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Job (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

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The early church fathers offer a rich wealth of thought and reflection on the text of the Scriptures.

This series has established itself as essential reading. It offers a manageable overview of the thought of the Early Church Fathers.

Of course, decisions about what to provide for readers is subjective, but the Ancient Christian Commentary offers an excellent roadmap into the world of thought of the fathers of the early church.

The immense popularity and recognition of the book of Job is far from surprising considering the central themes are universal, in some way affecting ever every individual that has walked on the face of the earth. Indeed, the Gentile ethnicity of Job amongst the Hebrew Prophets makes the universality of this book all the more striking. The sudden loss of joy and certain security to be replaced with agony and the `dark night of the soul' is certainly identifiable--to a greater or lesser extent--for all men. Suffering is the human condition that acts as a uniting bond to our ancestors and future descendents.

For this reason it can be argued that the book of Job stands out from other Biblical books in that it can never be impacted or `updated` by modern scholarship to the same degree. The topic: the relationship between man, God and suffering, is essentially timeless and that is why it is the `Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture' provides such a fascinating insight for the modern reader into the book of Job.

Relying primarily upon the Church Fathers, with especially voluminous contributions from the prodigious Gregory the Great, Chrysostom and Hesychius of Jerusalem, this Commentary progresses through the chapters and verses of Job, allowing the ancient scholars to dissect and explain the text in their own manner. Other relevant sources from this era are also applied and one is able sense a genuine `feel' for how the earliest of Christians approached this difficult book. This differs strikingly from most commentaries which are usually authored by one scholar who discusses the text in a steady flow, whereas the reader of this will find a shaky flow and lack of coherence. This is no flaw in a work of this kind, as it permits the reader to compare different snippets of wisdom from various authorities on a small number of verses, as well as to stay focussed on the essential points of the text and no be distracted by the mundane tangents that abound too often in commentaries.

Overall, this is an invaluable commentary for anyone who wishes to approach the book of Job either in a scholarly fashion or merely to gain deeper appreciation for this familiar yet always distant section of Scripture.

All books of "Ancient Christian Commentary on Scriptures" series are of the most indispensible source for the serious Bible researcher.