Reading Job : a literary and theological commentary / by James Crenshaw.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-176) and index.

"At issue in the book of Job is the existential question, "Why does innocent suffering exist?" James Crenshaw has devoted his life to studying the vexing problem of theodicy--divine justice--that troubles most religious people in the Judeo-Christian tradition, . Few individuals will come from reading the book unmoved. If they look for answers, they will be disappointed. Moreover, they will find the depcition of God troubling. If God were merely to meet our expectations, the creator would hardly be anything more than our own projections into the heavens. Perhaps the ancient poet serves readers best by forcing them to face brutal reality, to wit that the world is not fair and the justice is a human project."--Back cover

PART ONE: Introduction -- The patience of Job -- Related texts in the Ancient near East -- Genre -- Composition -- Date and social worlds -- Structure -- Main themes -- Warrants for the arguments -- Why poetry? -- Related texts in the Bible -- Dissent in the Bible -- Canonization -- The testament of Job -- Job in the Koran -- The flourising of the interrogative: -- Saadiah Ben Joseph Al-Fayyumi -- Job's continuing influence

PART TWO: Commentary -- The prologue -- The first cycle of debate -- The second cycle of debate -- The third cycle of debate -- Wisdom's inacccessibility -- The contrast between Job's past and present -- Elihu's four speeches -- The divine speeches and Job's responses -- The Epilogue -- Postscript: Why read Job today?

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