Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di The Testament of Job
A chi è rivolto
For readers who know the biblical Book of Job and enjoy seeing how another ancient community told it, and for anyone curious about Jewish and early Christian stories outside the Bible.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Testament of Job is an ancient retelling of the Job story. The author is unknown.
The book does not begin with a wager in heaven. It begins at a deathbed. Job is old and dying, and he calls his children to him to hear how he lived and how he suffered. He tells it himself, in the first person, as a last gift to them. You meet a Job who is a king and a rebel against idols, a man who knows from the start what the fight will cost him. Along the way you meet his wife Sitis, three royal friends, and Satan in several disguises. Let us begin with the voice that sends Job to war against a temple.
In questo riassunto
- 1A dying king gathers his childrenFree
- 2A voice sends Job against the idol temple
- 3Satan takes the flocks, the servants and the children
- 4Sitis, the wife who sells her hair
- 5The friends come and Job is not moved
Punto chiave 1 di 5
A dying king gathers his children
The Testament opens with Job on his sickbed. He is ill and close to death, and he summons his children around him. He tells them that he is about to leave them, and that they should hear his words so that they will know what kind of father they had and what kind of God he served.
He begins with his name. He says that he was once called Jobab, and that God gave him the name Job. He lives in Uz, the land also named in the Bible. He was rich, respected and a king, with flocks, servants and a large household.
The speech has a ritual shape. Job is making his last arrangements, and the passing on of property is part of it. He wants his sons and daughters to understand that his wealth is not the center of his story. The center is endurance, and what it earned him.
This deathbed frame is the feature that gives the book its name. A testament is a genre in which a famous figure speaks his last words to his family. Jewish writers of the period used this form for patriarchs such as Jacob and the sons of Jacob. Here the form is applied to Job, who is now a patriarch with a lesson to teach, and a patient teacher more than a bitter complainer.
That’s 1 of 5 key points.
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Questions about The Testament of Job
What is the Testament of Job about?
It retells the story of Job as his own deathbed speech to his children. Job explains how he destroyed an idol temple, how Satan attacked him, and how he endured suffering with patience and hope.
Is the Testament of Job in the Bible?
No. It is not part of the Hebrew Bible or of most Christian Bibles. It belongs to the pseudepigrapha, a group of ancient Jewish writings attributed to biblical figures that did not enter the canon.
When was the Testament of Job written?
Scholars generally place it between the first century before the common era and the first century of the common era. Its exact date and place of writing are debated, and the original was probably in Greek.
How is it different from the Book of Job?
Job is a patient king who knowingly takes on Satan, and he speaks as a father at the end of his life.
Who is Sitis in the Testament of Job?
Sitis is Job's wife. She loses her rank, works as a servant, and sells her hair to feed her husband. Her sorrow and loyalty give her a much bigger role than in the Bible.