Monthly Archives: August 2006

The Book of Job closes as it opened, with two speeches by Yahweh. In his first two speeches, Yahweh effectively gave the Satan permission to strip Job of everything except his life. By virtue of his response to these disasters, … Continue reading →

Here’s Norm Habel’s translation of the text of the speeches from the whirlwind. You’ll see that there are two distinct speeches, each responding to something Job said, but never speaking to Job’s innocence or explaining the prologue. So the question … Continue reading →

Let’s cut to the chase. Here’s what Elihu thinks about God: Therefore hear me, intelligent people: Far be it from El to be in the wrong! Or Shaddai to be guilty of injustice, For he pays humans for their work … Continue reading →

The thing to understand about Job is that he, like his three friends, assumes that God ought to react to human actions, to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. The three friends used this approach to God to argue … Continue reading →

Things change dramatically at the conclusion of the prologue. God, the Satan, and Job’s wife all disappear and the latter two never re-appear. Their places are taken by three friends who have come to comfort Job: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. … Continue reading →

The first two chapters of Job, called the prologue, are quite shocking for modern Christian readers because of the picture they paint of God. Without a doubt, this is a god that you are not inclined to either worship or … Continue reading →

Job’s got some real problems. The book I mean, not the guy. He has problems, too, but that’s another story – the story, in fact. You know that list of things you’d like to know about biblical literature before you … Continue reading →

After reading Don Clifton’s short post on forgiveness over at Nine Moons, I spent the rest of the day feeling somewhat sad. It sounds like the gentleman in question was well-taught on the subject of sin, but less conversant with … Continue reading →