Job is a literary masterpiece that, in dealing with the questions of retribution and suffering, rejects all traditional solutions. The setting is Uz somewhere in Edom, a famous place of wisdom. Satan, in heaven at a time before the revolt, is sent to test Job in the form of afflictions. During the time of affliction, Job is visited by three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, three voices of wisdom. Job’s response is a psalm-like lamentation. Eliphaz, the first voice of wisdom, declares that Job must have sinned. Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says “…the subject of this book is one of the oldest struggles for people of faith: Why do bad things happen to good people? This ancient story seeks to offer a kind of explanation, but not really an answer.”
Job is a literary masterpiece that, in dealing with the questions of retribution and suffering, rejects all traditional solutions. The setting is Uz somewhere in Edom, a famous place of wisdom. Satan, in heaven at a time before the revolt, is sent to test Job in the form of afflictions. During the time of affliction, Job is visited by three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, three voices of wisdom. Job’s response is a psalm-like lamentation. Eliphaz, the first voice of wisdom, declares that Job must have sinned. Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says “…the subject of this book is one of the oldest struggles for people of faith: Why do bad things happen to good people? This ancient story seeks to offer a kind of explanation, but not really an answer.”
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