Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. Elihu is identified only as the son of barakel the buzite, of the family of ram job 32. In job 3237 elihu offers a response to job that lifts up the lord, condemns jobs three friends, and rightly confronts job. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. Third, job s challenge in chapter 31 calls for god, not elihu, to make an appearance. The role and character of elihu in the book of job the. I want to receive the latest job alert in kingsport, tn. Job, possibly the strangest book in the bible, is based on legends going back thousands of years, and is written in a very unusual form of.
He is said to have descended from guz who may be from the line of abraham genesis 22. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. First, elihu is mentioned nowhere in the book of job outside of his speeches in job 3237. The name of the author is not indicated in the book. And then he takes it upon himself to spend about five chaptersan eighth of the entire bookspouting off his thoughts. That job himself could not have written all of it is.
Interpretations of elihu in job biblical hermeneutics. Elihu was one of job s friendsnot one of the three who had come to comfort job at the beginning of the book, but one who arrives later and offers the last and longest single speech to job. He is said to have descended from guz who may be from the line of abraham. The 12th century jewish scholar ibn ezra concluded that the book must have been written in some other language and translated into hebrew, and many later. The babylonian talmud claims, moses wrote his own book, and the passages about balaam and job baba bathra, 14b, 15a.
Elihu, the forgotten prophet of job the book of job is one of the most important of the entire bible, and is a prerequisite to all discussions of christian theology, particularly theodicy. In job 32 elihu focuses his response on rebuking jobs three. The gospel doctrine teacher had asked us to write one of our feelings about studying the old testament. Ancient scribes didnt usually sign writings in the. Some scholars claim it might have been written in the 5th century bce. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. Ancient jewish tradition credits the authorship of the book of job to moses. Job, possibly the strangest book in the bible, is based on legends going back thousands of years, and is written in a very unusual form of hebrew. Second, the style of the elihu speeches is different from the style used in the other parts of the book.
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