All of this is to say that the satan in the book of job cannot be entirely identified with the devil or satan in the new testament. Virtually all readers of the bible love the book of job and somehow derive from it a significant theological message. Satan targets job because of his righteousness and favour with god and wishes to turn job against god. In the long and painful middle section of the book, job has three friendsjoined by a fourth laterwho represent the theologically sanctioned view about human suffering. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job. Remember, god doesnt inflict anything nasty on job with his own divine power. Satan, the thief, has come to kill, steal, and destroy john 10.
As in the book of job, satan is accusing people before god. If anything, jobs satan is most similar to the satan of the book of zechariah, written in the early second temple period, which may indicate that job was written during the same period the late 6th century bce or the early 5th bce. May 15, 2012 who is the satan in the book of job referring to. The fact that most english translations ignore this is either the result of reading too much of the devil into the text, or misplaced fear of. Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, i should save job. Nov 02, 2017 he makes an illogical leap from the presence of the definite article to a nonidentification. Once we see this and accept it, the structure of the book becomes clear. Satan is seen as the adversary or prosecutor, an agent of gd, very much part of the divine council, that searches out the. But here are some articles dealing with apocryphal and rabbinic traditions contemporary to jesus. In the book of job, many english translations say that satan was in heaven. You must understand who god is and who satan is, what they know, and what their motivation is. The scene shifts to heaven, where god asks satan hebrew.
His job, his duty, is to find sinners, accuse them before god, and then god passes judgment. In it, satan is a member of gods divine court who walks the earth looking for sin and reports back to god. Hes blameless and upright, and he has kids, a wife, land, and a bunch of sheep. The book of job asks two questions, but it only answers one. Ha satan is the satan, the adversary and the accuser, he is the angel who impregnated eve, collected the soul of lot, known to the hebrews as samael blindness of god, the angel of death. Aug 02, 2010 t he mainstream jewish view of satan emanates from the book of job.
Satan answers that job is pious only because god has blessed him. Satan can touch flesh and bone but your spirit belongs to god and only you can defile it and cause god to reject it. The accuser satan hopes to set just such a trap for job. These comparisons between the descriptive term ha satan from judaism, and the role of the entity known as satan from christianity will be shown here. The meaning of the book of job is found in gods and satans conversation in heaven.
Just because the accuser is the most accurate translation of the term as used in job and it is doesnt mean that this accuser isnt satan, the devil, as the host seems to think. The devil, also referred to as satan, is best known as the nemesis of good people everywhere. The first question is asked by the accuser the satan. But that ignores the obvious hebrew wording for the sake of christian tradition again, the phrasing is actually the satan. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. We continue tonight in our bible study on the subject of origins.
Job chapters 1 and 2, part of the bibles oldest book, say that satan has access to heaven. This is message number four on that subject, so far based som. God allows satan to torment job to test this bold claim, but he forbids satan to take job s life in the process. March 18, 2014 commentary the mysterious bible club. His image and story have evolved over the years, but.
Is he the devil, the source of all temptation and evil who shows up later in the judeochristian tradition. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause. Satan being spoken of, and a lot of other details that clear up a lot of misleading christianity based information regarding the book of. What happened with the devil, and is satan a title or a.
As you well know, we are studying now the origin of sin and its impact. In the text, job is a righteous man favored by yahweh. One of the books they considered was the book of job, and i contend that there must have been some powerful arguments voiced against including it in the canon. It was orchestrated by god to show billions of people, who would read and hear about this account throughout the ages, that satan can do nothing without gods authorization and consent. God permits satan to abuse job to experiment with this brazen claim, but he forbids satan to take job s life in the manner. The dialogue between god and satan about job was, by no means, a friendly conversation. The book of job 3 the book of job introduction to the book the book of job has long been praised as a masterpiece of literature. Similarly, the book of job does not mention reward and punishment in the afterlife. These things, however, satan begrudged job, so he destroyed his sheep and camels and herds by fire, or had them taken by marauders. The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that joba particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away.
The jobian god is an amoral, cosmic deity, beyond good and evil, totally unconcerned with the human condition and principles of ethics, morality and justice. What is the difference between hasatan, luficer and the serpent. Satan dares god that, if given the approval to inflict suffering, job will change and curse god. Here in the book of job the answer to that question is no. In job, he is one of the sons of god, and hes called hasatan, which translates as the accuser. Actually, it doesnt say literally that job would curse god in the original language. The prologue, which consists of the books first two chapters, is believed to have been based on an older folktale in which a wager is made between yahweh and satan. Oct 19, 2015 in this weeks sermon, the historical dating and literary criticism is commented on in the beginning. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. This is not simply a satan, an adversary, or some discontent human person. Once the re fusal to answer the second question is recognized, the integrity of the book can be preserved.
Lo and behold, satan comes out and challenges god on jobs goodness. The book of job in the hebrew bible was crafted to address human suffering and why bad things happen to good people. That is the primary role of satan in the old testament. Satan, after having first attempted, in the guise of a beggar, to get job into his power, but without success, secured from god permission comp. Apparently, at that time, quite a few jews did believe in samael ha satan, an entity more like the christian satan than like ha satan of the book of job. Oct 04, 2009 as is often pointed out, satan here is not so much a name as it is an office or function. God brags to satan about job s virtue, but satan contends that job is only righteous because god has favored him generously. The ha satan is seen as one of the earliest prototypes for the christian satan, as these stories of ha satan could be where this entity known as satan may have got its adversarial nature from. To properly resist satan we must be knowledgeable of h i m and the threat he poses to us. Having satan do the dirty work is a very greekmythology thing to doyou know, let a demigod do the dirty work, then assert your dominance anyway. Aug 23, 2011 job would, if he knew the plot hatched in heaven against him, consider satan the worst sort of enemy. What i would like to do here is briefly outline for you what some of the arguments might have been against including the book of job.
The book of job is a canonical work in both christian and jewish liturgy. Zeitlin, in contrast, repudiates the message for the following reasons. For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing god and turning away from evil. This to me is the overriding teaching of the book of job. In the story, job, a man of faith, is tested by god through various horrible afflictions. Mar 18, 2014 either way, we are not told in the book of job how ha satan got his title but we can read the incredibly hateful things ha satan said concerning job and god. Satan contends that no one serves yahweh except for selfish reasons, but yahweh disagrees and presents job, a righteous man who fears god and shuns evil, as an example to counter satans claim.
If satan can get job to believe he is being punished by god, job may be caught in either of two snares. If anything, job s satan is most similar to the satan of the book of zechariah, written in the early second temple period, which may indicate that job was written during the same period the late 6th century bce or the early 5th bce. Job proves faithful to god in prosperity and in adversity. For the rest of the lesson, the role of satan in the book of job is covered. In the book of job, how was it possible for god and satan to. God boasts to satan about job s goodness, but satan argues that job is only good because god has blessed him abundantly. The book of job especially is helpful in enlightening us about satan and his workings. Years later, in the book of the revelation, the apostle john wrote about a future day when satan will be kicked out. So as far as the book of job is concerned, there was indeed a designated angel whos job it was to accuse or oppose. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. Interpretations of this profoundly odd book are as many as the centuries of commentary it has undergone, but it is arguably one of the most beautifullywritten books of the bible even the most secular of literary scholars still. His name is not actually a name, but a title in hebrew. In the hebrew of job, this is clear in that satan always includes a definite article, ha satan, the satan. The book of job god did not give satan power biblebro.
An outline study of what the bible says about satan or. Analysis this is a key passage for setting the stage for all that follows. But the odious judgments made by his friends caution us against making toocertain application of any model to our own lives. Feb 02, 20 satan, in the ot, is nothing more than an angel of god. God takes the bet and sends hasatan to do his worst.
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