Customer Reviews

Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 17, Job 1-20 (clines), 617pp

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Don't take my word for it--you will find this commentary rightly and highly praised elsewhere, for example, Old Testament Commentary Survey.

In keeping with the WBC format, Clines engages a vast literature on the subject very thoroughly and helpfully. But you won't be reading this simply for the guidance it gives on the literature-to-date. You'll be struck by the compelling way Clines introduces us to the character of Job and his friends, by highlighting the nodal verses and hence, the tone of each passage. You will appreciate as a result that the friends are not simply two-dimensional foils for Job's speeches, but us--us insofar as the problem of suffering is not only the problem of the innocent sufferer, but the problem of how to respond to innocent suffering. What would you have said to Job--especially if you thought he was fatally wrong?

Your eyes will pop out of your head when you realize that Clines is quite right that Job is not grieving for his losses--not even the loss of his children, not even for his own physical suffering. He is by turns undone, outraged, flabbergasted, and furious that life itself makes no sense. This fact, which we-as-the-friends quite predictably miss, leads to sufferer and would-be comforters talking at cross-purposes, as so often happens in the midst of despair.

The only problem with Clines, of course, is that it took forever for him to get around to Part 2 (Job 21-37 (Word Biblical Commentary))--which still leaves us waiting with the persistence of Job ('patience' is a mistranslation) for the final chapter.

Clines commentary will prove very helpful in a study of Job. It is a detailed, verse by verse exposition, offering concluding section summaries at the end of each discourse as well.

He generally presents the most common interpretations of a passage and references those who hold to various positions. This commentary is worth picking up if even just for that purpose: He shows a good knowledge of the work that precedes his on Job. Often however, his descriptions of these positions, especially when he disagrees with them, becomes muddled and summarized to the point of becoming a strawman. Nevertheless, he references well, so it is easy to find a fair description of dissenting views.

The following are concerns that I have of Clines' exegesis: Clines' position on the time of Job's writing is in the 7th-2nd centuries BC. So he takes what is commonly viewed as a citation of Job in other OT writings, to be Job's author quoting other biblical authors. Although I have had a tough time finding clear indication of what Clines thinks of Job's belief in the afterlife, it seems to be consistent that he portrays Job as not believing His day before God would really ever occur (i.e. no afterlife). Furthermore, he takes 19:25 "I know that my Redeemer lives" and other passages traditonally ascribed to Job's wavering but existent faith in God's faithfulness and justice (and prophetic of Christ) as Job's expression of hope in himself and his cause.

Despite these significant concerns, I still recommend that you purchase this commentary for any serious study of Job. It is thorough, well documented, and offers good explanation of the commentators reasoning on the meaning of various passages.