While we know the title of this book obviously comes from its main character, Job, and that he was an historical person (Ezek. 14:14, 20; James 5:11), the author is unknown and there are no textual claims as to the author’s identify. Commentators have suggested Job himself, Elihu, Moses, Solomon, and others.
It is important to distinguish between the date of writing and of the events of the book. Regarding the date, Ryrie writes;
The date of the events in the book and the date of the writing of the book are two differ-ent matters. The events may have taken place in a patriarchal society in the second mil-lennium B.C., around the time of Abraham. Several facts support this dating: (1) Job lived more than 140 years (42:16), a not uncommon life span during the patriarchal period; (2) the economy of Job’s day, in which wealth was measured in terms of livestock (1:3), was the type that existed in this period; (3) like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Job was the priest of his family (1:5); (4) the absence of any reference to the nation Israel or the Mosaic Law suggests a pre-Mosaic date (before 1500 B.C.).
Three principal views exist concerning the date of writing: (1) in the patriarchal age, shortly after the events happened; (2) in the time of Solomon (950 B.C.); (3) at the time of the Exile or after, though the mention of Job by Ezekiel (Ezek. 14:14) negates such a late date. The detailed report of the speeches of Job and his friends seems to argue for the book’s being written shortly after the events occurred. On the other hand, the book shares characteristics of other wisdom literature (e.g., Pss. 88, 89) written during the So-lomonic age and should be regarded as a dramatic poem describing real events, rather than a verbatim report.30
Set in the time of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, the Book of Job derives its name from its chief character, a man called Job, who, experiencing extreme suffering (the loss of wealth, family and health), struggles with the question of why? The English name, Job, comes from the Hebrew áIyo‚b. Some be-lieve it comes from áa„yab, which basically means, “to be hostile to, to be an enemy,” by there is little lin-guistic evidence to support this.31 But not all agree.
Earlier attempts to determine an etymology of the name have given way to evidence from a well-attested west Semitic name in the second millennium found in the Amarna Letters, Egyptian Execration texts, Mari, Alalakh, and Ugaritic documents. The original form of the name was Ayyabum, which can mean “Where is [my] father?” or possibly “no father.” Ei-ther form might suggest an orphan or illegitimacy.32
The book is a theodicy (a vindication of God’s goodness, justice, and sovereign character in the face of the existence of suffering and evil). As such, The book wrestles with the age-old question: Why do righteous men suffer, if God is a God of love and mercy? It clearly teaches the sovereignty of God and the need for man to acknowledge such. Job’s three friends gave essentially the same answer: All suffering is due to sin. Elihu, however, declared that suffering is often the means of purifying the righteous. God’s purpose, therefore, was to strip away all of Job’s self-righteousness and to bring him to the place of complete trust in Him.
This book deals with the theoretical problem of pain and disaster in the life of the godly. It undertakes to answer the question, Why do the righteous suffer? This answer comes in a threefold form: (1) God is worthy of love even apart from the blessings He bestows; (2) God may permit suffering as a means of purifying and strengthening the soul in godli-ness; (3) God’s thoughts and ways are moved by considerations too vast for the puny mind of man to comprehend. Even though man is unable to see the issues of life with the breadth and vision of the Almighty; nevertheless God really knows what is best for His own glory and for our ultimate good. This answer is given against the background of the stereotyped views of Job’s three “comforters,” Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.34
A further purpose is certainly to demonstrate the conflict of the ages between God and Satan and to show the relationship of suffering to this conflict. In the end, it demonstrates the truth of Romans 8:28.
The key words are “affliction, misery, hardship, etc.” (9 times), “righteous” or “righteousness” (20 times), but the key concept is the sovereignty of God.
❝ 2:3- 6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause.” And Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
❝ 13:15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.”
❝ 42:5 -6 “Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me. ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I re-pent in dust and ashes.”
❝ 42:10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold.
Chapters 1-2 are key in that they introduce the reader to the source of Job’s suffering—Satan’s ac-cusations and the affliction that fell upon Job.
Chapters 38 -42 While chapters 3-37 record the counsel of Job’s friends who raise the question, “Does God allow the innocent to suffer?” the next key chapters are chapters 38-41, God’s speech and silencing of Job, followed by Job’s repentance and restoration, chapter 42.
Job, a blameless and upright man, Satan, Job’s accusers, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zopher, and Elihu, the younger and wiser of Job’s friend who sought to give Job counsel.
Christ is seen in several ways in Job. Job acknowledges a Redeemer (19:25-27) and prays for a Me-diator (9:33; 33:23). He knows he needs someone who can explain the mystery of “suffering” which is answered only in Christ Who identifies with our suffering and ultimately both answers Satan’s accusa-tions, which are ultimately against God, and defeats him (Heb. 2:14-18; 4:15; Rom. 8:32-34).