Why Does the Book of Job Apply to Everyone?

The Know

The Book of Job contains some of the most unusual language in the Old Testament.1 Many scholars have puzzled over it for many years, some trying to date it based on language, and others simply trying to understand it.2 However, the unusual language of the Book of Job, which uses words from all over the known world at the time, may be signaling to the reader that the message of Job applies to everyone, and not just the Israelites.

One indication that Job is meant to be seen as a book with universal appeal comes from the locations mentioned in the book. The very first line states, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1). Nobody is sure where Uz is, and that appears to be part of the point.3 Uz was some obscure place which was apparently not in Israel proper, meaning that the message of the book need not apply only to people who were in or from Judah, but could apply to everyone.4 Job’s friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite (Job 2:11), are also all from outside the land of Israel. Teman, where Eliphaz is from, is in Edom.5 Bildad, as a descendant of Shuah, is likely from Arabia, as Shuah is mentioned in Genesis 25:1–2 as living there. Zophar’s place of origin, Naaman, is so obscure that nobody is sure where it is, similar to Uz.6

In addition to the place names, the Book of Job’s broad appeal is also due to the text being filled with loanwords from other languages.7 One finds loanwords from Aramaic, Egyptian, Akkadian, and perhaps even Arabic language families.8 It has over eighty-five unique non-Semitic loanwords in it, not to mention non-Semitic loanwords that are used multiple times.9 There are even more loanwords from other Semitic languages like Aramaic, so many that scholars have difficulty counting them all.10 The unusual number of loanwords in Job, much higher than what appears in other biblical books, strongly suggests that the author of Job was trying to depict the Book of Job as a universal text, one that could apply to anyone, regardless of where they lived.11

The Why

Although the books of the Bible are universally applicable to people everywhere, there is a certain logic to making the universal aspects of the Book of Job explicit. Wisdom literature, the genre of the Book of Job, often depicts the world in two-dimensional terms: people who do good things are always rewarded in this life, and people who do evil are always punished in this life. Job’s friends represent this conventional two-dimensional perspective of standard wisdom literature, which is why they assume Job’s suffering was due to his wickedness. However, the Book of Job reminds readers that life is more complicated: sometimes the righteous suffer for a time, and sometimes the wicked prosper for a time. This is true of everyone, no matter where they live.

Most of the Book of Job consists of Job’s friends offering unsatisfactory explanations as to why Job is suffering, which Job refutes. However, the climax of the book involves not Job’s friends but God Himself. God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind and reminds him that He is in control, and that He understands the reason for human suffering even when humans do not understand it.

Both the language of the Book of Job and the positioning of Job and his friends as outside the main area of Israel suggest that Job’s realization while speaking with God can apply to all people. People all over the world may struggle to understand why bad things happen to good people, but no matter where a person is from, God knows them and understands the reason for their suffering.