Re: [asa] On Job

When I look at Job, it appears to be a play. It has prologue and epilogue
and speeches by various characters. The speakers speak in poetry, which I
think is typical in ancient dramas but unlikely in real life. The book
does not claim to be history. A play can be history or not history. It may
be about an historical event (e.g. Julius Caesar) but not authoritative on
the details.

I would also take issue with the characterization of Job as an allegory.
It seems to deal forthrightly with real issues, and we don't have to go
through it trying to identify the meaning of symbols in order to
understand it.

Verses like Ezekiel 14:14,20 and James 5:11 seem to take Job as having
been a real person although they don't explcitly say that. Being an
historical person does not necessarily make a play about him an exact
historical account.

Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395

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Received on Wed Oct 4 19:31:55 2006