Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Robert Vining <rvining AT log.on.ca>]

RV:In the frame-story epilogue, the author has God  saying 2x,  it is
Job
> who has spoken the truth about Me. Is this truth to be limited to
> 42:1-6, or does it include all of the poetic material?  And, what of
the
> wisdom about God and His dealings with mankind as set forth by the 3
> "comforter", "friends". A lady in our Bible study class calls them,
> "idiots".  It is these idiots  the author uses to set forth lots of
good
   ^^^^^^                ^^^^^^
> traditional wisdom , which he then has God saying 2x,  they did not
> speak the truth about Him.

On 10/30/00, Bill Rea responds: Job's friends can hardly be called
idiots whatever the language you use.  First consider that they sat with
him for seven days without speaking.  That is a sign of deep committed
friendship.  Then consider that when they did speak they spoke
intelligently with well thought out arguments in a sincere attempt to
help him. Ultimately they were wrong in their assessment, but even
today, at least a couple thousand years later, people still have
difficulty in understanding why they were wrong.  In fact many people
whole-heartedly agree with the friends and believe that Job was a
terrible sinner who deserved everything he got. Perhaps calling the
friends "idiots" is more a reflection of the speaker than the people
portrayed in the text of Job. If you call them "idiots" then you excuse
yourself from having to grapple with
the arguments they put forth.

RV: Yes, Bill, we agree that the 3 friends were not idiots, but are
presented by the author as thoughtful propounders of "lots of good
traditional wisdom". What I continue to be intrigued by, and would
appreciate your thoughts on, or any listers, is vs. 42:6-the issues
being set down in my 10/27/00 post.

Robert Vining, Owen Sound, Ontario      rvining AT log.on.ca