Recent content by Robert Sutherland

On the subject of God's approval of what Job said, I would note the following. Now God passes judgment on Job and his three friends. Elihu has fled the scene, hoping to escape God’s judgment.[ii] Ironically, Elihu only escapes the opportunity for forgiveness. “After the LORD had spoken these...

On the subject of suggestions of a defense by God in his second speech, I would note: 1. the name "Leviathan" alludes to Isaiah's reinterpretion of this Canaanite and Babylonian myth, 2. that Isaian apocalypse speaks of a final destruction of that evil and an explanation for that evil, 3...

On the subject of whether Job submits in his first speech, I doubt it. In God’s first speech, God has focused on the vast grandeur of creation. But Job has asked a question concerning justice, not power. And God had seemingly dodged the question, belittling Job’s intelligence but not his...

“Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6 Italics added for emphasis.) In dust and ashes, I adjourn the Oath of Innocence to the Final Judgment to hear from my Redeemer a third time. In part, “dust and ashes” are the condition of man in this world. Man is but...

“Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6 Italics added for emphasis.) A proper interpretation of this passage turns on the meaning of the Hebrew word “naham”. “Naham means either “to change course” or “to comfort or be comforted”. This author’s interpretation...

“Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6 Italics added for emphasis.) A proper interpretation of this passage turns on the meaning of a rare Hebrew word “em’as”. It stands alone in the received Hebrew text. The word “myself” is not there. The meaning of “em’as”...

Abadago del Diablio: 1. Why do you think the author used "naham", a Hebrew word meaning "change course" (a word normally used to describe God's so-called repentances) rather than "shub", the normal Hebrew word for a confession of wrongdoing? (Job 42:6) 2. If Job sinned, what was his sin in...

Vajradhara: To my knowledge, Webster, Hugo, Tennyson and Carlyle all had a standard classical education which would have exposed them to Homer, Virgil, Dante and Milton. Yet they all seem to rank the poet of the Book of Job at the top of that class. I speculate from your name that your...

Daniel Webster wrote: "The Book of Job taken as a mere work of literary genius is one of the most wonderful productions of any age or of any language. Thomas Carlyle wrote: "There is nothing written, I think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit." Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote...

Does Job sin in the Book of Job?

Many scholars find the legal metaphor of an Oath of Innocence inappropriate, though for different reasons. Some liberal scholars opt for an aesthetic, not a moral, resolution of the question of evil in the world. They find a sublime beauty in God’s review of the animal and physical worlds...

I actually think Job's refusal to acquit God is consistent with a deep moral integrity and a nuanced submission. Widely praised as one of the greatest books ever written, The Book of Job is a theodicy, an attempt to morally justify the ways of God to man. It is a most provocative theodicy...

In the ancient biblical Book of Job, I think Job puts God on trial as the author of some undeserved evil in the world and refuses to acquit him. What are your thoughts?