First Cycle and book of job

This mini-essay proivdes an overview of the flow of the argument/speeches in these 9 chapters. It is a mistake to read the Book of Job simply as a collection of random speeches by dueling combatants. Ideas take root, are developed, become discarded, and arise again. Psychologically speaking, the emotions more deeply buried in our consciousness, such as grief and shame, are not developed until after the more surface emotions of bitterness and anger appear. Thus, an overview of how themes emerge and begin to take shape will aid our appreciation of this masterpiece.

Job Speaks (3; 6-7; 9-10)

Job's first speech may be likened to the cry of pain we might emit when a chair has been squarely placed on our toe. It is a Munch-like shriek of pain, a cascading series of wails of distress. In my Advanced essay on Job and Emily Dickinson, I suggested a thesis about the dis/continuity between this speech and Job's apparent equanimity in chapters 1 and 2. The language through which Job's pain comes to fruition is the language of darkness and gloom.

In chapters 6-7 Job blames God for his great pain. He likens the pain he feels to arrows of God ripping through his body (6:4). But he also attacks his friends and calls them as treacherous as the desert wadis that disappear in the summer heats (6:15-20). For the first time we see Job's confusion about time (7:1-6) and his sense of utter desperation. He taunts God (7:12) and wishes that God would leave him alone (7:19).

Not until chapters 9-10 does Job begin to explore the legal themes or ramifications of his distress. He knows he wants to approach God, but God appears to be so powerful and so unapproachable that Job is temporarily stymied. Perhaps the avenue of legal process (9:2,15f.) will provide some help. Chapter 10 then descends into much greater depth than 6-7 regarding the way Job feels God has attacked him. By the end of chapter 10 all he longs for is the darkness that he wished had enveloped him in chapter 3.

Eliphaz (Job 4-5)

Eliphaz, presumably the oldest of the friends, first addresses Job. Surprising to most is the mild nature of his response to Job's words. He recognizes Job's extreme distress, gently suggests that Job might want to listen to some advice, and gives Job reason to believe that the pain he feels will only be temporary. All creatures, even the angels, are impure in God's sight (4:17-19); to receive God's discipline through suffering loss ought to make one happy (5:17). In slightly unrealistic terms Eliphaz closes with the hope that "You (Job) shall know that your descendants will be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth (5:24)."

Bildad (Job 8)

Bildad is not half so wordy as Eliphaz (22 vs. 48 verses), but he is the first to speak after Job has accused the friends of treachery in 6:15. Bildad's sharp response may be partly explained by Job's attack, even though Bildad dutifully trots out the Wisdom tradition's theology of hope for Job: "he (God) will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy (8:21)." Bildad, in contrast to Eliphaz, makes explicit his dependence on the Wisdom tradition (8:8-10) and lays out the first extended discussion of the fate of the wicked (8:11-19). There is hope for Job, even if Bildad is not above insulting Job and his family in the process (8:4).

Zophar (Job 11)

Zophar seems offended not only by Job's ideas but also by Job himself. He is the first to suggest that Job's plight may actually be less than Job deserved (11:6). Zophar sees himself as the conduit of the "deep things of God (11:7)," even though those deep things are not different than anything said by Bildad. His offense at Job is captured by his stinging analogy, "But a stupid person will get understanding, when a wild ass is born human (11:12)." He closes by grudgingly reiterating the tradition's word of hope (11:13-20).