Job’s everyday Levantine vocabulary knew nothing of a post-Flood ‘Ice Age’

Age of Rocks

Canonical context of Job’s narrative

For many, the Book of Job is one of the most important and beautifully crafted compositions among religious texts, which addresses the problem of evil. Set in an indefinite—though characteristically Levantine—pastoral landscape, the book leads its readers through a basic, yet complex question: if there were no justice in this life, no reward for righteousness, how then would you live? Would you forsake the covenant God if his promises were not realized before your eyes?

To answer this question, the author introduces his audience to a character named Job—a faithful steward who was blessed beyond measure. But then, God retracts the material blessings, apparently on a wager, and Job loses both health and prosperity. Through a course of poetic dialogues between Job and his closest friends, various theological viewpoints are teased out to explain Job’s misfortune, whether by his own sin or some divine malintent. In response to God’s final…

View original post 2,875 more words