Job 1-20

Word Biblical Commentary #17

by David J.A. Clines

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Genres: Christian, Reference, Biblical Studies, Theology

624 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1989

Reviews

[Samcwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

My star rating has more to do with this as a scholarly resource than my love for this books’ content. I’ve now read through about five commentaries on the book of Job. David A. Clines’ contribution to Job in the Word Biblical Commentary is the most comprehensive scholarly commentary I have read.

In each chapter, he provides an incredible bibliography which includes all of the major academic Christian, Jewish, and Secular work cited by experts. Clines then includes a translation of the text followed by pages of footnotes going back to what he and others have found in translating the text. Then he follows with a layout of the form and structure of each chapter, commentary, and an explanation. Clines seems to have a more Christian (and a bit apologetic) perspective. And I find myself disagreeing with his perspective 25-30% of the time. But as a central source of data and as a reference to other sources, I have never found anything as comprehensive. Readers can use this as a reference and ignore the commentary if they wish. And anyone who has done the work of bringing so much information together is entitled to share their opinion.

As a warning to readers, there are three books in the commentary at 500 pages each (1,500 pages!). If you’re looking for something that is still scholarly but shorter, consider Anderson, Fohrer, or the Hartley commentary. If you’re looking for much more readable with lots of meaning, consider the Kurshner commentary (he mostly articulates the scholarly consensus in a very digestible way until the very last chapter where he diverges a bit).

[Steven Azzara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clines has written probably the best commentary on the Book of Job. I'm teaching through Job in my church's Sunday school class, and Ligonier (Top Commentaries on Each Book of the Bible) recommended Clines' commentary. But I do share Ligonier's criticisms of the commentary set. The layout is horrific. The editor's notes are at the bottom of each page, and in certain spots, these notations go on for days before any material is addressed. It's very unappealing and frustrating. But the actual commentary is magnificent. It's pricey, and a three volume set but very, very helpful.

[Michael Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technical. Helpful at times. Prolix.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great commentary on the book of Job. Curiously, it is most helpful due to the comprehensiveness of the commentary and not the exact comments of the author. I found myself disagreeing with the author on a number of points (particularly the unhelpful and even obscuring notion that there must be "nodal verses" to understand an individual speech, which is not how Hebrew poetry works) but Clines references numerous other commentators and compiles a great deal of resources on the book of Job itself. The discussion in the commentary where Cline weighs commentators is where the true value of the book is found.

[Nick Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful.

[Gerhard Venter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theological subject literature. Should be torture to anyone not interested in the subject.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read