Job 1–21: Interpretation and Commentary (Illuminations Commentary | ICS)

by Choon-Leong Seow

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2013

Overview

The Hebrew book of Job is by all accounts an exquisite piece of literary art that holds its rightful place among the most outstanding compositions in world literature. Yet it is also widely recognized as an immensely difficult text to understand.

In elucidating that ancient text, this inaugural Illuminations commentary by C. L. Seow pays close attention to the reception history of Job, including Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Western secular interpretations as expressed in theological, philosophical, and literary writings and in the visual and performing arts. Seow offers a primarily literary-theological interpretation of Job, a new translation, and detailed commentary.

Key Features

• Details the reception history of Job
• Overviews Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Western secular interpretations
• Includes a literary-theological interpretation of Job, a new translation, and detailed commentary

Contents

Top Highlights

“In sum, despite its setting, the book is most at home between the very late sixth and the first half of the fifth century and in Yehud.” (Page 45)

“If God delivers one from earthly enemies, as the laments elsewhere in the Bible suggest, what is one to do if God is the enemy, the one inflicting pain upon the innocent? To whom can one turn?” (Page 89)

“the friends, who stress the twin authority of tradition and community, Job focuses on his personal experience” (Page 88)

“The name Job, too, is probably non-Israelite; no one else in Israel was known by this name, which was well-attested in the Near East in the second millennium b.c.e. and appears to have originally signified a quest for divine presence (‘Where is the Divine Father?’).” (Page 252)

“Thus, all the evidence seems to converge on the Persian period, and more specifically, the late sixth to mid-fifth century, as the time of composition.” (Page 44)

Endorsements

A remarkable achievement. For the serious student of Job, it is indispensable.

- Southern Baptist Journal of Theology

Seow is arguably the master scholar, researcher, teacher, and interpreter of his generation. In this remarkable book, his singular capacities are fully on exhibit. . . . Mastery of the critical apparatus, attentiveness to rhetorical nuance, theological sensibility, and acuteness concerning the historical spectrum of interpretations. He is able to trace the thickness of interpretation from the oldest translations through the vagaries of the historical process. In the midst of such erudition, his commentary on specific texts is nonetheless cast in an accessible narrative mode. This commentary has a durable quality that will serve us long and well.

- Walter Brueggemann, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.

While there are numerous excellent commentaries on Job, this is easily among my favorites — and the second half is yet to come. . . . The Commentary sections are gold mines of fine points of grammar and syntax, ANE language and literature connections, data from manuscripts and versions, emendations, ancient and modern commentaries, theological and sociological connections, and intertextual readings. . . . In regard to the history of interpretation, Seow is thoroughly conversant with the communities and their literatures across the centuries. . . . I found myself adding a profusion of notes into my Bible because I want to recall them for my own edification as well as that of my students. I cannot think of a better recommendation.

- Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

One word, MASTERPIECE, best describes this book. Readers are in the presence of greatness — of the biblical text and of the interpreter. What an illustrious beginning for the Illuminations commentaries, and heaven help the author who follows Seow. . . . The emphasis is always on its literary and theological dimensions. . . . Seow's insights into the biblical text itself are legion.

- James Crenshaw, Robert L. Flowers Professor of the Old Testament at Duke University Divinity School.

Product Details

• Title: Job 1–21: Interpretation and Commentary
• Author: Choon-Leong Seow
• Series: Illuminations Commentary Series
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2013
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 998
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. Job 1-21 › Commentaries; Bible. O.T. Job › Criticism, textual; Bible. O.T. Job › Versions
• ISBNs: 9780802848956, 0802848958
• Resource ID: LLS:JB121LLMNTNS
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:48:24Z

About Choon-Leong Seow

Choon-Leong Seow is Henry Snyder Gehman Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature (Presbyterian), Princeton Theological Seminary.