Now My Eyes Have Seen You : Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job

by Fyall, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780830826124
• ISBN10: 0830826122
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Ivp Academic

Summary

'Now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5)Few biblical texts are more daunting, and yet more fascinating, than the book of Job--and few have been the subject of such diverse interpretation.For Robert Fyall, the mystery of God's ways and the appalling evil and suffering in the world are at the heart of Job's significant contribution to the canon of Scripture. This study offers a holistic reading of Job, with particular reference to its depiction of creation and evil, and finds significant clues to its meaning in the striking imagery it uses.Fyall takes seriously the literary and artistic integrity of the book of Job, as well as its theological profundity. He concludes that it is not so much about sufferingper seas about creation, providence and knowing God, and how--in the crucible of suffering--these are to be understood. He encourages us to listen to this remarkable literature, to be moved by it, and to see its progress from shrieking protest to repentence and vision.

Author Biography

Robert Fyall teaches Old Testament Studies and Hebrew at St. John's College, Durham, and is a Church of Scotland minister.

Table of Contents

Series preface	9	(2)
Author's preface	11	(2)
Abbreviations	13	(4)
Speaking what is right	17	(14)
The scope of this study	17	(1)
The approach taken	18	(1)
Is it a unitary work?	18	(3)
Varied readings of Job 21	21	(2)
The literary genre of Job 23	23	(1)
The poet's use of imagery	24	(2)
Myth and theology	26	(2)
The shape of this study	28	(3)
An advocate in heaven?	31	(26)
The prose tale	34	(5)
Job 9:32-35	39	(2)
Job 16:18-22	41	(3)
Job 19:20-27	44	(8)
The third speech-cycle (chs. 22 - 31)	52	(1)
The Elihu speeches (chs. 32 - 37)	53	(1)
God and Job (38:1 - 42:6)	53	(1)
The epilogue (42:7-16)	54	(1)
General comments	54	(3)
The tragic Creator	57	(26)
`He also made the stars'	58	(4)
The tree of life	62	(3)
`Where can wisdom be found'	65	(8)
`The world is charged with the grandeur of God' (chs. 38 - 39)	73	(10)
The raging sea	83	(18)
Job 3:8	84	(1)
Job 7:12	85	(1)
Job 9	86	(3)
Job 26	89	(1)
Job 28	90	(2)
Job 38	92	(6)
The sea stories in the gospels	98	(3)
The shadowlands	101	(16)
The significance of Job 3	102	(1)
The womb of the earth	103	(2)
The vast reaches of the underworld	105	(7)
The powers of darkness	112	(5)
Yahweh, Mot and Behemoth	117	(22)
God as tormentor	117	(8)
How the images relate to each other	125	(1)
The figure of Behemoth	126	(13)
The ancient prince of hell	139	(18)
The scope of the study	139	(2)
A note on the prose tale	141	(1)
The significance of chapter 3	141	(4)
The significance of the rest of the poetic dialogue	145	(8)
The Elihu speech	153	(4)
Drawing out Leviathan	157	(18)
The challenge (40:25-32; Eng. 41:1-8)	158	(1)
Overwhelming fear (41:1-4; Eng. 41:9-12)	159	(3)
Description of the monster (41:5-21; Eng. 41:13-29)	162	(5)
His habitat (41:22-26; Eng. 41:31-34)	167	(1)
The other Leviathan passages	168	(4)
General comments	172	(3)
The vision glorious	175	(16)
Structure	175	(2)
Theological issues	177	(7)
Job and biblical theology	184	(7)
Appendix: Job and Canaanite myth	191	(4)
The significance of Ugarit for Old Testament studies	191	(1)
The relevance of the Baal sagas	192	(2)
Theological significance	194	(1)
Bibliography	195	(7)
Index of modern authors	202	(2)
Index of Scripture references	204	(4)
Index of ancient sources	208