1. Prologue Job 1,2
2. Dialogue Job 3-31
3. Elihu's Speech Job 32-37
4. The Words of the Almighty Job 38-41
5. Job's Response Job 42:1-6
6. Epilogue Job 42:7-17

Explanation of the Prologue Job 1,2

1. God's Testimony to Job Job 1:1-5
2. Satan's Charge against Job Job 1:1-16
3. Satan's Testing of Job Job 1:13-19
4. The Triumph of God's Grace in Job Job 1:20-22
5. The Same Experiences Repeated Job 2:1-10

Explanation of the Dialogue Job 3-31

1. The question in dispute: namely, great suffering is an evidence of great sin; Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar affirming and Job denying.
2. The dispute is carried on in a series of three acts. Each contains three arguments of the friends and as many replies by Job with the exception of the last when Zophar is silent and Job concludes the debate.
3. The denial of Job is based chiefly on two grounds.
   1. The admitted prosperity of the wicked. Job 21
   2. His own personal righteousness. Job 29-31

Explanation of Elihu's speech

1. As to its plan. - In Three Divisions
   1. He addresses Job. Job 32,33
   2. He addresses the friends. JOb 34
   3. He addresses Job Job 35-37
2. As to its purpose - refuses both parties
   • the friends for accusing Job
   • and Job for self-righteousness. Job 32:1-3
3. As to its theme. - differs from the other in maintaining that suffering is sent
   • for the good of the sufferer,
   • his correction,
   • and reformation. Job 33:27-30
4. As to its conclusion. - It ends as a whirlwind arises and out of which the Almighty speaks.

Explanation of the Words of the Almighty

1. Thus far the discussion has been confined to the mystery of evil, but God restores the balance by preserving the mystery of the good.
2. In the light of that mystery He does not explain the suffering nor solve the problem in debate but confines Himself to the revelation of His own sovereignty with the result that they are over-whelmed and Job is brought into absolute submission.

Explanation of Job's response

1. His understanding is convinced and his suffering is traced not to nature or to Satan but to God.
2. His heart is humble and he becomes
   • self-condemned
   • penitent,
   • and submissive.

Job triumphs over his critics and over his misfortune.

The title is derived from the leading person whose character and afflictions are recorded in the book.

The authorship is unknown. Various writers have been suggested: Job, Elihu, Moses etc.

The time - most likely that of the patriarchs (may come between the 11th and 12th chapters of Genesis). This view is supported by the length of Job's life. He lived 140 years after his sufferings. Job 42:16 He must have been 70 or 80 years of age when the disaster overtook him, making him 210 or 220 years old. The book must have been written before the Exodus else some mention whould have been made of Israel's experience in Egypt.

The historicity of Job is established by Ezekiel 14:20 and James 5:11 as well as the circumstantiality of the narrative. Places, numbers etc. are mentioned.

Purpose of the Book

1. To refute the devil's slander - God's people do not serve Him for temporal gain.
2. To show why the godly suffer - Their sufferings are not penal but remedial and purifying.
3. To show Job his real self.
4. To widen men's views of God's providence to who Satan's place and agency in the Divine providence. Note this:
   • personality
   • power (relation to fire and storm)
   • maliciousness
   • subordination (He can only go as far as God allows him.)
5. To show the absolute need of a revelation. The wisest and best men cannot explain God's ways. Observe that not all that is said or taught in the book is true. You must see the book as a whole to get the design.
   
   Part I Prologue 1,2 in prose
   Part II Body of the Book 3:1-42:6 in poetry
   Part III Epilogue 42:7-17 in prose
   
   Part I Prologue Job 1,2
   
   1. Job's Character Job 1:1
      1. Perfect and upright Job 1:1
      2. Feared God and eschewed evil
   2. Job's Family Job 1:2-5
      1. Their number Job 1:2
      2. Their Fellowship Job 1:4
      3. Job as father and head of the family was the priest. Job 1:5
   3. Job's wealth Job 3
      1. Sheep, cattle, etc.
      2. A very great household
      3. The greatest of the sons of the East
      
      
      The elements in his greatness were shown in the order of their importance, namely,
      
      1. moral and spiritual
      2. domestic
      3. temporal
   4. The first council in heaven Job 1:6-12.
   
   

   All angelic beings, good and evil, are compelled to report to God. God is all powerful

   1. God's first question and Satan's answer. Job 1:7
   2. God's second question and Satan's reply. Job 1:8-11
   3. God's permission Job 1:12
   5. Job in Satan's Sieve. Job 1:13-22
   
   Compare Christ's words to Peter.
   God gave permission for the experiment to be made.
   Note the stages in the process
   
   1. His oxen and servants killed by the Sabeans Job 1:14,15
   2. The fire of God consumes his sheep and his servants Job 1:16
   3. His camels carried away by the Chaldeans and his servants killed Job 1:17
   4. His sons and daughters killed Job 1:18,19
   Note Job's behavior. Job 1:10-22
   
   6. The Second Council in heaven Job 2:1-6
   1. God's first question and Satan's answer Job 2:2
   2. God's second question and Satan's reply Job 2:3-5
   3. God's permissive limitations Job 2:6
   7. Job again in Satan's sieve Job 2:7-10
   
   

   In this second trial Job's person is most sorely afflicted. Added to this is the subtle attack of his wife's sympathetic love. Let not a stone of reproach be hurled at her. Seeing the one she loved afflicted she spoke in the way she did. Satan used her misguided love to intensify Job's trial. This counsel from any other source would not have carried much weight. Gis reply to her expresses his loyalty to God as above natural affection. True wisdom is willing to receive affliction at the hand of God as well as ease and blessing.

   Satan passes now from view. and his friends were ignorant of this controversy in heaven concerning him. We can see much the same enactments concerning us taking place in heaven.

   8. Job visited by three friends Job 2:11-13

   Perhaps a considerable interval of time elapsed but no relief came. Job withdrew from his home to the ash heap outside the villiage. News of his suffering was carried to his friends in the countries where they resided. Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar.

   1. They came by agreement. Job 2:11
   2. They showed their sympathy. Job 2:12
   3. Their seven days of silence Job 2:13
   
   
   Part II The Body of the Book Job 3:1-42:6
   
   
   1. Job bemoans his misery Job 3
   
   It is a good thing to pour out our griefs, to express even the questionings of our heart. To brood over them is frequently fatal.
   
   1. He curses, not God, but the day of his birth. Job 3:1-10
      

      He laments it as a day of evil. This expression is the ground work of the arguments to follow.

   2. He laments his continued existence. Job 3:11-26
   
   The fact of his birth he could not excape. Why then was he permitted to live? Better to have died in infancy. Then he would have quietly slept with kings. etc. In the grave all are free from the sorrows and trials of life.
   
   2. The debate or controversy between Job and his friends. Job 4-31
   consists of three cycles of speeches.
   The First Cycle of Speeches. Job 4-14
   1. The speech of Eliphaz Job 4,5
   1. Introductory Job 4:1-6
   
   Job had been a help to others, now his turn has come. He is instructed to practice what he preached.
   
   2. The foundation of his reasoning. Job 4:7-5:4.
   1. Relation between sin and suffering. Job 4:7.
   2. illustration Job 4:8-11
   3. His right to speak - the night vision.
   4. challenge to Job. Job 5:1-5.
   5. the summary of his argument. Job 5:6,7
   3. Advise given Job 5:8-27
   1. commit cause to God.
   2. despise not God's chastening. Job 5:17-26
   3. conclusion Job 5:27
   2. Job's reply to Eliphaz Job 6,7
   1. Reply to his charge Job 6:1-13
   
   He seemingly admits that his grief has been intemperately expressed; yet defends himself by showing howgreat are his calamities. He desires death.
   
   2. Reply to his friends. Job 6:14-30
   
   Job expresses severe disappointment. reminds them that they were not there at his bidding. Accuses them of cruelty.
   
   3. Job appeals to God. Job 7:1-21
   1. Describes the miseries of his life. Job 7:1-10
   
   It is toil under compulsion. Suffering without relief.
   
   2. His appeal Job 7:11-21
   • On the ground of his harmlessness. Job 7:12-15
   • On the ground of his littleness. Job 7:16-19
   • His supposition of sin. Job 7:20-21
   3. Bildad's first speach Job 8
   
   Bildad takes up the argument of Eliphaz and pushes it with even greater rigor even to the extent of accusing Job of being a hypocrite.
   
   1. He declares that God is never unjust. Job 8:1-7
   1. Challenge Job 8:2,3
   2. Application Job 8:4-7
   
   In this he gives the meaning of the death of Job's children and the Divine silence.
   
   2. The wicked are always punished. Job 8:8-22
   
   In a sense this is true, but Bildad was ignorant. He was a traditionalist.
   
   4. Job's reply to Bildad. Job 9,10
   1. His response to Bildad Job 9
   1. His admission Job 9:2
   2. His question Job 9:3
   3. His argument Job 9:4-35
   • God Job 9:4-14
   • wise
   • mighty
   • powerful
   • invisible
   • invincible
   • Job Job 9:15-35
   • hopeless
   • helpless
   • without a daysman (advocate)
   • His appeal to God Job 10
   
   Does God delight in what He is doing?
   Is His vision faulty?
   Is God afraid that Job will get away?
   
6. Zophar's first speech Job 11

Zophar takes up the arguments of the former two and pushes them with even greater severity.

1. He first rebukes Job and affirms that if God were to speak. Job would see that his iniquity exceeded his suffering. He makes Job not only a hypocrite but a liar.
   
2. He says that God is unsearchable and administers judgment on the basis of His knowledge. Job 11:7-12
7. Job's reply to Zophar Job 12-14

This reply was to the whole argument of his friends rather than to Zophar's application of it. It is in three parts:

1. As to his friends Job 12:1-6
1. He rebukes them. Job 12:1-6
2. Considers their claim to knowledge Job 12:7-25
• He shows that God is evident in nature
• He shows that God is evident in experience. Job 12:11,12
• He shows that God is working in the natural world. Job 12:13-15
• He shows that God is with those in high rank. Job 12:16-22
• He shows that God is with nations. Job 12:23-25
2. As to himself Job 13:1-19
1. Intends to appeal to God Job 13:1-3
2. Warning to his friends Job 13:4-13
• speeks contemptously Job 13:4,5
• impeaches them Job 13:6-11
• dismisses their argument Job 13:12,13
3. His appeal to God Job 13:20-14:22
1. What are my iniquities? Job 13:20-28
2. Transitoriness of man's life. Job 14:1-6
3. The endlessness of man's end Job 14:7-12
4. The hopeful question Job 14:13-15
5. Present conditions contrasted Job 14:16-22



8. Second Cycle of Speeches Job 15-21
1. The speech of Eliphaz Job 15

He renews his argument on pratically the same line as before and accuses Job of impiety for justifying himself.

1. sternly rebukes Job Job 15:1-16
1. For his manner Job 15:1-6
• unprofitable talk Job 15:1-3
• irreverence Job 15:4-6
2. For his claim to wisdom Job 15:7-11
3. For his attitude toward God Job 15:12-16
2. A new statement of his philosophy Job 15:17-35

The wicked are in trouble proved by testimony from antiquity.

2. Job's reply to Eliphaz Job 16,17


• In his reply he complains of the increasing unkindness of his friends,
• protests his innocency,
• and looks for deliverance in death.
3. The speech of Bildad Job 18
   
   • He goes over his former argument with increasing bitterness
   • and argues that Job's sufferings are justly inflicted upon him.
4. Job's reply to Bildad Job 19
He appealed to the sympathy of his friends and from them to God expressing faith in a future resurrection.
Warns his friends to cease lest God should chastise them.

1. His rebuke to them Job 19:1-6
2. His pitiable condition - afflicted of God and forsaken of men. Job 19:7-22
3. A flash of light - his appeal to the future. Job 19:23-29
5. Speech of Zophar Job 20

He severely onsinuates that Job is a hypocrite and that God punishes only the wicked.

6. Job's reply to Zophar's speech Job 21
He carefully answerszophar's accusations and shows the fallacy of his reasoning by showing that God allows the wicked to go on in prosperity with the righteous. Both come down to the grave together.



Third Cycle of Speeches Job 22-31
1. The Speech of Eliphaz Job 22
   

   He resumes his old charge accusing Job of divers sins, insisting that utter ruin is the uniform law concerning the wicked as shown by the destruction of the world by the flood. Job 22:16

   He exhots to prayer.

2. Job's reply to eliphaz Job23,24
• He expresses his desire to plead his cause before God. Job 23
• and shows that the wicked often escape punishment in this life.
3. The speech of Bildad Job 25

He argues that all men are sinners, not one without sin, therefore Job must be a sinner.

4. Job's reply to Bildad Job 26-31

His final rejoinder

1. He reproves the harsh conduct of his friends. Job 26
2. He revindicates his conduct Job 27-29
1. Protests his innocency Job 27:1-7
2. Taunts his friends Job 27:7-23
3. Individual meditations Job 28
4. He answers the charge of Eliphaz Job 29
3. He expresses contempt for them. Job 30
4. His oath of innocence Job 31



9. Part III The Speech of Elihu Job 32-37

This is the last voice in the earthly controversy. Elihu's speech moves on a higher plane than the others. Elihu condemns all the disputants.

1. Job's friends because they found no answer to Job yet bitterly condemned him.
2. He condemns Job because he was filled with self-righteousness.
• He points out to Job the Purpose of suffering:
  • chastening Job 33:19
  • educational Job 36:15
• Elihu's speech was mainly true, but he lacked warmth or sympathy. God accuses him of darkening counsel by words. Job 38:2.



3. The controversy between Jehovah and Job ob 38:1-42:6
1. Jehovah's unveiling Job 38:1-40:2
1. Jehovah speaks from the whilwind demanding an answer from Job. Job 38:1-3
2. The Lord unveiled to Job in his relation to the universe. Job 38:4-39:30
1. in his relation to the earth. Job 38:4-18
2. in his relation to the heavens.
3. in his relation to the animals
1. Second unveiling of the Lord. Job 40:1,2
1. The Lord challenges Job. Job 40:6-41
2. Job's response. Job 40:3-5
3. The Lord again challenges Job. Job 40:6-41:34
1. Challenge as to Job's criticism
2. to exercise government Job 40:9-17
3. Illustrations Job 40:15-41:34
• Behemoth Job 40:15-24
• Leviathan, Job 41:1-34
4. Job's confession Job 42;1-6
1. As to God's knowledge Job 42:2
2. As to God's knowledge of Job. Job 43:3
3. Repentance Job 42:4-6


Part III Eplilogue - The man beyond the process Job 42:7-17



Job vindicated and his property restored

1. His friends reprimanded Job 42:7
2. The friends instructed Job 42:8,9
3. Job's prosperity Job 42:10
4. Job's friends and acquaintances come back. Job 42:11,12
5. His children restored Job 42;13-15.
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