When the Lord graciously opened a teaching position for me after I finished my doctorate, my exposure to wisdom literature was basically zero. My schedule at Briercrest College and Seminary had me teaching wisdom literature every year, however, and sometimes more than once. It was a bit of a scramble to familiarize myself with that part of the canon! I expected to enjoy it and did. What I did not expect was the profound pastoral relevance of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. I was especially struck by the way Proverbs relentlessly probes sins of the tongue and unwise speech (a terrible problem for the church in North America), and how Ecclesiastes disassociates the value of our work from visible results (which are all too soon erased), but affirms the value of our earthly lives as gifts from God.
Job, too, turned out to be deeply relevant, but for a sadder reason: Job’s story is so common. There are many Christians for whom God allows some terrible suffering that seems to have nothing to do with any sin, past or present, nor anything to do with their growth in Christ. A sense of confusion only deepens the pain: Why is God doing this? Is he angry with me? Have I misunderstood something he wanted me to do? Or . . . was I wrong about God? Is he not the person I thought he was? As we will see, these are all Job’s questions; but they inevitably occur to Christians suffering inexplicably, whether they have read the book or not.
A second discovery followed the first: the book of Job enjoys (in my opinion, and for the present moment, at least) fewer helpful and insightful commentaries than Proverbs and Ecclesiastes do. A preface is not the place for a long bibliography, but my sense is that Proverbs and Ecclesiastes have superb expositions at both scholarly and practical levels.1 But while many modern commentaries on Job exist, there are fewer I feel comfortable recommending without qualification.2 Some are simply unconvincing; some even heretical. Modern interpretation of yhwh ’s speeches to Job is all over the map in an especially unhelpful way. This book is humbly offered as an attempt to help fill this gap. It aims at an exegetically responsible and theologically orthodox reading of the book, constantly remembering those readers who, like Job, want to remain faithful to the Lord Jesus in suffering, if only they knew where they could find him (Job 23:3).
This book had its genesis in an upper-level seminar on Job taught at Briercrest in the autumn of 2012. I am deeply grateful to the hard-working and sincere students who journeyed with me through the book – especially as the class was held from 4 pm to 6 pm, the only time my schedule would allow. (Imagine having to tackle Job on an empty stomach!) I am also indebted to many students and colleagues, both at Briercrest and at Oak Hill (where I teach), for helping me understand Job better. There are too many to mention them all, but I am grateful for each one. I am also extremely grateful to Don Carson for accepting this into the NSBT series and for his insights and encouragement along the way. Philip Duce deserves thanks for his help and encouragement as he worked with me on the manuscript. Sincerest thanks are also due to my copy editor (and, I trust, new friend), Eldo Barkhuizen, whose tireless and cheerful efforts in getting the manuscript ready to publish are deeply appreciated. Finally, I am deeply grateful to my dear wife, Erin, who proofread the manuscript and saved me from many embarrassing mistakes: thank you, dear one.
May God use this book to nourish joyful courage and patient endurance in suffering until the Lord Jesus returns, and, like Job, all of God’s saints can say, ‘Now our eye sees you.’
Eric Ortlund