Table Of ContentJOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENTS ERIES
213
Editors
David J.A. Clines
Philip R. Davies
Executive Editor
John Jarick
Editorial Board
Robert P. Carroll, Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, J. Cheryl Exum,
John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald,
Andrew D.H. Mayes, Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller
Sheffield Academic Press
This page intentionally left blank
A Blemished Perfection
The Book of Job in Context
Yair Hoffman
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Supplement Series 213
Copyright © 1996 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19 Kingfield Road
Sheffield SI 19AS
England
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain
by Bookcraft Ltd
Midsomer Norton, Bath
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 1-85075-583-3
Much have I learnt from my teachers,
and more from my colleagues,
but most of all from my students
Babli,Makotl0.1
—to all of them this book is devoted.
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Preface 9
Abbreviations 12
Chapter 1
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 13
1. The Understanding and Interpretation of a Literary Work 13
2. Circles of Cultural Exigency 16
3. The Work, the Artist, and the Exegete 26
Chapter 2
GENRE DISTINCTIONS 31
1. Genre and Aesthetic Judgment 31
2. Suggested Genre Classifications of the Book of Job 35
3. The Book of Job and Aristotle's Poetics 38
Chapter 3
POETIC CONVENTIONS: THE BOOK OF JOB, THE BIBLE, AND
THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST 46
1. Structural Elements in the Book of Job 46
2. The Dialogues 58
3. The Cyclical Model 69
4. Summary 75
Chapter 4
JOB AND CATALOGUE LITERATURE 84
1. The Catalogue Model in Ancient Near Eastern Literature 85
2. The Catalogue Model in Biblical Literature 92
3. Catalogues in the Book of Job 99
4. The Catalogue and the Anthology 109
8 A Blemished Perfection
Chapter 5
HARMONIZING MIMETIC DEVICES 115
1. Dialogic Continuity among the Speeches 116
2. The Moulding of the Characters 131
3. The Trial Motif 142
4. Summary 172
Chapter 6
ON THE DIFFICULT LANGUAGE OF THE BOOK OF JOB 176
1. The Data 177
2. Previously Suggested Solutions 188
3. The Proposed Solution 203
4. Irony 212
Chapter 7
ON GOD'S JUSTICE IN THE BOOK OF JOB 222
1. The Reward Equation of the Book of Job:
Terminology and Distribution 224
2. The Problem of Recompense in the Book of Job and in
the Bible 229
3. Theodicy in Mesopotamian Literature 253
Chapter 8
STRUCTURE AND MIMESIS 264
1. The Frame-Story 267
2. The Third Cycle of Debates 276
3. The Speech of Elihu, Chapters 32-37 289
4. The Speech of God, Chapters 38^1 293
5. Summary and Conclusions 298
Chapter 9
CONCLUSION 301
Appendixes 311
Bibliography 333
Index of References 347
Index of Authors 357
PREFACE
The present study is concerned with literary, theological, and linguistic
aspects of the book of Job, and its place in biblical and ancient Near
Eastern literature. It developed from my examination of the unique
features of these aspects of the book of Job and the attempt to deter-
mine whether there is any interrelation among them and, if so, of what
sort. I did not initially set out to prove any particular overall thesis.
However, during the course of my study it became increasingly clear
that the conclusions derived from the individual chapters combined into
an overall picture, to which I gave expression through the title of the
book. It was clear to me that this title needed to encompass two opposing
concepts, for only thus could it reflect the central salient feature that I
found in the book. Upon further consideration, it became clear to me
that, in order to express properly the overall conclusions which I had
reached, it was not enough merely to combine two opposites, and that
only a truly paradoxical title would accurately reflect my intention. My
conclusion was that the unique feature of the book of Job is its
blemished perfection. While this formulation may sound absurd, in
reality it is not so. Like any paradox, it seems vague and provocative. If
'blemished', then in what sense can it be 'perfect'? Yet such, to the best
of my judgment, is the book of Job. My claim that its perfection is
achieved, not in spite of its blemishes, but precisely because of them,
relates both to the figure of Job as a believer and to the literary charac-
ter of the book itself. Moreover, the phrase 'blemished perfection' also
alludes to my contention that rigid, uncompromising attachment to a
theory, to aesthetic rules whose theoretical force are universally recog-
nized, may result in an inferior work of art, whereas lack of attention to
these rules, whether deliberate or not, may actually yield a great work of
art. This principled aesthetic may also be addressed, in a slightly different
formulation, to the realm of religious faith, as it presents itself, in my
view, in the book of Job. It is my contention, therefore, that the book of
