Is the story of Job from the Bible a true account, or a fable to illustrate a moral point?

Question

To be honest, I consider the Bible to be Holy and to be the truth. But I also understand that man has had some authority in altering some modicums of the 66 books from the Bible.

I must admit, I am a man who loves God intensely- but the story of Job truly perturbs me, if it is true!

Answer 1

I believe it actually happened, literally. Why does that disturb you? That God would put someone through suffering for no apparent reason? But He did have a reason - He knew He could trust Job to maintain his integrity in God in spite of suffering. So God used him to explain to all the rest of us "why bad things happen to good people" - God's love rewarded Job with twice as much in his end than he had in his beginning. And people through all ages have a glimpse of the spirit world behind their suffering. Job has been a great comfort to me in life and has helped me to endure some tremendous suffering, "until my time changed." It is one of my favorite books in the Bible.

Answer 2

Well even if you say the Bible is true, if Job is not an actual account that does not mean the Bible is untrue. It just means that your understanding of the purpose of Job maybe has changed.

Well noone can be sure. Job lived amoung the patriachs. This story has been around for a very long time in an oral tradition format. Scholars debate this but really have no strong evidence either way if it is actual story or not. And honestly for me it doesn't matter. I still learn about WHO GOD is from the story. My view of Job and the lessons and character of God does not change if the story is true or not.

And those who do say that the account is fiction, say that they believe there was a historical Job who did suffer greatly.

Answer 3

Job was not one of the seed of Abraham to whom the Kingdom promises were given, yet the record concerning his integrity does much to clarify understanding of God's Kingdom purposes. The book is an essential part of the divine record, for it reveals the fundamental issue between God and Satan, which involves man's integrity to Jehovah as his Sovereign. It shows that the angels, who were created before the earth and man, are also spectators and very much interested in this earth and the outcome of the controversy. (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-5; 38:6, 7) It indicates that the controversy existed before Job's day and that Satan is an actual spirit person. If the book of Job was written by Moses, this is the first appearance of the expression has·Sa·tan´ in the Hebrew text of the Bible, giving further identity to "the original serpent." (Job 1:6) The book also proves that God is not the cause of mankind's suffering, sickness, and death, and it explains why the righteous are persecuted, while the wicked and wickedness are permitted to continue. It shows that God is interested in pushing the issue to its final settlement.

Answer 4

The book was likely written between 450-300 BC and was intended to be fiction. It was written during literary boom period when the Jews living in Judea were relatively prosperous and before the Maccabbean struggles began. There are numerous other books similar to Job that were written during that period that are similar. They intentionally fictionalize Old Testament characters to express a point or a moral theme.

One such story was "Joseph and Asenath", left out of the Bible. It was written about the same time and tells the story of the affair Joseph had with Potiphar's wife.

The story of Job takes place in the distant past and draws upon names from Genesis to lend credibility. (The style of poetry used in Job from chapter to chapter is the same kind used after the Jews returned from Babylon--that's how you date the book.)

The use of fictionalized stories later developed into a genre of writing unique to Jews called "midrash".

Answer 5

I understand Job to be literally true, but there is the chance that I am wrong. Why does it matter? It might be a parable. Man has no authority to change, and yet he has changed a lot. That is what makes it tricky, sorting out man's garbage, from YHVH's truth. The Almighty YHVH created this world very good. Once man sinned, he could no longer meet the requirements of YHVH. Because of His great love for man, He sent His son the Savior. The Savior's name means YHVH is my Savior!--YAHOSHUA! The only way one can have his sins taken care of is to invite the Savior in to carry them. If a person chooses to remain attached to their sins, they will be consumed in the cleansing fire the Almighty will send to cleanse this world so He can make it new! How could the Almighty be more generous?

Answer 6

Most likely a cautionary tale.

The Book of Job is unique in that it offers no information with which one could date the events described. Job's ancestery is not given, nor is the reign of any king or presence of any other prophet mentioned.

There is an opinion that the story did happen and identifies Job as one of Pharoah's advisors around the time of the birth of Moses or the exodus. The other two being Bilaam and Jethro.

Answer 7

Job is, I believe, the oldest Book of the Bible. Theologeans argue this question quite a bit. I would say that it's a fable, though because it shows us events in Heaven without a mechanism to say how that info got here.

Answer 8

The story of Job is very true. Granted, its VERY disturbing. Job was a real person- Paul makes mention of him in the NT, I forgot where.

I was reading about 15 year or so ago in "Biblical Archeology Review" that they had found the entire book of Job engraved into basalt rock in BIAS RELIEF!!

OK, what this means is they used a rock that is almost as hard as diamond,,,and instead of engraving the letters of the book INTO the rock, they chipped away all the rock so the letters were raised ABOVE the background of the rock.

Think about that. To raise each letter, using hand tools, in a substance thats almost as hard as diamond.

Only the most important information was ever inscribed this way, as it was considered to be a very special way of doing it

Answer 9

we believe the bible to be the word of god as far as it is translated correctly. So, there can be mistakes in the bible. Read it with a full heart and faith and the truth will be made known unto you. And James 1:5 says, if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god, that giveth to man liberally and upbraideth not. That means ask the Lord if it is the truth he will let you know

Answer 10

I've heard this arguement come up over and over again. It doesn't matter. The point of the story is the same either way.

If somebody goofed up in the Garden of Eden, how would it matter if the snake was a Copperhead or a Sidewinder?

Christians fight about the dumbest things. We should worry about what's important instead of pumping up our ego and looking for recognition by winning debates. That's not why scripture was written.