Of God and Faith
The NIV Study Bible (1985 ed.) posits a few interesting points—
1) The author of Job is sure to be an Israelite, as he uses the Israelite covenant name for God, Yahweh.
2) The author provides the solution to the subject of theodicy. The relationship between God and Man is not exclusive and closed. A third party intruded. In Job, it is Satan.
3) Once Satan issued the challenge to God to test the faith of his righteous servant, Job, God couldn’t evade the challenge, not even destroy the accuser.
God has to allow the challenge to run its course, subject to God’s injunction: “You can do everything to Job’s work, flocks, herds, and household, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” (NIV Job 1:12).
4) Much of the Book of Job takes the form of a legal disputation between Job and his three close friends, who came to console him but ended up arguing with Job over the reason for Job’s suffering.
The above is not without difficulty.
Firstly, was Job first written in Aramaic and then translated to Hebrew and Greek?
To use the terms used in Job to identify the nationality of the writer is to run in an elliptical circle, as we don’t know what the earliest text for the Book of Job is. (For this, see Peter Ellinger’s essay, Job A Reassessment in Maybe a Swan Song, 2025).
Ultimately, it’s a matter of faith. This is my answer to the subject of theodicy.
LWH, 7 am, Easter + 1, 6 April 2026