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The Book of God and Man: A Study of Job
Clean, bright used copy with tight binding. NEVER a library book. Big crease on front
Paperback
First published April 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 9, 2017
T. B. Cowan, Chattanooga Times — “Rabbi Gordis has many distinguished honors to his name, but this book, the fruit of teaching for over a quarter of a century, stands among his greatest.”
Gordis gives five chapters of background information on Job, a section by section discussion of Job, then his own translation of Job with sectional introductions.
His chapters comparing Job to the Law and Prophets, and Jewish wisdom literature, and comparing Job to Near Eastern literature I found rich in information clearly and authoritatively presented.
In his section by section analysis, as in the other chapters, Gordis engages with various critical views and proposes his own solutions. I found his solutions compelling among other reasons because they avoided the arrogance and presumption of many modern critics, who seem to enjoy atomizing the text to oblivion, and presumed the puzzles would be solved by clearer insight into the Hebrew language or cultural background. For example, one of the structural issues of Job, the Elihu speeches, are addressed by proposing that Job is the life work of a single poet, and that the abrupt interlocutor is a later addition by the same, more aged poet whose perspective and even writing style had ripened with age. He discusses that at some length. That’s just one example. Gordis is deft and nimble throughout.
His translation is worth the book alone too. I’ll read from it again when I come to reread Job. From a typography perspective, the text of Job is laid out very nicely, especially compared to 99% of Bibles on the market.
Gordis gives five chapters of background information on Job, a section by section discussion of Job, then his own translation of Job with sectional introductions.
His chapters comparing Job to the Law and Prophets, and Jewish wisdom literature, and comparing Job to Near Eastern literature I found rich in information clearly and authoritatively presented.
In his section by section analysis, as in the other chapters, Gordis engages with various critical views and proposes his own solutions. I found his solutions compelling among other reasons because they avoided the arrogance and presumption of many modern critics, who seem to enjoy atomizing the text to oblivion, and presumed the puzzles would be solved by clearer insight into the Hebrew language or cultural background. For example, one of the structural issues of Job, the Elihu speeches, are addressed by proposing that Job is the life work of a single poet, and that the abrupt interlocutor is a later addition by the same, more aged poet whose perspective and even writing style had ripened with age. He discusses that at some length. That’s just one example. Gordis is deft and nimble throughout.
His translation is worth the book alone too. I’ll read from it again when I come to reread Job. From a typography perspective, the text of Job is laid out very nicely, especially compared to 99% of Bibles on the market.
December 7, 2025
Overall, this is a very useful (and excellently written) treatment of the Book of Job. I gleaned many good arguments from Gordis to address issues that continue to invigorate scholarly debate (provenance, literary coherence, etc). The translation itself is quite good. As a literary approach to Job, this is masterful. The theological implications drawn don’t always connect or land. And some of the critical moves he makes are poorly justified, while others are questionable.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews