Hebrew Bible/OT Commentaries: Job

"This third edition of the Anchor Bible Book Of Job (Volume 15 in the series) contains numerous new, revised or augmented notes. Of special interest is the inclusion of readings from the earliest translation of the Book Of Job, the recently published Targum (Aramaic translation) recovered from Cave XI of Khirbet Qumran, in the Judean Wilderness near the Dead Sea, perhaps the version which was suppressed by Rabbi Gamaliel. The Book Of Job is one of the indisputably great works of world literature. The story is well-known: a prosperous and happy man, distinguished for rectitude and piety, falls victim to a series of catastrophes. And the occasion (if not the reason) for these undeserved calamities: Satan's challenge to Yahweh to test the sincerity of Job's faith. It is by now proverbial to refer to the patience of Job. Yet this traditional image derives only from the Prologue and the Epilogue of the book. But the Job who confronts us in the long middle section is anything but patient. His outcries against God raise the question of theodicy, or divine justice, which occupies the greater portion of Job's Dialogue with his comforters. But it is inevitably as literature that Job must be read and enjoyed. This translation is marked by a concerted effort to capture as much as possible the poetic and metrical characteristics of the original Hebrew: the result is a version notable for its accuracy and directness. The experience of reading the Book Of Job in this translation, then, is to rediscover an exceedingly eloquent masterpiece. In the terse, rhythmic quality of the translation, the incisive comprehensiveness of the introduction and notes, Job maintains the high standard of scholarship, literateness, and readability established in The Anchor Bible." - Yale University Press

"This commentary on Job follows in the tradition of the NICOT series by providing an up-to-date evangelical commentary based on thorough scholarship. John E. Hartley deals carefully with this book whose language, text, and theology are not only among the most intriguing in the Old Testament but also among the most difficult to grasp. Hartley begins with a thorough introduction that treats matters of title and place in the canon, text, language, parallel literature in the ancient Near East and Old Testament, author, date, literary features, poetry, structure and genres, and message. In the commentary proper, Hartley uses his knowledge of the cognate ancient Near Eastern languages and displays extensive research in offering a detailed, verse-by-verse exposition that relates each section of the text to the overall message of the book." - Logos

"Learn how every element of Job is an essential element in the weaving of a literary and theological masterpiece. Examine the enigmatic origins and context of Job, its textual tradition, its complex structural relationships, and keys to its elegant poetry. This volume never loses sight of the big picture or the details. It constantly surveys the progress of Job, unravels the identity of its characters, and attempts to identify the distinctive viewpoints of the book’s speakers. The textual notes, which center on explaining why the English versions of Job differ so amazingly from one another, support the author's carefully worded translation." - Logos

"For over one hundred years, the International Critical Commentary series has held a special place among works on the Bible. It has sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis—linguistic and textual no less than archaeological, historical, literary and theological—with a level of comprehension and quality of scholarship unmatched by any other series." - T & T Clark