Editing Book of Job (section)

{{short description|Book of the Bible}}
{{for|the Indian film also known as Book of Job|Iyobinte Pustakam}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Tanakh OT |Ketuvim |WP}}
[[File:POxy n3522.jpg|thumb|[[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522]]: dated to the 1st century AD, it contains part of Job 42 translated into [[Koine Greek|Greek]].]]
The '''Book of Job''' ({{IPAc-en|dʒ|oʊ|b}} {{respell|JOHB}}; {{langx|hbo|אִיּוֹב|ʾĪyyōḇ}}), or simply '''Job''', is a book found in the [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings") section of the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the first of the [[Poetic Books]] in the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Christian Bible]].{{sfn|Hartley|1988|p=3}} The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonian [[Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]] influences, indicates it was composed during the [[Persian period]] (540-330 BC), with the poet using Hebrew in a learned, literary manner.<ref>{{cite book
 | title        = Job: A New Translation
 | author-first1= Edward L. 
 | author-last1 =Greenstein
 | publisher    = Yale University Press
 | year         = 2019
 | isbn         = 9780300163766
 | page         = xxvii
 | chapter      = Introduction
 | chapter-url  = https://books.google.com/books?id=W8KmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR27
 | quote        = Determining the time and place of the book's composition is bound up with the nature of the book's language. The Hebrew prose of the frame tale, notwithstanding many classic features, shows that it was composed in the post-Babylonian era (after 540 BC). The poetic core of the book is written in a highly literate and literary Hebrew, the eccentricities and occasional clumsiness of which suggest that Hebrew was a learned and not native language of the poet. The numerous words and grammatical shadings of Aramaic spread throughout the mainly Hebrew text of Job make a setting in the Persian era (approximately 540-330) fairly certain, for it was only in that period that Aramaic became a major language throughout the Levant. The poet depends on an audience that will pick up on subtle signs of Aramaic.
}}</ref> It addresses [[Problem of evil|the problem of evil]], providing a [[theodicy]] through the experiences of the [[eponym]]ous protagonist.{{sfn|Lawson|2004|p=11}} [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] is a wealthy God-fearing man with a comfortable life and a large family. God discusses Job's piety with [[Satan]] ({{langx|hbo|הַשָּׂטָן|haśśāṭān|{{lit|the adversary}}|label=none}}). Satan rebukes God, stating that Job would turn away from God if he were to lose everything within his possession. God decides to test that theory by allowing Satan to inflict pain on Job. The rest of the book deals with Job's suffering and him successfully defending himself against his unsympathetic friends, whom God admonishes, and God's sovereignty over nature.