The Beginnings
- When
- Set in the age of the patriarchs
- Written by
- Unknown
- Chapters
- 42
The big idea
A righteous man loses everything and argues with God. God answers not with an explanation but with himself, and Job is restored.
Themes
- Suffering of the innocent
- Honest prayer and lament
- The limits of human wisdom
- God’s rule over creation
Memory verse
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Key passages
- 1–2The heavenly court:and Job’s losses
- 19:25–27I know that my Redeemer lives
- 38–41The Lord answers from the whirlwind
- 42:1–6Job’s repentance
Links to other Scripture
- James 5:11The patience of Job
- Romans 11:33–36The depth of God’s wisdom
- 2 Corinthians 4:17Light affliction, weight of glory
- Psalm 73Why do the wicked prosper?
Read the text
Choose a chapter to read it here in the King James Version. Verses with a dotted underline have notes from Bible scholars. Tap one to open them.
Notes from
Chapters
King James text and the commentaries of Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Gill, Clarke, Calvin, and Keil and Delitzsch are in the public domain. Tyndale Open Study Notes are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, from tyndaleopenresources.com. Texts were reformatted for this site.
Journal prompts
Keep a journal or notebook for your study. Write your answers there, in your own words.
- Where do you see Christ in this book?
- Job’s friends had answers and Job wanted God. When you are hurting, do you go looking for explanations or for him?
- Write the prayer you would pray if you could say anything to God without worrying how it sounds.
- God answered Job with questions about creation. What does it do to you to be reminded how small your view is, and how large his?
- In one sentence, this book is about…