King James Version
Job
Job in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Job: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Moses, in the Talmud. The book is anonymous. Scholars propose authors from the patriarchal age to the Persian period. |
|---|---|
| Date | Disputed. One survey gives dates from the second millennium to the fifth century BC. Many critical scholars favor about 600–400 BC. |
| Place written | Not stated. The story is set in the land of Uz, whose location is uncertain, possibly Edom in southern Jordan or northern Arabia. |
| Genre | Wisdom poetry framed by a prose story. |
| Chapters | 42 |
| Verses | 1070 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Job 19:25Job 19:25 · King James VersionFor I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:Job 19:25 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
The book is anonymous. The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b says Moses wrote Job, and the discussion on 15a records several opinions about when Job lived, including one that Job never existed and was a parable. (2) (3) Critical scholars date the poem later, often to the exile or after, citing its Aramaic influence and its reflection on suffering. Others note its patriarchal setting: Job offers sacrifices as head of a family in Job 1:5Job 1:5 · King James VersionAnd it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:5 · King James VersionOpen the Source and lives a hundred and forty years after his trial in Job 42:16Job 42:16 · King James VersionAfter this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.
Job 42:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1).
Who It Is Not
Job, his friends, and Elihu are characters, not authors.
When and Where
Bible Gateway calls the date disputed, from the second millennium to the fifth century BC. (5) The book gives no year and names no king of Israel.
Audience and Setting
Any reader facing undeserved suffering. The purpose is to wrestle with God’s justice and to answer with God’s wisdom and sovereignty rather than a formula.
Rulers at the Time
The book names no king or ruler. This page adds none.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Prologue | Satan’s challenge and Job’s losses. Job 1–2 |
| Dialogues | Job and three friends. Job 3–31 |
| Elihu | Job 32–37 |
| The Lord answers | Job 38–41 |
| Epilogue | Restoration. Job 42 |
| Composition | Disputed, second millennium to fifth century BC. (5) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Uz | Uncertain. Edom in southern Jordan and northern Arabia have been proposed. | Job 1:1Job 1:1 · King James VersionThere was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.Job 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
Job 1–2 tell of Job’s righteousness and losses. Job 3–31 are three rounds of debate with his friends. Job 32–37 are Elihu’s speeches. Job 38–41 are God’s speeches from the whirlwind. Job 42 is Job’s repentance and restoration.
Key Themes
Suffering and God’s justice. Job’s hope of a living redeemer in Job 19:25Job 19:25 · King James VersionFor I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:25 · King James VersionOpen the Source. God’s wisdom beyond human understanding in Job 38:4Job 38:4 · King James VersionWhere wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
The problem of evil is the book’s own question. It does not explain Job’s suffering to him, and the friends who claim it is punishment are rebuked in Job 42:7Job 42:7 · King James VersionAnd it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
Job 42:7 · King James VersionOpen the Source. That refusal of an easy answer is part of the book’s argument.
How the Book Points to Christ
Job longs for a mediator in Job 9:33Job 9:33 · King James VersionNeither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
Job 9:33 · King James VersionOpen the Source and a redeemer in Job 19:25Job 19:25 · King James VersionFor I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:25 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Christians see that hope met in Christ, the one mediator of 1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5 · King James VersionFor there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1 Timothy 2:5 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
Job is among the books found at Qumran, including an Aramaic translation. This page did not check the catalogue entry for that targum. (6)
Canon Reception
Never disputed in the Jewish and Christian lists. (4)
Further Reading
References
- Book of Job, 1:1; 42:16–17Job 1:1 · King James Version
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Job 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b, 14b (The English on Sefaria is the William Davidson edition, which is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The baraita gives the order of the Prophets and the Writings and asks who wrote each book.)
- Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Job (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Job as disputed, with dates ranging from the second millennium to the fifth century BC. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.