Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Stephen Shead" <srshead+bh AT gmail.com>]

Hi David,

Thanks for the stimulating thoughts - and I agree with you entirely on Job's
(sometimes abrupt) despair/hope transitions, his amazingly tenacious faith,
and (as I presume you mean) "God as his go'el". But it is surely a tenacious
faith mixed with misunderstandings and even defiance. One of the things I
love about Job (the person) is that he is such a fabulously "round
character".

I find it hard, then, to accept your first two sentences in point 3: Yes,
strictly speaking 40:8 is a question, but in the wake of all that has
preceded, it seems exceedingly odd to read it with an implied negative
answer. Why raise the question in the middle of this barrage (especially
after 40:2 and 7) if the answer is "Actually, no you wouldn't, so it's OK"?

And I agree with the first half of your point 4. But I'm not sure what you
mean by "Whether one was right or wrong is simply a non-issue when God
appears". (It was an issue for the friends!) Certainly I'd say that Job's
previous preoccupations and contentions simply seem to evaporate and be
overwhelmed by the "Godness" of God.

Have a great holiday! I'm happy to leave the discussion there (though feel
free to reply). I'll keep wrestling with 42:6, anyway. Thanks for the
pointer to David Jackson's book - I hope to get a look at it sometime.

Regards,
Stephen Shead
Santiago, Chile

-----Original Message-----
From: David Kummerow [mailto:farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, 11 April 2008 9:07 PM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] NXM

Hi Stephen,

1. Yes, Habel is not at all sensitive to the actually occurring words in
27:5. In my view, he has Job saying things which he does not actually
say. I see Job rather as not unlike some Psalms which cycle from despair
to hope and something which I've attempted to demonstrate in arguing in
my article that Job does in fact maintain a trust in the goodness of God
to him despite present circumstances which would seem to suggest otherwise.

2. Fyall is indeed a stimulating read. I am quite reluctant to agree
with him for at least two main reasons. Firstly, despite his analysis of
the final chapters, they can still me naturally read as NOT referring to
satan. Secondly, he skips dealing with 42:7, 8 -- quite a significant
oversight!

3. 40:8 need not read as if God takes this to be what Job has indeed
done or was attempting to achieve. It is, after all, a question, and I
would suggest one which expects a negative answer. In my article I've
tried to show that Job does indeed maintain a trust in the justice of
God -- to the extent that he can paradoxically affirm that God will
plead his case for him with God!

4. I would suggest that Job's response in 42:1-5 is a response that is
always right in the face of divine revelation. That is, it is always
right to affirm that God is God and that we are limited humans. Whether
one was right or wrong is simply a non-issue when God appears. In Job's
words: "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes
have seen you" (42:5).

I'm indeed sorry, but I'm off with my family for a holiday for a week or
so which means I will likely be unable to continue this conversation.
Thanks for pushing my thinking!

Regards,
David Kummerow.