Job

New American Bible Commentary, Old Testament Set #11

by Robert L. Alden

THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is for the minister or Bible student who wants to understand and expound the Scriptures. Notable features include:* commentary based on THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION;* the NIV text printed in the body of the commentary;* sound scholarly methodology that reflects capable research in the original languages;* interpretation that emphasizes the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole;* readable and applicable exposition.

Genres: Biblical Studies

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

ROBERT L. ALDEN (A.B., Barrington College; B.D., Westminister Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion) was professor of Old Testament at Denver Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary. He taught a wide range of courses related to Old Testament studies and traveled extensively in Israel.

Reviews

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s one of the most conservative, pastor friendly commentaries available on the book of Job today. It’s in the economical New American Commentary (NAC) series. It’s wonderful to read a commentary that approaches the text in such a reverent, believing way. That’s exactly the way Robert Alden discusses the Book of Job here.

He provides a thoughtful Introduction much more geared toward the pastor than the scholar. He begins by discussing structure and explains how the scholarly world is in more agreement than is usual in the area of structure with most biblical books. He surveys the issues that help decide the dating of the book of Job and arrives at a conservative, older dating. In discussing authorship, he boldly speaks for the full inspiration of Scripture (believe it or not, that is rather rare today). Next, he tackles geography and culture followed by canonicity. He ends his Introduction with a helpful overview of literary style, theology, and purpose.

The commentary proper provides the kind of help that pastors and teachers are looking for. For the record, some scholarly reviews have not been that high on this volume, but that has nothing to do with anything other than Mr. Alden not being obsessed with esoteric scholarly minutia. Words, geography, obscure statements, as well as theology are all brought out clearly. If your goal is to explain the text, I believe you will greatly appreciate this commentary. In the category of a commentary for pastors or teachers, I’d have to say that this volume is as good as any out there today. For the money, this is a must-buy.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is obviously a Calvinist and this taints the commentary in several places. While the authors scholarship is evident, I disagree with many of his comments.

[Bret James Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This commentary is based upon the NIV version of the Bible. It is as good as most commentaries on the market. As commentaries provide additional detail and comments about the text, it is recommended that more than one commentary be used when studying biblical material. Each author is going to have his own focus and presuppositions such as denominational stances that will impact the premises made. This particular commentary deals with each individual verse of Job, which seems somewhat unusual as most of the commentaries I have read deal with thought units or segments of the book in question. Alden’s verse-by-verse approach might be slightly superior to the other method as each verse receives treatment rather than being passed over or addressed as part of a selection of related verses.

The commentary assumes that this reference book will be used in teaching and preaching, so it is slanted toward this purpose. The book focuses upon the unity of the individual books of the Bible as well as the canon as a whole, which results in the author demonstrating the same. Further, the book is constructed with a conservative exegetical style with an evangelical and applicational bent.

My litmus test for any author dealing with Job is chapters 40-41 regarding behemoth and leviathan. Alden handles these troubling descriptions well, essentially admitting that the exact identities of the animals cannot be deduced from the text, which is probably the best way to treat the material without speculating; I feel this approach is ideal for a general commentary. I like this commentary. The only thing I would have preferred was it be based upon the KJV, though I understand and the choices behind utilizing the NIV. I highly recommend this commentary. I will be reading more of the series.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This commentary was hit or miss for me. The commentary includes great insights on the Hebrew behind our English translations of Job, and its a great resource for understanding linguistic and textual concerns. However, the commentary skims over many crucial details, and avoids larger critical questions that come from a text like Job. I also thought the treatment of 19:25-27 and 42:10-15 were severely lacking. I do appreciate the author referring to Satan as "the Satan" within the text of Job, instead of forcing many New Testament concepts about the devil onto "the Satan" figure within Job. Overall this is a good commentary to use if you want to get a better understanding of the Hebrew text of Job, but its not worth much else for pastoral and/or scholarly usage. Get a more in-depth commentary for either of those uses.

[Vanjr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good, moderate sized commentary on the book of Job from a conservative/Baptist tradition. I recommend it.

[David Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative