Book of Job in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
LITERATURE
I. Introductory.
1. Place in the Canon:
The greatest production of the Hebrew Wisdom literature, and
one of the supreme literary creations of the world. Its
place in the Hebrew Canon corresponds to the high estimation
in which it was held; it stands in the 3rd section, the
"writings" (kethubhim) or Hagiographa, next after the two
great anthologies Psalms and Proverbs; apparently put thus
near the head of the list for weighty reading and
meditation. In the Greek Canon (which ours follows), it is
put with the poetical books, standing at their head. It is
one of 3 Scripture books, the others being Psalms and
Proverbs, for which the later Hebrew scholars (the
Massoretes) employed a special system of punctuation to mark
its poetic character.
2. Rank and Readers:
The Book of Job was not one of the books designated for
public reading in the synagogues, as were the Pentateuch and
the Prophets, or for occasional reading at feast seasons, as
were the 5 megilloth or rolls. It was rather a book for
private reading, and one whose subject-matter would appeal
especially to the more cultivated and thoughtful classes.
Doubtless it was all the more intimately valued for this
detachment from sanctuary associations; it was, like
Proverbs, a people's book; and especially among the
cultivators of Wisdom it must have been from its first
publication a cherished classic. At any rate, the patriarch
Job (though whether from the legend or from the finished
book is not clear; see JOB) is mentioned as a well-known
national type by Ezek 14:14,20; and James, writing to Jewish
Christians (5:11), refers to the character of patriarch as
familiar to his readers. It was as one of the great classic
stories of their literature, rather than as embodying a
ritual or prophetic standard, that it was so universally
known and cherished...
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