Job

The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

by Marvin H. Pope

Biblical commentary on the Book of Job that includes translation, introduction & notes.

Genres: Reference

501 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I don’t normally read commentaries cover to cover, I did with Marvin Pope’s on Job. It provides a great translation of Job as well as extensive notes, focusing primarily on textual and lexical issues. Job has the most textual problems of any Old Testament book. The many lexical issues arise from the poetic text, which uses many obscure Hebrew words. The lexical work examines many cognate languages when meanings are unclear, looking to Aramaic, Arabic, Akkadian, and Ugaritic, relying heavily on the work of Dahood. For textual work, it references the Masoretic Text (MT), the LXX, the Qumran Targum, and Mesopotamian parallels to uncover meanings.

What is missing from this commentary is a discussion of the rhetorical arc. The introduction provides an overview of the argument, but the commentary itself is almost exclusively focused on textual and lexical work.

The text of Job itself is remarkable. One can’t imagine the Bible without it. One could hypothetically imagine a Bible with fewer prophetic books or less overlapping history, but a Bible without the book of Job doesn’t work.

The dialogue in Job concedes nothing to any of the great Platonic dialogues. In fact, it is superior in almost every way. The poetic language is much richer than any Platonic dialogue. Additionally, rather than limiting itself to intellectual arguments, it is full of emotion. It presents a much more concrete grappling with the problem of unjust evil. Although there are Mesopotamian parallels to Job, the book itself is completely unparalleled. Nothing matches its poetic richness, complexity of thought, emotional depth, and wrestling with truth. It is the wisest of any wisdom book ever put to words.

In short, Job is an invaluable read, but this may not be the best commentary to use as a reading guide. The Word Biblical Commentary provides much more on the rhetorical arc.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not read this cover to cover. I've read the Book of Job many times, in many versions, so I went through and read some of my favorite chapters in this book.

That said, it is a very thorough translation, providing copious notes on the text, including the many corruptions. The notes were my primary reason for getting the book, and it does a fabulous (and nearly word by word) analysis of this wonderful work.

The translation itself is workmanlike. It's not particularly pretty or sweeping (like the King James Version), but it is solid and the underlying beauty is not (cannot be) lost.

For someone reading Job the first time (and everyone should read it at least once), I'd recommend the Stephen Mitchell version (sometimes called Into the Whirlwind). The Robert Alter version (The Wisdom Books) is also very thorough. But, of course, you must then read the resounding King James version.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pope provides a relatively early critical commentary of the book of Job. There are some odd positions he takes on the book, some of which I consider unjustifiable and even butchering the text at times, but there is still value here. Pope is an expert in comparative texts in the Near East and brings forth quite a few documents to help flesh out some of the references and possibilities for understanding aspects of Job.

[Ephrem Arcement · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pope is very strong on issues of syntax and translation but scanty on interpretation and commentary.

[B.G. Brainard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Old Testament commentary on the Book of Job may prove challenging for the layperson. Pope's translation work attempts to capture the poetical and metrical characteristics of the original Hebrew. When the sense of the discourse is difficult or unclear, Pope works hards to help determine the possible meaning(s) of the Masoretic Text from relevant literary resources such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Ugaritic texts, and other Semitic language texts. His notes are translation heavy with little practical application for most readers.

[Chris Waks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly grammatical/textual information about Job. Which is interesting and helpful, but most other scholars cite his best insights. So you can save yourself some money and buy those books.