After reading chapter 41:
*Yahweh is still poetically boasting to Job. This whole chapter is about his magnificent creature creation, the leviathan. This leviathan sounds exactly like a big ol' crocodile. If Job can't hope to subdue a leviathan, how does he have any claim against Yahweh? Everything under heaven belongs to him.
After reading chapter 42:
*Verses 1-6 are the last of the poetry. Job replies to Yahweh. He seems humbled, saying he knows Yahweh can do all things. He spoke of things he did not understand. Before, he had heard of Yahweh, now his eyes have seen him. Wait. What?! I thought nobody had seen him. Job is joining a long list of nobodies who have seen the God of the bible. As a result, Job now despises himself and repents in dust and ashes. Yep that's pretty much what it feels like to be a true believer.
*Verses 7 through the rest of the chapter revert to prose, just like the first section of the book, leading me to think it may be another possible addition to the original saga, maybe by the same person that wrote the first bit of prose. If the book had ended at verse 6, Job's friends would have been justified and Job thoroughly humiliated. But the story continues. Yahweh tells Job's friends he is angry with them. They didn't speak what was right about Yahweh, Job did. Huh? Now they have to go get seven bulls and sacrifice them as a burnt offering (Barbeque!) for themselves and Job will pray for them, so they will not be punished.
*Job prayed for his friends. Then Yahweh gave him twice as much stuff as he had before. His relatives associated with him again and gave him gifts. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble Yahweh had brought upon him. Where had they been when he was in trouble? Job ended his life as a very rich man. He now had exactly twice as many sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys as he had started. Plus, he again had seven sons (the perfect number)and three daughters, to replace the previous seven sons and three daughters that Yahweh had caused to be killed. That must have made everything okay. (Sarcasm, in case you didn't guess.) I wonder if he had the same wife?
*For some unknown reason we are told the names of Job's three daughters. Plus, we are informed that they were extraordinarily beautiful and that they recieved an inheritance from Job, along with his sons. Also, Satan, the accuser, is not mentioned again.
*I wonder how old Job was. The first set of 10 children would have taken at least 20 years to produce. At the beginning of the story, the children were all grown. That would have taken another 15 years at least. We are not told how long his trials took. Then another 20 years would be needed to produce another 10 children, making Job at least 75 when the last child would have been born. How old was his wife? In verse 16 we are told Job lived to 140 years and saw his children and their descendants to the fourth generation! That might just barely work if there was a new generation every twenty years. A true patriarch.
The End (Yay!)
Showing posts with label Leviathan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leviathan. Show all posts
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Job chapter 3
Afer reading chapter 3:
*Now the text shifts from prose to poetry for the next 40 chapters, with occasional lines interjected to tell us when there is a change in speakers. We start with Job talking. He is cursing the day of his birth. The NIV text says "and the night it was said, 'A boy is born.'" On further examination, the literal translation says "A boy is concieved." Job is cursing the night his parents got together to produce him. Job cursing his birth is in contrast to his children who had frequently celebrated their birthdays with feasting. The curse includes a desire for the day of his birth to perish, to turn to darkness, and to be Overwhelmed by a cloud of blackness. Job wants the night of his conception to be excluded from the calendar, and to be lonely and barren. The day of his birth is to be cursed by other people, and to not see the light of day, because it did not keep him from being born and from seeing trouble.
*Then Job wails, asking why didn't he die at birth. In that case, he would be asleep and at rest with others who had died, including kings and counsellors, who also were once rich. Here we see a glimpse of the cultural attitude toward death. In death is peace and equality, no one is toiling, no one is poor or rich. They all have the same fate. Verse sixteen has Job asking why he hadn't been stillborn, which seems repetitious. Upon looking at the interlinear text, a better word would have been miscarried, or born before it was time. Again, he would now be at rest: with the weary, the wicked, the prisoners, and the slaves. Again there is an emphasis of freedom and equality in death. No eternal torment for anyone.
*Lastly, Job wonders why those who are miserable and long for death are instead given light and life. They search for death like someone hunting for buried treasure and are elated when they finally get to the grave. Job says he has sighs instead of food and his groans pour out like water. He has been afraid something like this would happen; his fears have been realized. He hasn't had peace and quiet, just turmoil.
*In verse 8, we are introduced to the word Leviathan for the first time. All we are told so far is that it is something (a creature?) that is roused by those who curse days. Also, I get the idea the the metaphorical language in the Hebrew is much more interesting and expressive than the English version in the NIV. In fact, it seems that the King James Version is a much better English translation of Job, in a sense. It captures more of the meaning and poetry. I think I may read the KJV and the NIV simultaneously for the book of Job.
*Now the text shifts from prose to poetry for the next 40 chapters, with occasional lines interjected to tell us when there is a change in speakers. We start with Job talking. He is cursing the day of his birth. The NIV text says "and the night it was said, 'A boy is born.'" On further examination, the literal translation says "A boy is concieved." Job is cursing the night his parents got together to produce him. Job cursing his birth is in contrast to his children who had frequently celebrated their birthdays with feasting. The curse includes a desire for the day of his birth to perish, to turn to darkness, and to be Overwhelmed by a cloud of blackness. Job wants the night of his conception to be excluded from the calendar, and to be lonely and barren. The day of his birth is to be cursed by other people, and to not see the light of day, because it did not keep him from being born and from seeing trouble.
*Then Job wails, asking why didn't he die at birth. In that case, he would be asleep and at rest with others who had died, including kings and counsellors, who also were once rich. Here we see a glimpse of the cultural attitude toward death. In death is peace and equality, no one is toiling, no one is poor or rich. They all have the same fate. Verse sixteen has Job asking why he hadn't been stillborn, which seems repetitious. Upon looking at the interlinear text, a better word would have been miscarried, or born before it was time. Again, he would now be at rest: with the weary, the wicked, the prisoners, and the slaves. Again there is an emphasis of freedom and equality in death. No eternal torment for anyone.
*Lastly, Job wonders why those who are miserable and long for death are instead given light and life. They search for death like someone hunting for buried treasure and are elated when they finally get to the grave. Job says he has sighs instead of food and his groans pour out like water. He has been afraid something like this would happen; his fears have been realized. He hasn't had peace and quiet, just turmoil.
*In verse 8, we are introduced to the word Leviathan for the first time. All we are told so far is that it is something (a creature?) that is roused by those who curse days. Also, I get the idea the the metaphorical language in the Hebrew is much more interesting and expressive than the English version in the NIV. In fact, it seems that the King James Version is a much better English translation of Job, in a sense. It captures more of the meaning and poetry. I think I may read the KJV and the NIV simultaneously for the book of Job.
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