Job

Tyndale Old Testament Commentary #14

by Francis I. Andersen

"The Old Testament book about Job is one of the supreme offerings of the human mind to the living God and one of the best gifts of God to men," writes Francis Andersen. "The task of understanding it is as rewarding as it is strenuous. . . . One is constantly amazed at its audacious theology and at the magnitude of its intellectual achievement. Job is a prodigious book in the vast range of its ideas, in its broad coverage of human experience, in the intensity of its passion, in the immensity of its concept of God, and not least in its superb literary craftsmanship. . . . From one man's agony it reaches out to the mystery of God, beyond words and explanations."

Genres: Reference, Old Testament, Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian, Nonfiction, Religion

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[James Tetley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful guide to the book of Job. The discussions concerning the complexity of the Hebrew were helpful. The big picture of the book and the commentator is that even when the world may seem to be falling apart 1/ This does not necessarily mean you are 'sinning' 2/ God is in control of every element of your life. The authors point that Job is yearning for Gods intimate friendship and never once asks God to remove his problems is an insightful one. This is the reason why the Lord appears in the theophany at the end of the book is so crucial. In those dark times the friendship of God is most needed, and not the condemnation of 4 judge mental friends. Anderson does a good job in navigating the reade through the terrains of the book with relevant pastoral insights to those caring for lesser 'Jobs'.

[Addison S · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was alright. I feel like this book was written for other Bible commentators though and not normal Christian’s😅 I had to look up more words in this commentary than I had to in Bible reading. Other than the fact that the author used way too many scholarly terms, I really enjoyed his insight into the book of Job! It was very helpful in answering my questions about this book of the Bible.

[Caleb M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐ overall

This was tough for me. Not because it was bad but because I think it's above my pay grade right now. Like I'm just not smart enough to gather all the information into my brain this way.

With that being said I did learn a lot by reading this and it certainly wasn't a waste of time. I find the book of Job fascinating and being able to go through some of this stuff and gleam a little more information did have it's benefits. But I have read commentaries that are a little easier to follow and understand.

For the book smart and the deeply analytical. That's who I'd say this is for.

[Sagely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andersen's Job commentary surprised me. I picked up a handful of Tyndale OT Commentaries from a local thrift shop. When the Season of Creation directed me to Job, I was glad to have a Job commentary on my shelf. But, honestly, I didn't expect much from it.

I was pleasantly surprised to find more meat in Andersen's commentary than I'd expected. Andersen engages with both the theological as well as the textual difficulties of the text. This is not a simplisitic preacher's commentary, repeating trite and overworn interpretations. No, Andersen digs in.

That said, he opts for a few odd interpretations now and again. (Something about Job seems to bring everybody's crazy out.)

On the whole, however, this is a bargain commentary on Job. Glad to have it on the shelf.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pity the commentator on Job. The book is packed with Hebrew words that are used nowhere else in the Bible, so it's often very difficult to understand a verse or set of verses. Indeed, the author of this commentary often points out how widely diverse are the translation of certain passages because the meaning is so uncertain. In addition, the book is almost all poetry, so not only is it difficult to understand individual words, but thoughts and concepts are also difficult to nail down. Fortunately, the general message of the book comes through pretty clearly: God is God and we are not and sometimes he does things that confound us (Job).

This is an okay commentary on Job, a good introduction, and an historically orthodox interpretation. It is marred by a few weaknesses:

1. When we get to the speeches of Job and his three friends, we rarely get an overarching summary of the point of each speech. If everyone is saying the same thing over and over (Job: "I'm innocent!" His 3 friends: "You must have sinned!"), why does it take 3 cycles of speeches to get the point across? You won't find out from this commentary (maybe no one understands this, who knows).

2. The author sometimes gets bogged down in unnecessary detail using transliterated Hebrew words (which in my opinion makes little sense. If you understand Hebrew, the transliterations are confusing, if you do not understand Hebrew, what difference are transliterated words going to make to you?).

Here is one example from his commentary on Job 13:15: "The MT l’, ‘not’, can now be dealt with. Calvin accepted ketib, ‘not’, but made it an assertion by reading a rhetorical question. Qere lw is supported by the occurrence of the same idiom in other places. It supplies the object ‘him’. Dhorme felt that LXX pointed to lû, but Dahood has now explained the presence of the subject ‘the mighty one’ in the Greek as a translation of lēʾ. This is possible, but we prefer his earlier suggestion, followed by Mejia, with the further proviso that l’ is a normal spelling of assertative la’ (to be translated ‘certainly’) rather than a full spelling of ‘emphatic’ l. We conclude that AV should by all means be retained."

If you can make sense of his point here, drop me a line and explain it to me.

Job is a confounding book in many ways, I wish the author could have explained it better from a macro framework.

[Kristie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introductory material (first ~70 pgs) are informative and useful. I am glad I read it as I was starting the Book of Job.

The commentary was dry for my taste. There is a lot of dissecting of the language and of the poetic structure. And the spiritual commentary was great in some parts and lacking in others.

[Jacob Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This commentary was very good. I finished and felt much more appreciation for this book of the Bible which is often neglected or severely misunderstood. It is a step above entry level. One must have some basic knowledge of textual criticism and some Hebrew helps. However, it was readable and affirming to the inerrancy and authority of the Scriptures.

[Samcwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate reading different perspectives on Job. Andersen provides some unique insights that deepened my understanding. I especially liked the in-depth introduction and background commentary.

[Shannon]

Dense! This is meant to be accessed as a reference, not a cover-to-cover read, which is what I was attempting at first and kept getting lost in the many citations. For an in-depth study on the structure and rhetoric of the book of Job, this commentary is informative!

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful commentary! Linguistic notes with quite heavy but theology and plot summary were not forgotten. Little skeptical of the author's view of the end of Job but otherwise I thought many of his insights were really Good!

[Tengxiang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite of 2018!

[Jason Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems to be a solid classic Evangelical work. It's a bit dated (as far as I can tell the most recent text edition is 1976). And in Job, that is a drawback.

[Barbie N · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent companion to the book of Job. It is scholastic without being stuffy. I found many moments of inspiration in it.

[Chris Risley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it is a commentary it is very readable

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid old-school commentary on Job. Easy to read but not super helpful for understanding individual passages. Interesting insights provided by the author. Content: clean

[R. West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this commentary a very useful companion in my study on Job. I would highly recommend it.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I appreciated most about this book was Francis Andersen's poetic sensitivity, evident in the textual discussions and the pastoral applicability of his approach to the book. Some of the translations he does of sections of Job are incredible, and I wish there was more of those translations present. In this commentary is also one of my favorite lines on the book of Job, when he writes that the friends' responses are "flat beer compared with Job's seismic sincerity" (169). This commentary bridges academic and pastoral, and does a great job at bringing up many of the interpretive issues and textual nuances of the text.

[Luiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled a bit with rating as this book is extremely dry. I Give it a 4 starts as it was really informative and there are a some really good points in it. I think it can be summed up that the conversations between job and his friends are how not to treat your friends who are suffering and the conversations between Job and God are that God is so different humans can not begin to comprehend him.
I need to research best exegesis books not best commentaries.

[Brian Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid, evangelical commentary on the book of Job. It's not particularly brilliant, but it is useful and nearly forty years after its publication, it is still rated as one of the top commentaries on this book. That speaks either to the strength of this commentary or the weakness of others--or perhaps both.

[Sean Durity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps a little gushy about the book of Job. However, it does a wonderful job of demonstrating the literary structure of Job without destroying the text. It also acknowledges places where the translations vary widely without getting lost in all the details. The section on chapter 28 is very valuable. Highly recommended for doing your own study through Job.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is tough to rate. Job is a difficult book and in the same light this is a difficult commentary. It is more technical than most, though I think it almost has to be. Definitely worth reading, but you will know you put in some work reading and hopefully comprehending this commentary and the book of Job.

[Tim Senter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good technical reference/study.