Job 1:1; 2:1-10

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries. Chapter 2.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons. Chapter 2.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit:
    • "Duty"
    • "Perseverance and Patience" 
  • Chapter XVII of The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome (ca. 96).
  • IV.17, VII.12, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • Chapter XIV, On Patience, Tertullian (c. 202)
  • VIII.III (words from apocryphal LXX tradition, absent from English traditions), The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
  • VI.LV, Against Celsus, Origen. (c.246)
  • On the Mortality -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 252)
  • Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org. Chapter 2.
  • From the Geneva Notes. Chapter 2.
    • "That is, to be patient in adversity as we rejoice when he sends prosperity, and so to acknowledge him to be both merciful and just."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary. Chapter 2.
    • "The devil tempts his own children, and draws them to sin, and afterwards torments, when he has brought them to ruin; but this child of God he tormented with affliction, and then tempted to make a bad use of his affliction."
  • From Wesley's Notes. Chapter 2.
    • "Shall we poor worms give laws to our supreme Lord, and oblige him never to afflict us? And shall not those great and manifold mercies, which from time to time God hath given us, compensate these short afflictions? Ought we not to bless God for those mercies which we did not deserve; and contentedly bear those corrections which we do deserve. And if we receive so much good for the body, shall we not receive some good for our souls? That is, some affliction, whereby we may be made partakers of his holiness? Let murmuring therefore, as well as boasting, be forever excluded."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871). Chapter 2.
    • "...it was usual among the heathens, when disappointed in their prayers accompanied with offerings to their gods, to reproach and curse them."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Job 1:1; 2:1-10, Karl Jacobson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "The idea that God blesses the faithful, rewarding the righteous with what they deserve, and that the opposite, trials and tribulation, are signs of being out of sync with God—apparently the prosperity gospel is nothing new under the sun—is rejected outright by Job."
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • Job 1:1, 2:1-10, Pentecost 18, The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.
    • "In preaching this passage and on the following three weeks of readings from Job, one might invite listeners to reflect on their own theology of where suffering comes from and how we sense God’s presence and involvement at such times."
  • Job 1:1, 2:1-10, Pentecost 18, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Job has lived a very comfortable and trouble free life up to now. Will he still be faithful to God when hardship strikes? Is his faith based on receiving the good things of life? Will he abandon God in the hard times? All these questions are part of the message for us."
  • Commentary, Job 1:20-22, John E. Guns, The African American Lectionary, 2009.
    • "The story of Job is an incredible journey that often brings preachers to a rather precarious place. While we feel called to preach hope, healing, and abundance, there are moments within the Job saga where hope, healing, and abundance seem absent."
• Articles & Background:
  • A number of excellent, thought-provoking articles on "suffering," at Insights, the faculty journal of Austin Seminary, 2005.
  • "False Naivety in the Prologue to Job," David J.A. Clines, On the Way to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays," 1998.
  • "The Family in the Bible," James A. Sanders, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2002.
    • "The whole of the Bible and of Jewish and Christian tradition can be viewed within the tension between the Bible's focus on family, or community worth and responsibility, and its struggle toward affirmation of individual worth and responsibility within the larger family...The current cultural tensions between Islam and the West, and even in the so-called culture wars in this country, are illumined by a socio-cultural reading of the Bible as a whole."
  • "Mrs. Job Reevaluates Her God," Mary Crocker Cook, Women in Judaism: Contemporary Writings.
    • "Perhaps we do Mrs. Job an injustice, and I would propose that not only was her crisis of faith normal, but necessary to her spiritual growth."
  • "Why, God? A Tale of Two Sufferers," Burton Z. Cooper, Louisville Theological Seminary. Theology Today, 1986.
    • "Job is healed when a new image of God appears to him. Now be can let go of the monarchial image of God. He is healed because, in letting go of the image of all-controlling power, he is letting go of the experience of God as the enemy, the one who "crushes" him."
• ATLASerials is now available on multiple platforms.  Direct links are currently available for ATLASerials via EBSCOhost and ATLA platforms when you are subscribed and logged in to ATLAS on one of these platforms. If you are unsure about which link to choose, please contact support@atla.com. See also resources for the Book of Job:
  • Amit, Yairah, "Progression as a Rhetorical Device in Biblical Literature," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2003.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Balentine, Samuel E., "'For No Reason,'" Interpretation, 2003. (See also, "Evil," issue focus, Interpretation, 2003.)
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  • Cooper, Alan, "Reading and Misreading the Prologue to Job," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 1990.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Cooper, Burton Z., "Why God? A Tale of Two Sufferers," Theology Today, 1986.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Hall, Douglas John, "Suffering: The Badge of Discipline," The Living Pulpit, 1995.
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  • Hoffman, Yair, "The Relation between the Prologue and the Speech-Cycles in Job: A Reconsideration," Vetus Testamentum, 1981.
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  • Kee, Min Suc, "The Heavenly Council and its Type-scene," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2007.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Magdalene, F. Rachel, "Job's Wife as Hero: A Feminist-Forensic Reading of the Book of Job," Biblical Interpretation, 2006.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Meier, Sam, "Job I-II: A Reflection of Genesis I-III," Vetus Testamentum, 1989.
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      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
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  • Page, Sydney H.T., "Satan: God's Servant," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2007.
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  • Priest, John, "Job and JB: The Goodness of God or the Godness of Good?" Horizons, 1985.
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  • Shepherd, David, "'Strike his bone and his flesh': Reading Job from the Beginning," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2008.
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  • Tate, Marvin E., "Satan in the Old Testament," Review and Expositor, 1992.
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  • Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks, "Inclusive Language: Theological and Philosophical Fragments," Religious Education, 1985. (Job 1:6, 2:1)
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  • Van Wolde, Ellen, "A Text-Semantic Study of the Hebrew Bible, Illustrated with Noah and Job," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1994. (Section on "Job and His Wife" begins on page 31.)
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  • Whybray, Roger N., "The Immorality of God: Reflections on Some Passages in Genesis, Job, Exodus and Numbers," Journal of the Study of the Old Testament, 1996. (Section on this text begins on page 103)
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  • Wilson, Gerald, "Preknowledge, Anticipation, and the Poetics of Job," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2005.
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• Reviews:
• Sermons:
  • "Job's Suffering," Rev. Garth Wehrfrith-Hanson, Dim Lamp, 2009.
  • "What Has Religion Done for You?" the Rev. Bob Bohl, Day 1, 1997.
  • "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People," the Rev. Dr. James C. Howell, Day 1, 1996.
  • "Job," from an Old Testament Sermon Series, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington - Sermons from Seattle.
• With Children:
  • "Job," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
  • "Job's Second Test," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
• Drama:
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art: Job, Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld woodcuts, World Mission Collection, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
  • Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
  • Job's IT Dept, Stop Pestering Job, Ash Heap, Camel Carriers, There Is No 'Job' in 'Team', A History of Tribulation, Job Information, OTSE, And I Was the Only One to Logout, Reverend Fun Cartoon, gospelcom.net. Check for printing permissions at right-hand side of destination page.
• Hymns and Music:
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Job
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • Perseverance
  • Suffering of the Innocent
  • Temptation
  • Satan (see esp "Trading Places")
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Job