Reading Job

A Literary and Theological Commentary

By: James L. Crenshaw

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

At issue in the Book of Job is a question with which most all of us struggle at some point in life, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

James Crenshaw has devoted his life to studying the disturbing matter of theodicy—divine justice—that troubles many people of faith. Few individuals come from reading Job unmoved. If they seek answers, they likely will be disappointed. And, many find the depiction of God troubling. If God were merely to meet our expectations, the Creator would hardly be anything more than our own projections into the heavens. Perhaps the ancient poet serves readers best by starkly portraying the brutal reality that life and this world are not fair, and that justice is a human project.

Praise for Reading Job

"Like Matthew Arnold in 'Dover Beach,' Bertrand Russell in 'A Free Man's Worship,' and Archibald MacLeish's J.B., James Crenshaw's Job finds solace for his integrity, not in a god who answers to human trust, but in human solidarity in the face of a cruel world. This book about Job is itself a Joban cry." —J. Gerald Janzen, author of At the Scent of Water: The Ground of Hope in the Book of Job

James Crenshaw is the preeminent interpreter of biblical wisdom in this generation. His work is distinguished by his deep existential concern, especially on the subject of theodicy, which is at the heart of the book of Job. This is a work not only of exegesis, but of biblical theology in the best sense." —John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament, Yale University

"Excellent commentaries on Job abound; Jim Crenshaw's 'reading' of Job adds to the list and raises the bar. If contemporary readers wish to enter fully into Job's world—his irreparable losses, his relentless questions about the moral order of the universe God has created—they can find no better guide for the journey than a commentator whose expertise, artfulness, and eloquence are acutely attuned to the admonitions of Shakespeare's King Lear: 'If thou wiltweep my fortunes, take my eyes.' Crenshaw has read, felt, and immersed himself in Job's fortunes with eyes and heart chastened by a world overfull with inexplicable suffering that continues to claw at the heavens—Joban-like—for justice." —Samuel E. Balentine, Professor of Old Testament, Union Presbyterian Seminary

"James Crenshaw, one of the foremost scholars of wisdom literature, brings more than forty years of scholarship and teaching to bear on his reading of the book of Job. Respected for not only the breadth of his knowledge but also the passion with which he explores difficult theological questions of human suffering and divine justice, Crenshaw has written a commentary marked by careful exegesis and deep insight into the many perennial issues raised by the book of Job." —Carol A. Newsom, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament, Candler School of Theology, Emory University