Job

This is the twelfth in a series of biblical summaries from David Dorsey's book: The Literary Structure of the Old Testament.  This is the first in the sub-series of poetic books, covering the Book of Job.

a   prologue: Job's suffering (1:1-2:13)
     b   Job's introductory speech (3:1-26)
          c   cycle of speeches by Job and his three older friends (4:1-27:23)
               d   CENTER: poem about wisdom (28:1-28)
          c'   cycle of summation speeches by Job and his younger friend (29:1-37:24)
     b'  God's closing speech (38:1-42:6)
a'  epilogue: Job's suffering reversed (42:7-17)

The 'a' pattern shows Job's suffering and the later reversal of that suffering.  In both sections, Job's righteousness is declared.  In the first, Job's seven sons and three daughters are all killed.  In the second, Job receives seven more sons and three more daughters.  In the first, Job loses 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 donkeys.  In the second, Job's flocks are restored twofold.  In the first, three friends come to help Job.  In the second, the three friends must come to Job for help.  This illustrates Job's innocence.

The 'b' pattern links Job's speech to God's later speech.  Both speeches allude to birth, womb, offspring, counting months, day, night, light, darkness, dawn, Leviathan, clouds, freedom, captivity, life, death, awaking, and more.  While Job's speech considers his life to be a mistake, God's later speech affirms that all of life is under God's good control.

The 'c' pattern links two cycles of speeches.  Both cycles include speeches from Job focusing on his terrible suffering and innocence.  Both cycles include speeches from Job's friends, emphasizing that he suffers because he has sinned.  This shows consistently that Job's friends don't speak truly of Job.

The 'd' section is central, anticipating the divine speeches later.  As Dorsey writes, "Wisdom - the understanding of why things are the way they are (and why things like Job's suffering happen) - cannot be discovered by humans.  God alone possesses this knowledge and understanding.  For humans, whose knowledge is profoundly limited, the essence of wisdom is to trust ("fear") God, who alone knows all things.  Job and his three friends want to understand why Job is suffering; but only God knows why.  And he is worthy of Job's honest and tenacious trust." (172)