far from Edom where Eliphaz lived, and it must be sought in Eastern Palestine, not too far north, although in the region inhal)ited by the Arama;ans. It was located on the liordiT of the Syro-Arabian desert, for it was exposed to the attacks of the ma- rauding bands which wandered through this desert: tlie Chaldeans (i, 17) of the lower Euphrates and the Sabeans (i, 15), or Arabs. Many, following an old ti;i(lition, place the home of Job in the Hauran, in the district of Naiwd (or Neve), which is situated about 3(i° East of Greenwich and in almost the same latitude as the northern end of Lake Genesareth. The loea-