Book of Job
Annotated & Explained
Book of Job
Annotated & Explained
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Hardback
£21.99
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Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
ISBN: 9781683363439
Number of Pages: 256
Published: 13/09/2012
Width: 14 cm
Height: 21.6 cm
The poetical masterpiece that confronts the inexplicable mystery of good and evil can be a companion on your own spiritual journey.
The book of Job, celebrated as a classic of world literature and one of the glories of the Bible, can often be puzzling and frustrating: puzzling for its dialogue form and off-putting because of the many questions it leaves unanswered. The book was written in a world very different from our own, and yet the fundamental questions it raises are still ones we grapple with today: Is it worthwhile to act for the best? Does life have a meaning beyond itself? Why do the righteous suffer and the guilty prosper?
In this accessible guide to a spiritual masterpiece, Donald Kraus, the editor of the Oxford University Press Study Bible program, clarifies what Job is, helps overcome difficulties in the text and suggests what Job may mean for us today. Kraus's fresh translation captures some of the finest poetry in the Hebrew Bible and uncovers the original author's intent in a way that is accessible for modern readers and spiritual seekers.
This inviting SkyLight Illuminations edition, with probing facing-page commentary, explores Job’s daring challenges to God’s goodness, asks questions about the basic fairness of existence, and offers compelling descriptions of the glories of the created world and the bitter sorrows of human life.
Foreword vii
Introduction xi
The Prose Framework: Opening
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Job's Curse
Chapter 3
The First Dialogue Cycle
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
The Second Dialogue Cycle
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
The Third Dialogue Cycle
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Job's Final Speeches
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
The Elihu Explosion
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
The Answer of God from the Storm
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Job's Final Reply
Chapter 42 (verses 1–6)
The Prose Framework: Closing
Chapter 42 (verses 7–17)
Acknowledgments
Suggestions for Further Reading
"Donald Kraus's exposition is eloquent, theologically sensitive and, like the book of Job itself, unflinching in its honesty. A masterpiece!"
-Michael Coogan, lecturer on Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Harvard Divinity School; director of publications, Harvard Semitic Museum
"A wise, insightful and clear guide to this fascinating book.... An excellent companion to reading Job, either on one's own or in a group."
-Carol A. Newsom, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Emory University; author, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations
"Kraus invites us to wrestle, like Job, with the hardest questions in life, about suffering, justice, fairness and the place of God in the midst of all of it. This is an excellent resource for adult education, personal enrichment, someone who wants more insight into a literary gem (Kraus's translation is a wonder of beauty), or the seeker after Wisdom."
-The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church; author, Gathering at God's Table: The Meaning of Mission in the Feast of Faith
"The book of Job is one of the most honest books in the Bible, but readers need a guide ... familiar with its twists and turns who can help us ... to discover its wisdom.... Kraus ... brings the text to life and the meaning to light. By all means read it. By all means ponder it."
-Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author, Ecclesiastes: Annotated & Explained
