Job 1:1

Job 1:1-3. Job's name and abode; his piety, and consequent family felicity and worldly prosperity

1. the land of Uz This word occurs several times in the Old Testament: (1) as the name of a son of Aram, Genesis 10:23; (2) as the name of the eldest son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, Genesis 22:21; and (3) as that of a descendant of Seir, Genesis 36:28. These references would point either to Syria on the north-east of Palestine or to the region of Edom, further south. From the Book itself we learn that Job's flocks were exposed on the east to inroads on the part of the Chaldeans, the tribes between Syria and the Euphrates, Job 1:17; and in another direction to attacks from the Sabeans, Job 1:15. The most prominent man among his friends was from Teman, which belonged to Edom, Job 2:11 (comp. Genesis 36:15; Jeremiah 49:7; Jeremiah 49:20), and he himself is named the greatest of all the children of the East, Job 1:3. In Lamentations 4:21 it is said: Rejoice O daughter of Edom that dwellest in the land of Uz. These words do not imply that Uz is identical with Edom, but they imply that Edomites had possession of Uz, which could not have been the case unless the lands bordered on one another. The land of Uz, therefore, probably lay east of Palestine and north of Edom. This general position is already assigned to it in the Sept. which, in some verses added to the end of the Book, and embodying the tradition of the time, says that the land of Uz lay "on the borders of Edom and Arabia."

There is nothing in Scripture that defines the position of Job's home more precisely. An interesting tradition, as old at least as the early centuries of the Christian era, has been investigated by Wetzstein. This tradition places the home of Job in the Nukra, the fertile depression of Bashan at the south-east foot of Hermon. Near the town of Nawa, about 40 miles almost due south of Damascus, a little to the west of the pilgrim route from this city to Mecca, and about the latitude of the north end of the sea of Tiberias, there still exist a Makâm, that is, place, or tomb, and monastery of Job. Wetzstein assigns the building to the end of the third century. See his Excursus at the end of Delitzsch's Comm. on Job.

whose name was Job The Heb. form of the name is Iyyôb, which does not occur again in the Bible. There is no play on the name or allusion to its significance in the Book. It does not seem, therefore, to have been coined by the Author of the Poem, but probably came down to him with other fragments of the tradition on which he worked. The way in which Ezekiel alludes to Job, in company with other renowned names such as Noah and Daniel, seems to imply that this prophet drew his information regarding Job from a more general source than the present Book: "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it (the sinful land), they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness," Job 14:14. The tradition regarding Job and his sufferings was probably well known in the East, and the name of the suffering hero was part of the tradition. It is of little consequence, therefore, to enquire what the name means of itself. If the word be Hebrew it might mean the "assailed" or "persecuted," that is, by Satan (or God). In Arabic the form of the word is Ayyûb, and if derived from this dialect the name might mean the "returning," that is, penitent, or more generally, the "pious." Job is several times spoken of in the Kor'an. In Sur. 38:44 he is called awwâb, which means "ever returning to God," i. e. pious rather than penitent, but there seems no allusion in the term to the etymology of his name, for in the same chapter both David and Solomon receive the same epithet.

that man was perfect The term "perfect" means properly "complete," without defect. It does not imply that the man was sinless, for Job never puts forward any such pretension, but that he was a righteous man and free from specific sins such as were held to bring down the chastisement of heaven. That he was so is the very foundation of his trial and the first principle of the Book. Job's "perfection" is affirmed in heaven: "Hast thou considered my servant Job … a perfect and an upright man?" Job 1:8; Job 2:3; it is understood by his wife: Dost thou still hold fast thy perfection? Job 2:9; and it is persistently claimed for himself by Job, not only in moments of excitement when stung by the insinuations of his friends: I amperfect, Job 9:21 (see notes), but also when the heat of the conflict is over and under the most solemn oaths: As God liveth who hath taken away my right, … I will not remove my perfection from me; my righteousness I hold fast, Job 27:2; Job 27:5-6. The word occurs again, Job 31:6, and in another form, Job 12:4: The just, perfect man is laughed to scorn. Even the three friends admit Job's perfectness in general, although they are under the impression that he must have been guilty of some serious offences to account for his calamities, and they urge it upon Job as a ground of confidence in his ultimate recovery: Is not thy hope the perfectness of thy ways? Job 4:6; and again: "God will not cast away a perfect man," Job 8:20. One of the objects the writer of the Book had in view was to teach that sufferings may fall on men for reasons unconnected with any sin on their own part; and using the history of Job for this purpose, it was necessary that he should lay emphasis in all parts of the Book upon Job's perfection. The term "perfect" is used of Noah in the same sense: Noah, a just man, was perfect in his generation; that is, he was righteous and exempt from the sins of his contemporaries, Genesis 6:9.

feared God Job was not only just and upright, with a high morality, he was also godfearing. These two things are never separated in the Old Testament. For as God was the author of all the movements in the world and human history, so right thoughts of Him and right relations to Him lay at the foundation of all right human conduct. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and wisdom includes both just thinking and right conduct.