Job 42:1-17

Job 42:1-17
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of The Text This Week

Reading the Texts:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- Hebrew Interlinear Bible, WLCv, WLC5, CHES, AV.
- The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
- Vision I.I, Shepherd of Hermas. (c.145)
- IV.26, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
- From the Geneva Notes.
  - "If you are not able to seek out the depth of the sea, how much less are you able to comprehend the counsel of God?"
- From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
  - "What folly it is to strive against God! How much is it our interest to seek peace with him, and to keep in his love!"
- From Wesley's Notes.
  - "All his bodily distempers were thoroughly healed, and probably in a moment. His mind was calmed, his peace returned, and the consolations of God were not small with him."
- "Intercessory Prayer: Job 42:10," Charles H. Spurgeon, 1861.
- From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
- Commentary, Job 42:1-6, 10-17, Kathryn Schifferdecker, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
  - "This epilogue to the book of Job is, for many readers, hard to accept."
- "Full of Days," Rick Morley, 2012.
  - "Job entered the abyss, but he climbed out. Or, you might be able to say that he was carried out."
- "When Job doesn't jibe with reality," Carol Howard Merritt, The Hardest Question, 2012.
  - "What happens when suffering is meaningless?"
- Exegesis for Proper 25 and Reformation Day based on Job 42:1-6, 10-17 by Elizabeth Achtemeier from SermonSuite.
- Radical Gratitude, lectionary-based stewardship, Northwest United Methodist Foundation. (.pdf)
- Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
- Job 42:1-6, 10-17, Pentecost 21, 2006, The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson, Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.
- Job 42:1-17, Pentecost 21, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.
  - "In one sense I find the epilogue disappointing because it appears to support the idea that the righteous come out alright in the end and the wicked are punished. Job is rewarded for being faithful. Some scholars try to put an interpretation which says it was a free gift of God and not a reward. This is a bit difficult to sustain in light of the context."
- "The Story of Job: Personal Disaster Reveals Genuine Faith," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation, 2009. 2006 reflection.
  - "I've always appreciated how the Lutherans of the Reformation made this point. They distinguished between earthly "security" (securitas), a presumption that no one should expect as an entitlement or reward for faith, and "certitude" (certitudo), the unfailing promise of God's presence whatever comes your way."
- "Risking a Happy Ending," Martin B. Copenhaver, The Christian Century, 1994.
  - "Though we like a story to have a happy ending, we tend to be suspicious when it does."
Articles & Background:
- "A Jungian Perspective on Religious Violence and Personal Responsibility," Charlene P.E. Burns, Cross Currents, 2006.
  - "Religion is an activity engaged in by human beings. Violence is a mode of human behavior sometimes but not always linked with religious goals."
- "Lament as True Prayer," Diane Jacobson, The Lutheran, 2005.
  - "...in contrast to his friends, Job refused to overlook the depth of his suffering. He refused to protect God from his despair. He refused to believe God wasn't active in the world."
- "Power Made Perfect in Weakness," Rebecca Konynkyk DeYoung, (other resources at) "Suffering," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2005.
  - "While our culture may idolize strength in adversity and tough self-reliance, courage has another side that many of us have not thought about much."
- "A Biblical Theology of Chronic Illness," Jeffrey H Boyd, Trinity Journal, 2003.
  - "This paper will attempt to develop a theology of chronic illness. I will make two points: First, some parts of the church have over-emphasized the healing aspect of prayer. Second, we should emphasize the God-human relationship if we want to help sick people."
- "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."
- "'My Servant Job Shall Pray for You,'" Samuel E. Balentine, Theology Today, 2002.
  - "When Job addresses the Almighty in prayer, what does he say?"
- "Who is Battering Whom?" by Dr. David R. Blumenthal, Professor of Judaic Studies, Emory University.
  - "But, how does God repent? How does God do teshuva? If the echoes of the Book of Lamentations and the Book of Job are heard seriously, God repents by talking to us, by seeing us, by taking notice of us, by acknowledging us in some concrete way."
- "The Bible and Ecological Spirituality," Walter B. Gulick. Theology Today, 1991.
  - ?To reflect upon the integrity of the land apart from human use would require an abstract quality of thought not characteristic of the biblical worldview. In sum, nature in the Bible is generally either regarded as a resource, or it fades into the background while, in the foreground, the significant drama of history is played out. In order to explore how the Bible might serve as a normative source for an ecological spirituality, an alternative must be found to focusing directly on how nature is portrayed in biblical passages. A promising direction is to reflect upon some of the qualities of an ecological consciousness or an ecological spirituality and then to see to what extent the Bible supports these qualities."
Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
- Balentine, Samuel E., "'My Servant Job Shall Pray for You,'" Theology Today, 2002.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Brueggemann, Walter, "Theodicy in a Social Dimension," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 1985.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Copenhaver, Martin B., "Risking a Happy Ending," The Christian Century, 1994.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Gulick, Walter B., "The Bible and Ecological Spirituality," Theology Today, 1991.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Kuyper, Lester J., "The Repentance of Job," Vetus Testamentum, 1959.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Morrow, William, "Consolation, Rejection, and Repentance in Job 42:6," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1986.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Muenchow, Charles, "Dust and Dirt in Job 42:6," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1989.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Newell, B. Lynne, "Job: Repentant or Rebellious," Westminster Theological Journal, 1984.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- O'Brien, J. Randall, "World, Winds and Whirlwinds: The Voice of God Meets 'the Vice of God,'" Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2003.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Pippin, Tina, "Between Text & Sermon, Job 42:1-6, 10-17," Interpretation, 1999.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Reed, Annette Yoshiko, "Job and Jobab: The Interpretation of Job in LXX Job 42:17b-3," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2001.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Sanders, Theresa, "Ash Wednesday after Auschwitz," Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 2004.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Shelley, John C., "Job 42:1-6: God's Bet and Job's Repentance," Review and Expositor, 1992.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Tate, Marvin E., "Satan in the Old Testament," Review and Expositor, 1992.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Tilley, Terrence W., "God and the Silencing of Job," Modern Theology, 1989.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Timmer, Daniel C., "God's Speeches, Job's Responses, and the Problem of Coherence in the Book of Job: Saptiential Pedagogy Revisited," Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2009.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Whedbee, William, "The Comedy of Job," Semeia, 1977.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Yaqob, Olga, MVM, "The Face of God in Suffering: Iraq," Theology Today, 2006.
  EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
  EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
Reviews:
- Reviews: Duck-Woo Nam, Talking about God: Job 42:7-9 and the Nature of God in the Book of Job. Peter Lang, 2003. Reviews by Edward L. Greenstein and Carole R. Fontaine in SBL's Review of Biblical Literature.
Sermons:
With Children:
- Worshiping with Children, Proper 25B, Reformation Sunday, Including children in the congregation's worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2012.
- "Children's Literature: A Resource for Ministry," October 28, 2012, Union Presbyterian Seminary. Connections: Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.
- "Job," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
- "Job Is Blessed," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
Drama:
Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
- Clip Art: Job Prospers Again, Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld woodcuts, World Mission Collection, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Hymns and Music:
- Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
- Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Job 42:6. The Cyber Hymnal.
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:
Study Links and Resources for the Book of Job