The Time of Job’s Life
The Bible does not mention the exact time of Job’s life but there are several clues that reveal it:
1-Job lived after the flood. Eliphaz, one of his friend and also his accuser, gave us a clue to this fact. Eliphaz asked: “Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have trod, who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a flood?” (Job 22:16).
2-This godly man lived during the Patriarchal era because his life span was rather long and matched the life span of the patriarchal people who lived around 2200 B.C (Genesis 11:22-23). For before his trial, he had 10 adult children. And after his trial, God blessed him with 10 more children and double the riches he had before (ch. 42:10-13). The Bible states that he “lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations” (ch. 42:10-17). Thus, it seems that he lived at least 200 years or more.
3-This godly man lived before the Mosaic era because his book does not mention of the Levitical priesthood, the temple, or the Law of Moses. Like the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 8:20; 12:7-8; 31:54), he offered up sacrifices to God on behalf of his family (ch. 1:5) as the head of his clan.
4-Another indication that this godly man lived in the patriarchal era is that his riches were measured by livestock and not by money (ch. 1:3; 42:12). Later during the Mosaic era, people used coins more frequently for trading.
5-Also another pointer that he lived during the patriarchal era is that unlike the era of the Mosaic law that gave inheritance to daughters only when there were no males sons, he gave his daughters “an inheritance among their brothers” (ch. 42:15).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
