The Writings

Abstract

The Writings OP Carol J. Dempsey, Christopher T. Begg, Steven J. Schweitzer, and CSJ Lorenzo A. Tosco 1247. [Job] Norman C. Habel, Finding Wisdom in Nature: An Eco-Wisdom Reading of the Book of Job (Earth Bible Commentary Series 4; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2014). Pp. xii + 126. $70. ISBN 978-1-909697-62-1. This volume grew out of The Earth Bible project (2000–2002) and is part of the new Earth Bible Commentary series that moves beyond a study of and focus on ecological [End Page 398] themes to a more engaging process of listening to and identifying with the Earth as both a presence and/or a voice in the biblical text. This focus on Earth includes an examination of the oppressed, suppressed, or celebrated presence of the non-human members of Earth's community. The context for the series as a whole and the Book of Job in particular is the current environmental crisis and an ecological worldview. H.'s study employs first a hermeneutic of suspicion that exposes an anthropocentric bias on the part of authors, editors, and readers, and second, a hermeneutic of empathy/identification with the Earth, in an attempt to retrieve the voice of the Earth. These principles and steps guide H.'s approach to the Book of Job as he examines the diverse relationships between ecology and wisdom in seeking to provide an ecological reading of the text that begins with the study of Job 28 and continues with other selected chapters of the book.—C.J.D. 1248. [Job] Andrew Zack Lewis, Approaching Job (Cascade Companions 33; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017). Pp. ix + 145. Paper $21. ISBN 978-1-42564-818-3. L.'s small volume provides readers with an orientation to the Book of Job and the many sorts of questions posed by it. Following an introduction, his presentation unfolds in four chapters: Content of the Book of Job; Structure and Critical Issues; Meaning in Individual Passages; and Some Theological, Pastoral, and Ethical Implications of the Book of Job. Each chapter comes with Review Questions. The volume concludes with a bibliography and indexes of names and ancient documents.—C.T.B. 1249. [Job] Victor Morla, Libro de Job: Recóndita armonía (Estella [Navarra]: EVD, 2017). Pp. 1550. €95. ISBN 978-84-9073-230-4. M. provides an extensive commentary on the Book of Job, focusing on the theological and philosophical tensions that permeate the book. With attention also to text-critical issues and variant readings, M. proceeds sequentially through the book, demonstrating the literary and theological connections across its component parts, in an effort to bring disparate material together. He concludes that the tensions present in the book are not meant to be resolved by the reader. Rather, chaos and harmony, hope and despair, faith and doubt, creation and destruction all do in fact, and perhaps must, coexist in the human understanding of the nature of reality, according to the Book of Job. A bibliography and an author index are included.—S.J.S. 1250. [Job 38:1–42:6] Chol-Gu Kang, Behemot und Leviathan: Studien zur Komposition und Theologie von Hiob 38,1–42,6 (WMANT 149; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017). Pp. xiii + 361. $75. ISBN 978-3-7887-3053-6. The segment Job 38:1–42:6 with its double discourse of Yhwh and double response by Job has long prompted puzzlement since it does not seem to "solve"—or even acknowledge—the urgent theological problems raised in what proceeds. In this 2013/2014 Tübingen dissertation (B. Janowski, director), K. seeks to provide a comprehensive treatment of the above segment in which he addresses in turn its text, translation, composition, exegesis, form- and tradition-criticism, and cosmology, theology, and anthropology. Throughout, K. stresses that in his words to Job Yhwh endeavors to move him beyond his self-focused, anthropocentric perspective that gives rise to his complaints and accusations against God by opening his eyes to the immensity of the cosmos, to the astonishing variety of its non-human [End Page 399] inhabitants, and above all to the divine wisdom, power, and solicitude displayed...