You have no items in your shopping cart.
Close
Search
Filters

Job of Uz

Suffering of the Righteous and the Justice of God


Job finds himself in a situation similar to one experienced by everyone at some point in his or her life. He wants answers to questions concerning what has happened to him, since he lived his life according to the traditional wisdom and rules of conduct, asking what has gone wrong and why. The Book of Job raises fundamental questions of both the actions and expectations of humans and deities, and asks whether a clear understanding can be reached between them. The contributing essays to this anthology help advance and sharpen both the questions and the responses to that question.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-61143-420-0
  • *
Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Sep 4,2012
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 228
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-61143-420-0
$140.00
Your price: $84.00
Ship to
*
*
Shipping Method
Name
Estimated Delivery
Price
No shipping options

Long before the reader arrives at the Book of Job, he or she has been conditioned to view the God of Israel through a lens of a righteous deity who rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Perhaps the reader has been lulled into a simplistic way of thinking about the actions of God. When arriving at the Book of Job, one encounters one of three main works that are termed Wisdom Literature by text critics. Among the questions one may be tempted to ask is whether the book is quaint or forward-looking, whether Job is deserving of all that has happened to him, whether he is just a spoiled cry-baby who refuses to accept his miserable lot in life, whether he has been betrayed by his deity in a mean-spirited debate and wager with Satan about which Job has no knowledge, and even whether his deity is to be trusted or to be suspected of divine caprice. While several of these issues are raised elsewhere in biblical literature, nowhere are they raised to such a fever pitch and with such indignant outcry. Moreover, the opinions of his so-called friends and comforters spur Job on to doubt himself less and to suspect caprice more. The Book of Job describes the human condition and raises through colloquy fundamental questions of both the actions and expectations of humans and deities, and asks whether a clear understanding can be reached between them. The contributing essays to this anthology help advance and sharpen both the questions and the responses to that question.

Cover: Job, oil on canvas, Léon Bonnat, 1880.

Long before the reader arrives at the Book of Job, he or she has been conditioned to view the God of Israel through a lens of a righteous deity who rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Perhaps the reader has been lulled into a simplistic way of thinking about the actions of God. When arriving at the Book of Job, one encounters one of three main works that are termed Wisdom Literature by text critics. Among the questions one may be tempted to ask is whether the book is quaint or forward-looking, whether Job is deserving of all that has happened to him, whether he is just a spoiled cry-baby who refuses to accept his miserable lot in life, whether he has been betrayed by his deity in a mean-spirited debate and wager with Satan about which Job has no knowledge, and even whether his deity is to be trusted or to be suspected of divine caprice. While several of these issues are raised elsewhere in biblical literature, nowhere are they raised to such a fever pitch and with such indignant outcry. Moreover, the opinions of his so-called friends and comforters spur Job on to doubt himself less and to suspect caprice more. The Book of Job describes the human condition and raises through colloquy fundamental questions of both the actions and expectations of humans and deities, and asks whether a clear understanding can be reached between them. The contributing essays to this anthology help advance and sharpen both the questions and the responses to that question.

Cover: Job, oil on canvas, Léon Bonnat, 1880.

Write your own review
  • Only registered users can write reviews
*
*
Bad
Excellent
*
*
*
*
ContributorBiography

MishaelCaspi

Dr. Mishael M. Caspi is a retired Professor of Religion at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Dr. Caspi holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. He has written extensively on Biblical Studies, Talmudic Studies, and Islamica. Dr. John T. Greene is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Greene holds a Ph.D. in Scriptural and Historical Studies from Boston University. He has written extensively on Archaeology of Bethsaida, Communication theory and Praxis, and History of Religions.

JohnGreene

John T. Greene is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. He holds the Ph.D. from Boston University, and the A.B. and Master Degrees from the University of Detroit. He has written extensively on issues of scriptural and historical studies and Middle Eastern archaeology.

  • Table of Contents (page 5)
  • Prolegomenon by Mishael M. Caspi and John T. Greene (page 7)
  • The Book of Job as Text:Deconstruction by Albert McClure (page 19)
  • Duality in the Relationship of Man-GodŽ in the Book of Job:Two Readings or Two Jobs? by Itzhak Peleg (page 47)
  • Job: The Darkness of the Curse by Mishael M. Caspi (page 65)
  • Jobs Hidden Way:Understanding Job as a Wisdom Figure in the Poetic Dialogues by Sophia Magallanes (page 93)
  • Complaint, Imprecation, Lament, and Special Pleading: How Righteous Men Manage Suffering by J. Harold Ellens (page 109)
  • On Solidary with Creation:Job, Jonah, Levinas by Theodore A. Perry (page 131)
  • Religious and Rhetorical Drama: Job in the Company of Plato, Aristophanes and Other Related Literature. BERIT Meets Rhetoric:Job in the World of Late Classical Antiquity by John T. Greene (page 145)
  • Job in English, Welsh AND Irish Literature by Anthony Swindell (page 171)
  • Futility in the Search for Job in the New Testament:The Case of Phillipipians 1:19 by Felix H. Cortez (page 201)
  • A Study of Job in Music and Image by Max Stern (page 213)
Customers who bought this item also bought
ImageFromGFF

The Unbearable Flaming Fire

This anthology on Eve brings together an international group of scholars to discuss how this character has been interpreted by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In a time when the history of women is being reassessed, it is natural that women look to the paradigmatic female figure. This treatment of Eve covers her wide range of roles as mother of our race, victim, stooge, wife, companion, independent thinker, and “helper”. A venerated figure by many modern feminists and a denigrated figure by those who blame her for original sin, no reader will leave these pages indifferent to the first woman.
$129.00 $77.40
ImageFromGFF

Opening Heaven's Floodgates

The narrative of Noah’s flood in Genesis draws perennial interest from scholars and the general public. Too often, however, historical and exegetical studies of the text, the story’s reception, and discussion of theological appropriation remain aloof from each other, if not at odds. This volume takes the influential nature of the flood story as an ideal opportunity to bring some of these methods into dialogue.
$218.00 $130.80
ImageFromGFF

Dischronology and Dialogic in the Bible’s Primary Narrative

This ground-breaking study offers a reassessment of Moses' book of the law from a narrative theory perspective. Concerned for the long-term viability of his people, Moses legislates a public reading of his document which is deposited next to the ark of the covenant as a national testament. Through the mechanics of narrative mediation, the narrator reveals to the reader of Deuteronomy the contents of Moses' enshrined publication. Deuteronomy's simulcast of Moses' book invites external readers to compare and evaluate their readings with story-world readers who access the same text within the Bible's Primary Narrative.
$141.00 $84.60
ImageFromGFF

In the Arms of Biblical Women

The less-discussed character in the Bible is the woman: two talking animals therein have sometimes received more page space. This volume shines the light of close scrutiny in the less-trodden direction and focuses on biblical and allied women, or on the feminine side of Creation. Biblical women are compared to mythical characters from the wider Middle East or from contemporary literature, and feminist/womanist perspectives are discussed alongside traditional and theological perspectives.
$168.00 $100.80