geopelia

Name:
Location: Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Born in England In New Zealand since 1955

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Job. (from nz.general)

In my view, the actual story of Job is some kind of allegorical legend.
It has sometimes been suggested that it does not belong in the Bible.
Perhaps the Apocrypha would be a better place for it.

One conclusion that can be drawn from it is that however good a man is, it
makes no difference if God wants to prove a point with Satan. Poor Job is
just a pawn in the game.
That conclusion is probably more "relevant to reality" than most pious
legends! Though the last chapter (which I suspect was added by someone
different) makes everything come out right, except that Job's original
family are still dead, along with his unfortunate camels etc.

But much of chapter 38 about the natural world and its mysteries is relevant
to reality, in my opinion.

There has been much debate over Behemoth and Leviathan, mythical rulers of
land and sea. The usual opinion seems to be that they are based on the
elephant and the whale.
Though some think they are the hippopotamus and the crocodile, in which case Job's story may have originated in Egypt.

But I am no theologian. Draw your own conclusions, as I do.