The book of Job.

This book is named after its main character, Job, who lived during the time of the patriarchs,

long before Moses, not far from the Holy Land. He was a quite rich and happy man who had

many children. But his wealth did not make him proud or selfish. On the contrary, everyone who

knew Job loved him for his kindness, wisdom and sympathy for the poor. Many came to him for

advice and considered it an honor to be his guest.

  The devil was envious of Job.s virtuous life and decided to retaliate. In order to show Job.s

great patience and virtue in front of everybody, the Lord did not prevent the devil from hurting

Job. And within a very short time the devil hurled numerous troubles on Job. Job lost everything

he  had:  his  family,  his  enormous wealth,  even  his  health.everything was  gone. Having come

down with terrible leprosy, he did not dare to live among healthy people and had to settle outside

his town. Friends came to visit him there. Job was pouring out his grief before them, trying to

figure out the reason for his mishaps. No one was able to help or comfort him. Yet the thought of

grumbling against God was far from Job. Suffering in body and soul, he stunned his friends with

his infinite patience, saying, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return

thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD...

What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 1:21,

2:10).

  Job.s suffering lasted, probably, about a year. Having shown to all the great faith of Job,

God put the devil to shame by again giving Job everything that the devil had taken away. Job mi-

raculously  recovered  from untreatable  leprosy,  quickly  grew wealthy  and  started  a  new family.

Job lived many more years and enjoyed even greater honor and love. Having seen the fourth gen-

eration of his offspring, he died, being 140 years old.

  Job lived in the country of Uz which is believed  to have been located  east  of  Jordan and

south of Damascus, in the ancient Bashan. The land was named after Uz, son of Aram, a descen-

dant of Shem (Gen. 10:22-23). Job was an Aramite, and his friends, mentioned in the book, were

Edomites, also descended from Abraham.

  It  is  believed  that  the  book  was originally written by Job himself, whose desire was ex-

pressed by  him  in  verses  23  and  24  of  chapter 19. The very content of the book shows that it

could have been written only by a local person who took part in the events described. This origi-

nal story was later given a poetic form by an inspired Hebrew writer. Otherwise it would not be

included among the sacred books. The book of Job is written in perfect Hebrew. The original re-

cord was found by the Jews when they conquered Bashan. The Jews copied it into a collection

like The Book of the Righteous mentioned in the book of Joshua (10:13). King Solomon could

very well be the one who gave the book its present form, since in many ways it is similar to other

Solomon.s books.Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

  Job is mentioned in several books of the Bible as a man of great righteousness. For example,

the book of Ezekiel places Job on the same level with patriarch Noah and prophet Daniel (Ezek.

14:14-20). The apostle James mentions Job as an example of a very patient person: “Behold, we

count them happy which endure. We have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of

the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy”(James 5:11).

  The goal of the book of Job is to show that earthly happiness does not always correspond to

virtuous life. Sometimes misfortunes are allowed to happen in the lives of the righteous in order

to strengthen them in being good, to put the devil to shame for his lies, and to glorify the right-

eousness of God. To put it briefly, the book of Job addresses a very deep and hard-to-understand

issue of the relationship between righteousness and reward, between evil and punishment. Be-

sides, the book of Job has a high value as a literary piece.

  During his sickness, Job uttered a very important prediction concerning the Redeemer and

the coming resurrection of the dead: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand

at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my

flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;

though my reins be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).