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Conflict and Triumph: The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded
As well as casting a great deal of light on the overall meaning of the book of Job, this study helps 'the afflicted child of God' to draw 'the waters of consolation from this inspired and copious source'.
- GenresBiblical StudiesTheology
200 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 4, 2019
A masterpiece by any measure. Some notable points: Green identifies Job and Elihu as types of Christ. Of course, therefore, he has a favorable appraisal of Elihu. He discusses the doctrine of immortality in the OT, as well as the OT’s knowledge of the Lord as Messiah (he understands the OT saints to know God as the Lord, and as Redeemer, but not clear on God as Messiah until Christ comes in the flesh). He convincingly vindicates Job’s wife without valorizing her as a paragon of faithfulness. He helpfully navigates the choppy waters of the dialogue in Job. Reading this book strengthens my conviction that it is helpful to read Job through in one sitting.
A bit wordy, but eminently helpful. Don’t let the slim spine fool you, this book will not be a quick read if you want to really “get” what Green is doing here.
“The unwelcome apparition, which his friends are constantly bringing up and dressing out before him, of a God of arbitrary power, whose justice, as they assert it, would be rank injustice, and who seems to be devoid of pity - this it is which fills him with the deepest anguish” (55).
A bit wordy, but eminently helpful. Don’t let the slim spine fool you, this book will not be a quick read if you want to really “get” what Green is doing here.
“The unwelcome apparition, which his friends are constantly bringing up and dressing out before him, of a God of arbitrary power, whose justice, as they assert it, would be rank injustice, and who seems to be devoid of pity - this it is which fills him with the deepest anguish” (55).
January 26, 2022
Beautiful. Green was a wordsmith which makes this book on the suffering of Job a pleasure. My only quibble is with the format. Breaking the chapters into sub points with headings or even verse-by-verse commentary format would clarify the themes discussed. Still, this book is phenomenal.
November 15, 2019
Quotes from the book:
-“Affliction was a means of grace.”
-Pages 45-48 about Job’s wife, compassionate toward her
-“An index pointing to that divine Redeemer, who is in everything our nearest kinsman, and who allied himself to us in the bonds of our common humanity, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, that he might have a kinsman’s right to espouse our cause, to vindicated us from the accusations of the law, and free us from the sentence of death written in our members, and open to us life and immortality with the beatific vision of God.”
-“God’s providence—There is a mystery in all his ways, in nature, and in the affairs of men, which no human intelligence is able to penetrate. It must be accepted as a product of the infinite reason without insisting upon knowing how or why. It is not given to man to fathom what belongs only to the divine inscrutable. Man should adore where he cannot understand, and submit without questioning to anything apportioned, which it would be arrogant to suppose could be made level to his feeble comprehension.”
-“It would rather tend to repel all inquiry as profitless and leading to no certain or safe result, even if it is not positively profane—a pernicious treading on forbidden ground, and a prying into what it is not allowable to know. Instead, then, of shedding any light upon this mysterious subject, the only teaching of this book would be that we must remain content with a darkness that can never, from the nature of the case, be dispelled. Instead of adding to our knowledge it would declare that further knowledge was unattainable.”
-“Mystery of God’s providence is quite impenetrable. The wisdom that could fathom it, was “hidden from the eyes of all living” 28:21 and was possessed by God alone. The highest wisdom that man can attain is the “Fear of the Lord” 33:20-28”
(Isaiah 33:6 “And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.”)
-“To Job’s mind his sufferings had been hostile treatment on the part of God. He could look upon them in no other light than as tokens of the divine displeasure. God was dealing with him in anger. He was indeed able notwithstanding to affirm that God was his Redeemer. In spirit of his present hostility, which was so unaccountable and so distressing, Job had gained the confident assurance that God would yet at some future time lay aside these strangely mysterious frowns and manifest himself on his behalf.”
(This is why we should not assume that we know why bad things are happening to us. We have no idea what God’s plan is. God knew He could use Job for this illustration in the Bible without destroying Job. He used Job and kept Job. He didn’t use someone who would have been destroyed if they were in the same situation. He knows how much weight His bridges can hold without collapsing. Blessed be the name of the LORD!)
-“What Job had imagined to be the deadly thrust of hostile weapons proves to be the skilful incision of the great physician who wounds but to heal.”
-“God is his Redeemer, not merely out of existing sorrows or in spite of them, but in them and through them and by means of them.
Faith is no longer reduced to such straits that it can barely maintain itself by looking away from the present and holding fast to the unseen future. It has a visible and tangible basis in the present itself.”
-“All his previous conceptions of God were faint and distant compared with the intimate and thorough conviction of his exalted being which now possessed his soul. It was like something which is learned by distant report compared with what stands revealed with the clearness and evidence of eyesight.”
-“He has learned to exercise a more perfect trust in God. He now confides in him more thoroughly than before. He can now trust God in everything, and believe that he does all things well. He has gained such a view of God and of the perfections of his being that he now believes that the Most High cannot do anything that is out of harmony with his perfections. All that he does must be right and wise and good.”
-“He knows that God is all-perfect and all-glorious, and he has that confidence in him which assures him that these things must be so. If he has sent affliction, this is not even a temporary interruption of his favour and love, though these are sure to shine forth again hereafter, clearly and fully. Nor is it enough to say that affliction is capable of being reconciled with the divine love. It is itself a fruit of that love. God is equally loving and gracious when he sends affliction and when he sends prosperous abundance.”
-“Adversity is good when it comes from him. He no longer puts the benefits received from God in one scale and afflictions in the other. But afflictions are put in the same scale with benefits: they, too, are benefits when God sends them. And this, instead of tending to create a counter-poise, they but add their weight to that of previously existing obligation.
The nerve of Satan’s temptation is now cut completely. Every weight goes henceforth into the scale of God’s goodness, and there is no possibility of disturbing the existing preponderance. He who has learned to place his sole and undivided trust in God, and to estimate all things by the standard of his perfection, is beyond the reach of any serious attempt to detach him from the LORD’s service. To such a faith Job has risen under the felt power of God’s immediate presence. He is now in a perfectly impregnable position, and Satan can assail him no longer. His spiritual deliverance is complete.”
(“is beyond the reach of any serious attempt to detach him from the LORD’s service”---I’d be nervous about making this statement. I’m still in a sinning body. I fail every day. I just might fall, but the LORD in His strength won’t lose me forever.)
The language in this book is from the 19th century so it can be ponderous to what we're accustomed to these days, but there are still good things about it as you can see from the quotes above. I took a star off for the language, not the content.
-“Affliction was a means of grace.”
-Pages 45-48 about Job’s wife, compassionate toward her
-“An index pointing to that divine Redeemer, who is in everything our nearest kinsman, and who allied himself to us in the bonds of our common humanity, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, that he might have a kinsman’s right to espouse our cause, to vindicated us from the accusations of the law, and free us from the sentence of death written in our members, and open to us life and immortality with the beatific vision of God.”
-“God’s providence—There is a mystery in all his ways, in nature, and in the affairs of men, which no human intelligence is able to penetrate. It must be accepted as a product of the infinite reason without insisting upon knowing how or why. It is not given to man to fathom what belongs only to the divine inscrutable. Man should adore where he cannot understand, and submit without questioning to anything apportioned, which it would be arrogant to suppose could be made level to his feeble comprehension.”
-“It would rather tend to repel all inquiry as profitless and leading to no certain or safe result, even if it is not positively profane—a pernicious treading on forbidden ground, and a prying into what it is not allowable to know. Instead, then, of shedding any light upon this mysterious subject, the only teaching of this book would be that we must remain content with a darkness that can never, from the nature of the case, be dispelled. Instead of adding to our knowledge it would declare that further knowledge was unattainable.”
-“Mystery of God’s providence is quite impenetrable. The wisdom that could fathom it, was “hidden from the eyes of all living” 28:21 and was possessed by God alone. The highest wisdom that man can attain is the “Fear of the Lord” 33:20-28”
(Isaiah 33:6 “And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.”)
-“To Job’s mind his sufferings had been hostile treatment on the part of God. He could look upon them in no other light than as tokens of the divine displeasure. God was dealing with him in anger. He was indeed able notwithstanding to affirm that God was his Redeemer. In spirit of his present hostility, which was so unaccountable and so distressing, Job had gained the confident assurance that God would yet at some future time lay aside these strangely mysterious frowns and manifest himself on his behalf.”
(This is why we should not assume that we know why bad things are happening to us. We have no idea what God’s plan is. God knew He could use Job for this illustration in the Bible without destroying Job. He used Job and kept Job. He didn’t use someone who would have been destroyed if they were in the same situation. He knows how much weight His bridges can hold without collapsing. Blessed be the name of the LORD!)
-“What Job had imagined to be the deadly thrust of hostile weapons proves to be the skilful incision of the great physician who wounds but to heal.”
-“God is his Redeemer, not merely out of existing sorrows or in spite of them, but in them and through them and by means of them.
Faith is no longer reduced to such straits that it can barely maintain itself by looking away from the present and holding fast to the unseen future. It has a visible and tangible basis in the present itself.”
-“All his previous conceptions of God were faint and distant compared with the intimate and thorough conviction of his exalted being which now possessed his soul. It was like something which is learned by distant report compared with what stands revealed with the clearness and evidence of eyesight.”
-“He has learned to exercise a more perfect trust in God. He now confides in him more thoroughly than before. He can now trust God in everything, and believe that he does all things well. He has gained such a view of God and of the perfections of his being that he now believes that the Most High cannot do anything that is out of harmony with his perfections. All that he does must be right and wise and good.”
-“He knows that God is all-perfect and all-glorious, and he has that confidence in him which assures him that these things must be so. If he has sent affliction, this is not even a temporary interruption of his favour and love, though these are sure to shine forth again hereafter, clearly and fully. Nor is it enough to say that affliction is capable of being reconciled with the divine love. It is itself a fruit of that love. God is equally loving and gracious when he sends affliction and when he sends prosperous abundance.”
-“Adversity is good when it comes from him. He no longer puts the benefits received from God in one scale and afflictions in the other. But afflictions are put in the same scale with benefits: they, too, are benefits when God sends them. And this, instead of tending to create a counter-poise, they but add their weight to that of previously existing obligation.
The nerve of Satan’s temptation is now cut completely. Every weight goes henceforth into the scale of God’s goodness, and there is no possibility of disturbing the existing preponderance. He who has learned to place his sole and undivided trust in God, and to estimate all things by the standard of his perfection, is beyond the reach of any serious attempt to detach him from the LORD’s service. To such a faith Job has risen under the felt power of God’s immediate presence. He is now in a perfectly impregnable position, and Satan can assail him no longer. His spiritual deliverance is complete.”
(“is beyond the reach of any serious attempt to detach him from the LORD’s service”---I’d be nervous about making this statement. I’m still in a sinning body. I fail every day. I just might fall, but the LORD in His strength won’t lose me forever.)
The language in this book is from the 19th century so it can be ponderous to what we're accustomed to these days, but there are still good things about it as you can see from the quotes above. I took a star off for the language, not the content.
July 23, 2023
The Book of Job is perhaps the oldest book of the Bible (a disputed claim with good arguments on both sides), but it's a remarkable story. So much of the Old Testament seems so remote, but his very personal story is relatable in its extremes- we've all suffered or know we will suffer. We know the things we love here on earth are but temporary blessings. We know the world in combination with the Evil One is cruel, unfair, and unforgiving. All believers at least have sought the Lord's face in that deprivation. We've had overly pious idiots speak into our situation from a largely correct standpoint, lacking awareness in any way of the circumstances and therefore appreciation for the Lord's hand in these things. Job is also, like many of us, not even Jewish. He's not directly a part of Jesus' bloodline, but grafted in by faith.
Job is not then so remote from us New Testament people, but for me the familiarity was almost blinding. Over the years, I think I have, like many Christians, injected myself too much into the story and failed to notice key aspects of the book.
William Henry Green did a man's job of spelling things out. This a brilliant summary of the book by an Old Testament scholar who delved deeply into its meaning. I'll share the insights that stuck out to me; your milage may vary.
-Job's situation isn't normative. Often faith and outward prosperity DO go hand in hand, but they are not to be taken as an absolute measure. Green helpfully compares Job to Ecclesiastes. Together, they more or less map out the edge cases of man finding spiritual deprivation amid material deprivation and material blessing. You didn't need me to tell you this, but the world is a complex place.
-His interlocutors are not insensitive dullards. I've heard sermons that entirely skip Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zoar because they are not entirely on par with the Lord speaking from the whirlwind. I've honestly glazed over their words for that reason in my private readings. Green, unlike most, really brings them to life. Explains how they were, in fact, very wise and brought a lot of worldy wisdom to bear in Job's situation (see point 1), but in that way they are presumptive. I've also seen Elihu ignored, which is an even bigger oversight given how he prophetically paved the way for the Lord in his rebuke of Job.
-Green ably maps out the ebbs and flows of Job's faith and the different levels of Satanic attack. He shows where Job is teetering on the edge of proving Satan right and where God's perseverance shines through.
-Green brings up how amazing this all is. In all of this. When God's grace and sovereignty are recognized, Job is too prophetic. We forget that we tread on the path partially paved by Job. He didn't have a Bible. He didn't have the Word Made Flesh to look back on. He was a couple thousand years before Christ whereas we stand a couple thousand years after. Yet in his faith and by God's grace he peers into God's salvific nature. It's a rather mystical book in that regard and I never quite saw that before.
-I honestly need to reread the Lord's part of the discourse. So much richness there. It isn't merely "I'm big, you're small" fatalism, but the account of a personal God who is using very dark circumstances to purge a worse inner darkness.
You, believer, will surely find other riches in this book if you give it a chance. It humbled and enlightened my understanding of not just Job, but the whole of Scripture.
Job is not then so remote from us New Testament people, but for me the familiarity was almost blinding. Over the years, I think I have, like many Christians, injected myself too much into the story and failed to notice key aspects of the book.
William Henry Green did a man's job of spelling things out. This a brilliant summary of the book by an Old Testament scholar who delved deeply into its meaning. I'll share the insights that stuck out to me; your milage may vary.
-Job's situation isn't normative. Often faith and outward prosperity DO go hand in hand, but they are not to be taken as an absolute measure. Green helpfully compares Job to Ecclesiastes. Together, they more or less map out the edge cases of man finding spiritual deprivation amid material deprivation and material blessing. You didn't need me to tell you this, but the world is a complex place.
-His interlocutors are not insensitive dullards. I've heard sermons that entirely skip Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zoar because they are not entirely on par with the Lord speaking from the whirlwind. I've honestly glazed over their words for that reason in my private readings. Green, unlike most, really brings them to life. Explains how they were, in fact, very wise and brought a lot of worldy wisdom to bear in Job's situation (see point 1), but in that way they are presumptive. I've also seen Elihu ignored, which is an even bigger oversight given how he prophetically paved the way for the Lord in his rebuke of Job.
-Green ably maps out the ebbs and flows of Job's faith and the different levels of Satanic attack. He shows where Job is teetering on the edge of proving Satan right and where God's perseverance shines through.
-Green brings up how amazing this all is. In all of this. When God's grace and sovereignty are recognized, Job is too prophetic. We forget that we tread on the path partially paved by Job. He didn't have a Bible. He didn't have the Word Made Flesh to look back on. He was a couple thousand years before Christ whereas we stand a couple thousand years after. Yet in his faith and by God's grace he peers into God's salvific nature. It's a rather mystical book in that regard and I never quite saw that before.
-I honestly need to reread the Lord's part of the discourse. So much richness there. It isn't merely "I'm big, you're small" fatalism, but the account of a personal God who is using very dark circumstances to purge a worse inner darkness.
You, believer, will surely find other riches in this book if you give it a chance. It humbled and enlightened my understanding of not just Job, but the whole of Scripture.
January 25, 2025
This is biblical theology at its finest. The author was a professor at Princeton Seminary in the 1800’s; these old Princeton guys just have a way of teaching the Bible that is not around anymore.
Ive always broadly understood Job in terms of the start and ending but have never paid a ton of attention to the nearly 40 chapters of fights between Job, his friends, and Elihu. Henry Green does a superb job of explaining the conflict in a narrative way rather than a true expositional commentary style approach. For almost every book of the Bible, this would be a poor approach but for Job, it really helps the 21st century reader put the dialogue into perspective. Can’t recommend this one enough.
Ive always broadly understood Job in terms of the start and ending but have never paid a ton of attention to the nearly 40 chapters of fights between Job, his friends, and Elihu. Henry Green does a superb job of explaining the conflict in a narrative way rather than a true expositional commentary style approach. For almost every book of the Bible, this would be a poor approach but for Job, it really helps the 21st century reader put the dialogue into perspective. Can’t recommend this one enough.
December 11, 2022
Very nice overview of the book.
The author seeks to explain the main argument of the book of Job in a fairly concise and helpful way. It s definitely worth a read for those who struggle to see the point of Job.
The author seeks to explain the main argument of the book of Job in a fairly concise and helpful way. It s definitely worth a read for those who struggle to see the point of Job.
March 31, 2021
Fantastic book. A must read if you want help understanding the book of Job. Just remember that Behemoth and Leviathan are NOT a hippo and crocodile.
August 23, 2021
This man’s pen is a paintbrush. My, does he bring scenes to life. And he writes with such a sense of consequence—an urgency that you can feel. Powerful teaching here.
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November 16, 2024Really great book explaining Job. Doesn’t get lost in the weeds about some of the strange stuff in Job and shows how the whole book works together to give us a higher and greater view of who God is.
November 23, 2016
Green's sweeping overview of Job, which both takes apart individual statements and places the whole book in the broader context of the Bible, is remarkably approachable for a text that's more than 100 years old. I was reading at first because I needed to, to prepare for a study with ladies from my church. But it wasn't long before I was reading because I wanted to, because Green carefully and beautifully helped me understand more of what I'm studying in Job.
Here, in Green's own words, a few lines of summary:
"... he has been neither unkindly nor unjustly dealt with. God is not treating him as a criminal nor as a foe, but is showing solicitous regard for his highest good."
"Though it was permitted at the instigation of Satan, who sought Job's hurt, it does not follow that the Lord had no designs of his own in granting permission."
"He governs in all the affairs of men, and he does so in a manner worthy of himself."
Here, in Green's own words, a few lines of summary:
"... he has been neither unkindly nor unjustly dealt with. God is not treating him as a criminal nor as a foe, but is showing solicitous regard for his highest good."
"Though it was permitted at the instigation of Satan, who sought Job's hurt, it does not follow that the Lord had no designs of his own in granting permission."
"He governs in all the affairs of men, and he does so in a manner worthy of himself."
March 27, 2014
This book was very helpful for preparing a college Bible study on Job. As the original title (now relegated to the status of subtitle; "Conflict and Triumph" was the invention of the modern publishers) states, he always shows how each speech supports the overall message of the book. Job is not merely a collection of poetry about practically every area of life, but all of this is tied together to form a cohesive message about the nature of God and man, and their responsibilities toward each other. Mr. Green brings this out clearly, and the result is a more intimate familiarity with what could be a daunting book of the Bible.
September 18, 2015
The book of Job is both breathtaking in its poetic beauty and heartwrenching in its tragic setting. Throughout the book, one question underlies the dialogue: will God destroy Job or will God save him? Despite all external evidence pointing to the former, Green here demonstrates that Job chooses to see God as His Redeemer and worship Him. This work (first published in 1874) elucidates the mysteries of Job better than many subsequent attempts. A worthy companion.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews