UNROLL
Before sunrise on a bare rise in the land of Uz: in the lower third one small lone figure wrapped in a dark cloak stands with his back to us, stony land falling away before him, under a vast, calm, empty sky of deep blue paling to amber at the far horizon.

The Book of

Job Intro

He lost everything and was never told why. Would anyone fear God for nothing?

Before chapter 1≈ 2 min42 chapters

Images are artistic interpretations.

In 30 seconds

A good man loses everything in a day.

Three friends tell him it must be his fault.

Job won’t accept it, and calls on God.

God answers from the storm.

The friends are rebuked, and Job is restored.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Who wrote it

Unknown writer

A master poet, name unknown

  • The book doesn’t name its writer.Job 1:1
  • Its setting feels like Abraham’s time: flocks, no priest, long life.Job 42:16
  • When it was written is uncertain.Scholars differ
  • Ezekiel and James speak of Job as a real man.James 5:11

How it’s built

Speeches in rounds

The testprose, 1–2Job’s cry3Round onefriends and Job, 4–14Round two15–21Round three22–27Wisdom, Job,Elihu28–37The LORD, theend38–42

Whiteboard

Three friends speak in turn and Job answers each. Round by round the friends grow sharper and say less, until the LORD ends it.

How to read it

Before you start

Not everyone who speaks in Job is right.

At the end, God tells the friends they were wrong.

So watch who is speaking.

Big themes

Four threads to follow

Where it happens

UzCanaanSeir (Edom)Ur of the ChaldeansHaran

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Somewhere east of Canaan

Uz lay outside Israel, likely near Edom or the desert to its east, in a world like Abraham’s. No one knows the spot.

Meet the cast

Five people to know

Watch for

But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.

Job 19:25

Start reading

Question

Quick question

The last word on all these speeches is God’s.

Who does God say spoke accurately about Him?

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