Approaching Job by Andrew Zack Lewis

Abstract

Reviewed by: Approaching Job by Andrew Zack Lewis David Penchansky andrew zack lewis, Approaching Job (Cascade Companions 33; Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017). Pp. ix + 145. Paper $16.80. Lewis provides a good survey of both the content of the Book of Job and its major critical issues. Although he claims to take no sides, he usually advocates one interpretation over others. He describes his work as a "companion," not a commentary. He does not cover Job verse by verse or even pericope by pericope. He rather reflects on the book in its various parts. There is, however, a dramatic disconnect in this work between two conflicting interpretations, and L. tries unsuccessfully to maintain them both. First, he claims that God's speeches provide a key to Job's meaning. God's reflections on the natural world indicate that Job's fate pales in importance. In other places, L. emphasizes Job's persistence, honesty, and ultimate submission, which leads to his restoration. God, then, is just and will restore Job. So which is it? Does Job not matter, or is the deity obsessed with his piety? Lewis claims the Book of Job is "tidy" (pp. 45, 53), by which he means tightly structured and organized. He says, "I assume a general integrity of the book" (p. 4). He offers two entirely different ways to structure his interpretation. First, he presents Job as a narrative in which the various main characters move forward and progress to a climax. The friends grow increasingly frustrated and angry. Most importantly, Job moves from ignorance and selfishness to submission and insight. A second structure, a chiastic one, suggests that the beginning and end reflect each other, and the center is most important. These two interpretations (never reconciled) lead L. to claim that the Book of Job (though produced by multiple authors) has a single ruling genius and that the disparate parts work together to make a single statement. For L., Job is univocal (p. 105), yet he points to many untidy features. He claims, though, that Job possesses its own kind of tidiness, one that excuses the rough edges. [End Page 317] This short book, after the introduction, consists of four chapters. In the first, L. provides a sketch of every character in Job, including the minor ones that he identifies as mere plot devices. Chapter 2 (which L. advises the nonprofessional to skip) introduces the major critical problems that face every Job interpretation. In chap. 3, he explores the book's theological implications, and in chapter 4 he applies the whole to the contemporary world of suffering, poverty, and ecological degradation. Ultimately, L. blames Job for selfishness and failure to understand the nature of God's freedom (p. 100), For L., the Book of Job attacks the theological belief that God punishes all transgression and rewards piety. He argues that the book presents a free God who transcends any formula, which he says would "pigeonhole the divine action" (p. 120). At the same time, L. wants to assert that the Book of Job depicts a just God who will restore Job because of his piety, steadfastness, and repentance. L. exonerates God from responsibility for Job's suffering but ultimately gives an unsatisfactory explanation for Job's pain. This resembles God's unsatisfactory answer that he gives to Job from the tempest. David Penchansky University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN 55105 Copyright © 2018 The Catholic Biblical Association of America