The Story of Job
The story of Job is real and not fiction for the following reasons:
1-Job is introduced as a man from the land of Uz (Job 1:1) which is a specific location in median. Many scholars believe that he may have been a contemporary of Moses and also attribute the authorship of his book to Moses.
2-The narrative gives the number of Job’s children “And seven sons and three daughters were born to him: (ch. 1:3). And it also describes some of their activities. ”and his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them” (ch. 1:4). It also shows how he interceded on their behalf. “So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed[a] God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly” (ch. 1:5).
3-This story gives detailed information about his possessions which were “seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East” (ch. 1:2). Job was compared to other people in the East which made him a well-known figure. Such specific details were not common in ancient allegorical literature.
4-The prophet Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, refers to him as a real person among the company of other real historical characters like Daniel and Noah saying, “Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God” (Ezekiel 14:14).
5-The apostle James, in the New Testament, refers to him saying, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). James here confirms that a man by the name of Job actually endured much physical pain.
These evidences provide enough support to the assertion that this story was a real story and not a parable or a fiction.
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In His service,
BibleAsk Team
