Book 18 of 66 · Old Testament
Job
A blameless man loses everything and argues with his friends — and finally with God — about why the innocent suffer.
42 chapters1,070 versesWritten in HebrewSet The land of Uz, in an unnamed distant past
Overview
Job is a long poem framed by a short story. A blameless, wealthy man named Job loses his children, his wealth, and his health in a test he never learns about. Most of the book is a debate: three friends insist his suffering must be punishment for sin, Job maintains his innocence and demands an answer, and a younger man, Elihu, adds his view. At last God answers out of a whirlwind — not with reasons, but with the vastness of creation — and Job is restored.
Book facts
- Author
- UnknownThe book names no author. Its hero is not an Israelite, and the setting feels like the age of the patriarchs.
- Date written
- Unknown — perhaps c. 600–400 BCThe story may be far older than the book. Scholars date the writing widely.
- Original language
- HebrewSome of the oldest and most difficult Hebrew poetry in the Bible.
- Setting
- The land of Uz, in an unnamed distant pastA wealthy man living outside Israel, in the age of the patriarchs.
How it came to be
Job names no author and belongs to no clear time. The story is set in the land of Uz, and its hero is not an Israelite; the setting feels like the age of the patriarchs.
The book is mostly poetry, framed by a prose story at the beginning and the end — a form that has led many to see an old tale reworked into a long poem.
What is arguedWhen it was written, and whether the prose frame and the poem come from the same hand. Estimates for the writing range across many centuries; the difficulty of the poetry makes it hard to date.
The whole book, chapter by chapter
| Chapter | What happens | Who is in it | Where it takes place |
|---|---|---|---|
The test — what happens to Job, and why, chapters 1–2 | |||
| Chapter 1The first test | Job, a blameless and wealthy man, loses his livestock, his servants, and all ten of his children in a single day, yet does not curse God. | ||
| Chapter 2The second test | Job is struck with painful sores; his wife tells him to curse God and die, but he refuses. Three friends come to sit with him. | , , , | — |
The three friends — Job's lament and three rounds of debate, chapters 3–31 | |||
| Chapter 3Job's lament | Job breaks his silence and curses the day he was born. | — | |
| Chapter 4Eliphaz speaks | Eliphaz suggests Job must have sinned, for the innocent do not suffer. | — | |
| Chapter 5Eliphaz continues | Eliphaz urges Job to appeal to God, who both wounds and heals. | — | |
| Chapter 6Job answers Eliphaz | Job defends his complaint and reproaches his friends for their coldness. | — | |
| Chapter 7Job's complaint | Job laments the misery of life and asks God to leave him alone. | — | |
| Chapter 8Bildad speaks | Bildad argues that God does not pervert justice, so Job's children must have sinned. | — | |
| Chapter 9Job answers Bildad | Job agrees no one can be righteous before God, but longs for someone to arbitrate between them. | — | |
| Chapter 10Job questions God | Job asks God why he contends with him. | — | |
| Chapter 11Zophar speaks | Zophar, the bluntest friend, tells Job that God is punishing him less than he deserves. | — | |
| Chapter 12Job answers Zophar | Job answers that he knows as much as they do, and speaks of God's power. | — | |
| Chapter 13Job's defense | Job insists on arguing his case directly with God rather than with his friends. | — | |
| Chapter 14The days of man | Job reflects on how short and troubled human life is. | — | |
| Chapter 15Eliphaz's second speech | Eliphaz accuses Job of undermining religion and describes the fate of the wicked. | — | |
| Chapter 16The miserable comforters | Job calls his friends miserable comforters and appeals to a witness in heaven. | — | |
| Chapter 17Job's broken spirit | Job, his spirit broken, sees only the grave ahead. | — | |
| Chapter 18Bildad's second speech | Bildad again describes the doom of the wicked. | — | |
| Chapter 19The living redeemer | At his lowest point Job declares, "I know that my redeemer liveth." | — | |
| Chapter 20Zophar's second speech | Zophar insists the triumph of the wicked is brief. | — | |
| Chapter 21The prosperous wicked | Job points out that the wicked often prosper and die at ease. | — | |
| Chapter 22Eliphaz's third speech | Eliphaz charges Job with specific sins and urges him to return to God. | — | |
| Chapter 23Job seeks God | Job longs to find God and lay his case before him. | — | |
| Chapter 24The oppressors | Job asks why God does not judge the violent and the oppressors. | — | |
| Chapter 25Bildad's last speech | Bildad's brief final words: no one is pure before God. | — | |
| Chapter 26Job on God's power | Job answers with his own hymn to God's power over creation. | — | |
| Chapter 27Job's integrity | Job swears he will not let go of his integrity. | — | |
| Chapter 28The search for wisdom | A poem asking where wisdom can be found — its price is beyond all treasure. | — | — |
| Chapter 29Job's former days | Job remembers the honour and blessing of his former life. | — | |
| Chapter 30Job's present misery | Job contrasts it with the mockery and pain he now endures. | — | |
| Chapter 31Job's final oath | Job makes a final oath of innocence, listing the sins he has not committed. | — | |
Elihu — a younger man speaks, chapters 32–37 | |||
| Chapter 32Elihu's anger | A younger man, Elihu, angry at both Job and the friends, begins to speak. | — | |
| Chapter 33Elihu speaks | Elihu argues that God speaks through dreams and suffering to turn people back. | — | |
| Chapter 34Elihu on justice | Elihu defends God's justice against Job's complaints. | — | |
| Chapter 35Elihu continues | Elihu says a person's sin or goodness neither diminishes nor adds to God. | — | |
| Chapter 36Elihu's conclusion | Elihu praises God's greatness and points to the coming storm. | — | |
| Chapter 37The storm described | Elihu describes the thunder, snow, and wind as the work of God. | — | |
God answers — the voice from the whirlwind, and Job restored, chapters 38–42 | |||
| Chapter 38The whirlwind | God answers Job out of the whirlwind, asking where he was when the earth was founded. | — | |
| Chapter 39The wild creatures | God points to the wild goat, the ostrich, the horse, and the hawk, all beyond Job's control. | — | — |
| Chapter 40Behemoth | God challenges Job to answer, and describes Behemoth, a great beast. | — | |
| Chapter 41Leviathan | God describes Leviathan, the untameable creature of the sea. | — | — |
| Chapter 42Job restored | Job repents of speaking beyond his knowledge; God rebukes the three friends and restores Job with double what he had. | , , , | — |
All 42 chapters. Start reading →
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