The Mustard Seed
January 2010
"Ask Pastor"
by Pastor Ron Friedrich
christdeaf@verizon.net
"Was
Job a historical or fictional person?"
This question arose when a deaf Vlog on YouTube tried to make the case that Job was "a myth" because, the Vlogger said, people and places mentioned in Job "never existed." Sadly, this Vlogger is unfamiliar with Middle Eastern geography and ancient history.
Job lived "in the land of Uz" (Job 1.1), a large territory east of the Jordan River. The Sabeans (Job 1.15) were from the southern region of the Arabian peninsula. Their cultural and political influence also extended to East Africa. The Chaldeans (Job 1.17) were a fierce nomadic people until about 1000 BC, when they settled in that area today we call southern Iraq. They eventually established a highly cultured and influential empire.
The book of Job does not mention other historical events or other famous people which would make it possible for us to know precisely when in history Job lived. It is for this reason you won't find Job mentioned on a timeline in your Bible. However, we are not left completely without clues.
Linguists have noted that the text of Job appears to be the oldest written form of the Hebrew language known in ancient documents, probably dating from the time of Abraham (2000 BC), which fits what is known about the Sabeans and Chaldeans. Some scholars contend that Job may have been written several hundred years before Moses wrote the history of Genesis. Job may be oldest book in the Bible.
Translators of the Old Testament face their greatest challenges in the book of Job, because it contains many archaic words and phrases that are found in no other book of the Bible. Often translators must look to other similar Middle Eastern languages of that same period to gain insights on how to translate the difficult phrases in Job.
There is nothing in the book of Job that suggests that this story is merely a fable, a tale told simply to teach a lesson. We may safely assume Job was a real person.
~~Pastor Ron
Do
you have a question about the Bible,
or about teachings & practices of the church?
Email me at: christdeaf@verizon.net