In this post, I will be arguing that there may have existed, at one time, a Proto-Job Text, which predated the original. Let me begin with my line of reasoning.
———————————————Basis for Presuming a Proto-Job epic—————————————————
1. The composition of the Book of Job seems to indicate that the Dialogue Portions between Job and the Three Friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) is the oldest portion. This is because of the Prologue putting the blame for what happens on Ha-Satan, whereas the Epilogue and Dialogue clearly paint this as solely the work of God’s doing, that Job suffers. The portions with Elihu and the Wisdom Poem appear to be further late additions, Elihu in particular as his role is to try and rebuke Job for not alleviating God of the blame for what happens. The Wisdom Poem offers nothing that is particularly on topic with the rest of the story, as such it appears to be a late addition.
2. When dating the Book of Job, the Dialogues appear to be the oldest, as they comfortably fit within a set archetype present in Ancient Near Eastern mythology and literature. The Problem of Suffering can be found in various Egyptian, Babylonian, Ugaritic, and Sumerian texts, some dating all the way back to 1700 BCE (for more on these, read Marvin H. Pope’s “Job, Introduction, Translation, and Notes”). These always feature near identical setups for the story, where an innocent man suffers from disease and the deaths of family members, due to the interference of a divine personality, before either the same or another divine being grants them relief, usually replenishing what they’ve lost.
3. The Book of Ezekiel is quite aware of Job as a literary figure, and also of another person who shares a somewhat similar story (in terms of his son being lost as the result of divine punishment and such). This figure is Dan’el. Originally this spelling was thought to be a mistake by the Masoretes, who thought it to be an anachronism, and that it should be correctly thought of as the prophet Daniel. However, the discovery of Ras Shamra and the Epic of Aqhat firmly dismissed this notion, showing this to actually be the remembrance of an ancient Canaanite folklore figure, who fits some of the archetypal features as Job. The other figure mentioned in this same passage is Noah, who is also described as being “blameless” before the Lord in a world of wickedness, who was upright. The figure Noah, as we all know, is also a standard archetype figure with a basis in many other Mesopotamian flood mythologies.
Following these main points, that Job seems to be following a standard Ancient Near Eastern archetype, the similarities its story shares with much older myths featuring the same theme and problem (the problem of innocent suffering), and the knowledge the Israelites seemed to have of Job before the completion of the book (by most modern estimates, 5th-4th centuries BCE), I think that it is logical to presume that there may have, indeed, been a Proto-Job epic in circulation before the composition of the final work we have now, especially given how much of the standard version we have now has been added to. The following section will detail what I think this Proto-Job could have been.
—————————————–Language, and Dating of the Dialogue————————————–
The author of the Book of Job is, usually, thought to have been an Israelite, writing in Hebrew, but using rather foreign elements. However, I tend to agree with Tur-Sinai’s assessment: that the Book of Job may not have been written in Hebrew at all, but may have been the result of a hodge-podge translation of a Hebrew cognate, he suggests Aramaic (his explanation being that many of the words and grammatical forms in Aramaic would be so similar to Hebrew that some may not need translation, so only parts of Job ended up being translated to Hebrew, which then caused a dialectal mix, and thus confusion for future scribes).
My thought, however, is that this may have been Edomite instead. Edomite was a mere dialect of Hebrew, spoken by the Edomites. The reason I suppose for this origin is primarily based on the following:
1. The foreign allusions to both Edom and Egypt within the Book of Job
2. Lack of Israelite nationalism
3. Complete lack of Israelite religious practices being present
4. No records of the laws of Moses, or any major Biblical characters (beyond Yahweh)
5. No regard for any of God’s covenants
6. The friends of Job are all foreign, non-Israelite people, Eliphaz and Bildad being from Edom and Arabia (respectively)
7. Lexical and grammatical peculiarities and rarities not found anywhere else in the OT
8. Possible origin of Yahwistic cults in Edom or Arabia based on the “Shasu” inscriptions from Egypt 14th-13th centuries BCE
Late circumstantial and literary points that lend credence:
1. Septuagint apocryphal genealogy of Job, linking him to Jobab a descendant of Esau (who settled Edom in Genesis)
2. Job’s vast possessions, family, and religious responsibilities indicate a literary simulation a Priest-King
These, to me, all indicate a possible foreign origin for the Book of Job.
Any thoughts on this? What would you suggest? I know a few contentions that people could bring (such as the head deity of Edom being Qaus, and no mention of YHWH).
If you think of more points that could defend, or points that would contradict my assessments, please bring them up. I’d love to hear more thoughts and ideas.
I’ve been listening to a lot of YouTubes lately, and I heard a rabbi speaking about the book of Job. He stated that some scholars speculated that the book was written by Moses. (That’s a new one for me) And that Moses was writing a story to deal with the issues of suffering and justice.
I had never heard that take before; just throwing this out there for someone to confirm / deny / or etc.
Virtually no historians think that Moses even existed. The scholarly consensus is that Moses was most likely a legendary figure and nothing more.
The Book of Job wasn’t compiled (in the way we know it) until after the Babylonian Exile. So, most certainly Moses did not write it at all.
Was there a literary tradition in ancient Edom? There is scarcely a literary tradition in Judah or Israel to speak of, at least in the hill country centers of those vast (30 km) empires. Edom is throughout most of history even more impoverished and less organized than Judah, as opposed to the rich cities in the coastal plains toward the sea. I would say that it being written first in Edom seems unlikely though possible.
Perhaps it was an oral tradition in Edom, written down by an interested Priestly scribe of Judah? Despite the absolute hatred of any neighbors to Judah, there seems to have been plenty of examples of intermarriage since Moses married a Midianite. Perhaps the Priest heard the story a few times at social events and then Judaized it. Though as you say, it was not very much Judaized at all, except for the main God being YHWH.
Also, you name 3 or 4 main parts. Which are you saying came from Edom?
While there probably were earlier versions of Job (probably the case for most if not all OT texts), the story as we have it seems extremely Jewish in its conception of God. However, Job himself does not seem to be intended as a figure of Jewish religious history, but rather as an ** you do not have permission to see this link ** sort of figure.
Nobody watching that play in the late 15th century believed Everyman was real, and nobody reading Job was supposed to believe Job was real–what’s real are the questions being asked through each story and its highly symbolic characters. By the same token, the various Gilgamesh stories all ask potent questions of their audiences, and did anyone telling those stories believe Gilgamesh was real? They are real in the sense that people still think about them, talk about them, use them to remind ourselves that the questions we ask now have been asked for thousands of years. And that creates a sense of continuity. Which we could not have were it not for myth in all its forms.
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