Job 1:1

Ch. Job_1:1-3. Jobs name and abode; his piety, and consequent family felicity and worldly
prosperity
1. the land of Uz] This word occurs several times in the Old Testament: (1) as the name of a son
of Aram, Gen_10:23; (2) as the name of the eldest son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham,
Gen_22:21; and (3) as that of a descendant of Seir, Gen_36:28. These references would point
either to Syria on the north-east of Palestine or to the region of Edom, further south. From the
Book itself we learn that Jobs flocks were exposed on the east to inroads on the part of the
Chaldeans, the tribes between Syria and the Euphrates, Job_1:17; and in another direction to
attacks from the Sabeans, Job_1:15. The most prominent man among his friends was from
Teman, which belonged to Edom, Job_2:11 (comp. Gen_36:15; Jer_49:7; Jer_49:20), and he
himself is named the greatest of all the children of the East, Job_1:3. In Lam_4:21 it is said:
Rejoice O daughter of Edom that dwellest in the land of Uz. These words do not imply that Uz is
identical with Edom, but they imply that Edomites had possession of Uz, which could not have
been the case unless the lands bordered on one another. The land of Uz, therefore, probably lay
east of Palestine and north of Edom. This general position is already assigned to it in the Sept.
which, in some verses added to the end of the Book, and embodying the tradition of the time,
says that the land of Uz lay on the borders of Edom and Arabia.
There is nothing in Scripture that defines the position of Jobs home more precisely. An
interesting tradition, as old at least as the early centuries of the Christian era, has been
investigated by Wetzstein. This tradition places the home of Job in the Nukra, the fertile
depression of Bashan at the south-east foot of Hermon. Near the town of Nawa, about 40 miles
almost due south of Damascus, a little to the west of the pilgrim route from this city to Mecca,
and about the latitude of the north end of the sea of Tiberias, there still exist a Makm, that is,
place, or tomb, and monastery of Job. Wetzstein assigns the building to the end of the third
century. See his Excursus at the end of Delitzschs Comm. on Job.
whose name was Job] The Heb. form of the name is Iyyb, which does not occur again in the
Bible. There is no play on the name or allusion to its significance in the Book. It does not seem,
therefore, to have been coined by the Author of the Poem, but probably came down to him with
other fragments of the tradition on which he worked. The way in which Ezekiel alludes to Job, in
company with other renowned names such as Noah and Daniel, seems to imply that this prophet
drew his information regarding Job from a more general source than the present Book: Though
these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it (the sinful land), they should deliver but their
own souls by their righteousness, Job_14:14. The tradition regarding Job and his sufferings
was probably well known in the East, and the name of the suffering hero was part of the
tradition. It is of little consequence, therefore, to enquire what the name means of itself. If the
word be Hebrew it might mean the assailed or persecuted, that is, by Satan (or God). In
Arabic the form of the word is Ayyb, and if derived from this dialect the name might mean the
returning, that is, penitent, or more generally, the pious. Job is several times spoken of in
the Koran. In Sur. 38:44 he is called awwb, which means ever returning to God, i. e. pious
rather than penitent, but there seems no allusion in the term to the etymology of his name, for in
the same chapter both David and Solomon receive the same epithet.
that man was perfect] The term perfect means properly complete, without defect. It does
not imply that the man was sinless, for Job never puts forward any such pretension, but that he
was a righteous man and free from specific sins such as were held to bring down the
chastisement of heaven. That he was so is the very foundation of his trial and the first principle
of the Book. Jobs perfection is affirmed in heaven: Hast thou considered my servant Job a

perfect and an upright man? Job_1:8, Job_2:3; it is understood by his wife: Dost thou still hold
fast thy perfection? Job_2:9; and it is persistently claimed for himself by Job, not only in
moments of excitement when stung by the insinuations of his friends: I am perfect, Job_9:21
(see notes), but also when the heat of the conflict is over and under the most solemn oaths: As
God liveth who hath taken away my right, I will not remove my perfection from me; my
righteousness I hold fast, Job_27:2; Job_27:5-6. The word occurs again, Job_31:6, and in
another form, Job_12:4: The just, perfect man is laughed to scorn. Even the three friends admit
Jobs perfectness in general, although they are under the impression that he must have been
guilty of some serious offences to account for his calamities, and they urge it upon Job as a
ground of confidence in his ultimate recovery: Is not thy hope the perfectness of thy ways?
Job_4:6; and again: God will not cast away a perfect man, Job_8:20. One of the objects the
writer of the Book had in view was to teach that sufferings may fall on men for reasons
unconnected with any sin on their own part; and using the history of Job for this purpose, it was
necessary that he should lay emphasis in all parts of the Book upon Jobs perfection. The term
perfect is used of Noah in the same sense: Noah, a just man, was perfect in his generation; that
is, he was righteous and exempt from the sins of his contemporaries, Gen_6:9.
feared God] Job was not only just and upright, with a high morality, he was also godfearing.
These two things are never separated in the Old Testament. For as God was the author of all the
movements in the world and human history, so right thoughts of Him and right relations to Him
lay at the foundation of all right human conduct. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom; and wisdom includes both just thinking and right conduct.