Oh! Job was not an Israelite!
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 Jacob TomawI was just reading about Bible Reading Plans and one of them is the Bible in chronological order. As an example the description states, “Job lived sometime after the beginning of creation (Genesis 1) but before Abraham was born (Genesis 12). As a result, the Book of Job is integrated into the Book of Genesis.”
Some how this placement of Job escaped me all these years. I always assumed Job lived during the time of the judges because the theocratic government is not mentioned. However, I missed that the priests are not spoken of either or that his tribe is not given. Knowing that the story is set before Abraham makes it make a lot more sense to me.
However a bit more research at the Wikipedia shows that it is not a clear cut as this. A Christian is always wise to consult a Rabbi when it comes to the Hebrew Bible and in the case of Job the Talmud is not 100% agreed on when Job is set, placing it as early as before Abraham to late as the time of Moses . What is clear is that I was wrong and Job makes a lot more sense to me at any of the traditional Talmudic times.