Job's Character and Wealth
A Chiastic Description in Prose
The First Earthly Scene
Job1:1-5(1)
A Religious: "The" Declaration of Job's Righteousness by
the Editor(2)
B Secular: His Righteousness - His Children
B' Secular: His Righteousness - His Property
A Religious: His Care for His Children's Spiritual Life
Note: How the book gets right to the point that this man
(who is going to suffer later in the book) is righteous. The terms are
as lofty as scripture ever gets in describing the perfection of a sinful
man.
Questions:
-
What is a chiasm?
-
How does it work?
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What is usually the most important element?
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Why is Job's secular righteousness placed at the center of
the chiasm?
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Why does the book end with the restoration of his secular
righteousness? Why not the religious righteousness, which is placed next
to last?
-
What in the description of the possessions gives it away
that possessions were an obvious token of his righteousness? Remember your
answer has to keep Al Capone from being considered righteous!
-
The
Problem of Camels:
Is this an anachronistic reference or evidence for a late dramatic date
and date of composition.
-
In that culture should it not have been obvious that he was
a righteous man in spite of his sufferings?
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Why would the writer make the hero/victim of the story a
gentile?
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What is the minimum and the maximum that the first four terms
applied to Job mean?
-
Where does the sinful nature of Job show through most clearly
in these verses? Don't say, "He was rich."
-
What was it that his children did that caused him concern?
What was he afraid that this would lead to and why?
-
Whar was a feast (heT:$im)?
1. All handouts will
eventually be posted in .WPD format under the professor's name at http://www.cincybible.edu
/Biblical/index.html. All fonts are available at http://silvermnt.com/.
The font package is shareware ($20.00) but is easily downloaded.
2. It is imperative in the book of
Job to keep track of who is speaking and how the identity of the speaker
affects one's reception of the words.
The
Problem of Camels:
Is this an anachronistic reference or evidence for a late dramatic date
and date of composition.