diana

I've been leafing through a book my father sent me in an effort to (re-)convert me. It's by A. O. Schnabel, and it's called Has God Spoken?

Schnabel purports to "prove" the inspiration of the bible by showing all of the scientific knowledge that was contained in it, long before "modern science" figured it out. It's full of verses that have been yanked from context, wild exaggerations, consistent misrepresentation of what people believed and the history of science, gross inconsistency between the "deeper meaning from the Hebrew/Greek original word" in one verse and that same meaning in the next, and stories that have been invented whole cloth.

It went out of print many years ago. No small wonder.

Anyway...the only real trouble I'm having at dissecting this pile of tripe is deciding where to begin. But I've noticed that Job (38, mostly) is called up for at least half of the "proofs" that Schnabel offers.

I'm wondering what the timeline on this book (and possibly chapter) is, and why scholars have placed it at that time.

Thanks,

d

offa

Offa; the book of Job appears to be a guilt trip for those that doubt the LORD. A reference that I have says it was written between 586 b.c.e. and, I assume, 326 b.c.e. (making it Persian and not Hellenized). You are supposed to read the book and put yourself in Job's shoes and make your own decision, which, of course, would be god-fearing.

JOB is a book I have never read. It appears to be quite uninteresting. This is not any help but I thought I would give it a shot.

later, Offa

BTW, my cold winter's day was a delight. I just love working outside.

diana

So maybe you aren't such a candy-ass after all.

I'm looking more for scholarly timelines. They usually have a specific reason for placing ancient writing in a given time frame, and I'd like to know where Job is placed by scholars and why.

My references are sketchy, to say the least.

I was thinking one of the "timeline of the scriptures" hobbynuts might pounce on this question and enlighten me.

d

Celsus

Job is a composite book, and ch.31-42:6 (including Job's reply to God that you mention) are hard to date. Anyway, the prologue and epilogue (1-2, 42:7-17) are probably the oldest portions (8-6th century). The cast of characters including Job (a common name from 19th-14th centuries) are Edomite (at least in name), and that gives us a hint that this portion derives from before the 6th century BCE, before Israelite/Edomite tensions. Archaic language makes a date in the 8th/7th centuries probable.

For the middle section (3-31), these are possibly a product of the Jewish wisdom schools, making a post-exilic composition likely (6th to 4th century BCE). From the Hebrew text, 32-42:6 are later additions (notice the sudden introduction to Elihu, and apparently there is a stylistic change as well, but I don't know Hebrew). Job, no matter the dates, is considered a masterpiece of ancient poetry. On another note, there are Babylonian influences and knowledge of Egypt and Babylon (where Judahites fled), making it impossible to date the whole of the book to before the exile. Among the possible inspirations are Job-like figures in antiquity that prefigure him in Egyptian and Babylonian myths.

diana

Thanks, joe^3!

d

hinduwoman

Try reading the KJV Job. It is great literature and I suspect one reason why it is brought up so often as an emotional argument.