Job.
Why do the righteous suffer? The book refuses easy answers and lets the question stand before God.
Who wrote Job?
Anonymous; perhaps the oldest book in the canon.
Who was it written for?
Anyone wrestling with the problem of innocent suffering.
Structure
- Prologue (1–2): the heavenly wager
- Three rounds of speeches (3–31)
- Elihu (32–37)
- The LORD's answer from the whirlwind (38–41)
- Epilogue (42)
Key verses
Why Job matters
Job's friends offer the standard ancient answer to suffering: the righteous prosper, the wicked suffer, so if you're suffering you must have sinned. The book devastates that logic across forty-some chapters. God's answer at the end isn't a theodicy; it's a presence. Job doesn't get an explanation. He gets God.
Related tools
Read the book, then test it.
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