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Job 42 is the 42nd (and the final) chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE.[3][4] The first part of this chapter belongs to the dialogue section of Job 32:1–42:6 and the second part is the epilogue of the book comprising Job 42:7–17.[5][6]
| Job 42 | |
|---|---|
Psalm 1 → | |
 The whole Book of Job in the Leningrad Codex (1008 C.E.) from an old fascimile edition. | |
| Book | Book of Job |
| Hebrew Bible part | Ketuvim |
| Order in the Hebrew part | 3 |
| Category | Sifrei Emet |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 18 |
The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 17 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7]
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[8]
The structure of the book is as follows:[9]
Within the structure, chapters 42 consists of two sections that are grouped separately as in the following outline:[10]
After YHWH speaks to Job (Job 38:1–40:2), Job gives a tentative response (Job 40:3–5), so YHWH continues with a second speech (40:6–41:34), including detailed descriptions of Behemoth and Leviathan, which evokes a more definite response from Job as noted in this passage (Job 42:1–6).[11] This time Job admits that he has gotten a 'more accurate understanding' about YHWH and about himself as a 'finite mortal under YHWH's authority'.[12]
Verses 2–6 has the following structure:[13]
Here Job distinguishes between the 'secondhand experience' ("my ears had heard"; "hearsay") and 'firsthand experience' ("now my eyes have seen"), which gives him a better understanding (verse 6).[17]
The prose epilogue consists of two conclusions: the first part contains YHWH's commendation of Job for speaking correctly and YHWH's rebuke of Job's three friends (verses 7–9) and second part describes the restoration of Job, a complete life with additional seven sons and three beautiful daughters along with plenty of possession, even enjoying two additional lifespans and seeing four generations of descendants until he dies 'old and full of days' (verses 10–17).[24]
Job's friends tried to protect YHWH's reputation by insisting that Job must have sinned, which is extrapolating the divine retribution principle, that reduced YHWH to a 'predictable deity' confined to a fixed formula.[26] On the other hand, despite Job's complaints about God's justice and fairness, God knows completely what in Job's heart and has evaluated Job on the basis of that perfect understanding.[26]
Bengel suggests from this wording that Job may have been among those whose bodies were raised on the occurrence of Jesus' death in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 27:52).[33]but it is written that he shall rise again with those whom the Lord raises.
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