Job - Paperback

by Tremper III Longman (Author), Tremper Longman (Editor)

Veteran Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman offers an accessible commentary on one of Scripture's most intriguing books. With his deft exegetical and expositional skill, the resulting work is full of fresh insight into the meaning of the text.

In addition to the helpful translation and commentary, this volume considers theological implications of the wisdom texts found in the book of Job as well as their literary, historical, and grammatical dimensions. Footnotes deal with many of the technical matters, allowing readers of varying interest and training levels to read and profit from the commentary and to engage the biblical text at an appropriate level. This built-in versatility has application for both pastors and teachers.

Front Jacket

Praise for previous volumes in the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms series
"[Tremper] Longman is to be congratulated for producing a valuable translation of Proverbs and a user-friendly commentary that takes seriously the needs of the contemporary audience for which he writes. Pastors and seminary students will gain much from studying Proverbs with an expert interpreter who is attuned to the rhetoric of the text, its ancient context, and its possible contemporary import. Scholars, too, will profit from Longman's often provocative and creative work."
--Timothy J. Sandoval, "Review of Biblical Literature
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"[Craig] Bartholomew's writing style is elegant, and he keeps the reader's interest. . . . ["Ecclesiastes"] is worthy of purchase certainly by Qohelet experts but also by general scholars and educated laypeople. Young scholars will find it especially helpful as an introduction to contemporary issues. It is eminently readable, original, interesting, and deep."
--Mark Sneed, "Catholic Biblical Quarterly
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"I trust that clergy and future clergy will hear, learn from, and share the message of the Psalms that [John] Goldingay has so effectively illuminated, as this series of commentaries intends. As for biblical scholars, many of us too will certainly appreciate Goldingay's illumination of the message of the Psalms; and in any case, his work will be an indispensable resource for future academic study of and comment upon the Psalms."
--J. Clinton McCann Jr., "Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
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"[In "Song of Songs," Richard Hess] provides a translation of the text under consideration and extensive critical explanation of that translation. The commentary itself moves through the text line by line, attending to the intricacies of the Hebrew language and the power of the erotic imagery. Throughout the commentary he weaves in intertextual references, thus relating the content of these poems with other biblical material. . . . Though the analysis here has been done with both care and skill, the text is quite readable. This book will be a helpful resource for students and teachers alike."
--Dianne Bergant, CSA, "Bible Today"

Back Jacket

Longman's commentary . . . bravely fac[es] the question of how one ought to live boldly when one believes a good God runs the world but sometimes hides his face from us for his own reasons. This commentary is deeply profound and pastoral at certain points, bringing to bear the rich counsel of the book regarding where to find wisdom in the midst of one's suffering.
--Michael Collender, Review of Biblical Literature

"Forty-four reflective essays throughout the commentary expand Longman's treatment on particular theological difficulties that arise through the Job dialogue. . . . For their range of address, the insights they provide, and the message they convey, Longman's . . . essays surely lend as much value to the book as do the speech-by-speech commentaries. . . . Some scholars hold, with Longman, that Job offers no general explanation for innocent suffering. The book, he knows, is about wisdom, not theodicy. But even the many laypeople and few scholars who disagree may read, with much intellectual and spiritual profit, Longman's insightful treatment of one of Scripture's most challenging and meaningful texts."
--Lael O. Ceasar, Bulletin for Biblical Research

"Combine[s] interpretive insight with theological acumen to provide the church with invaluable insight into the message(s) of Job and its enduring significance. . . . Longman moves from a fresh, insightful translation of the text under investigation to a clear summary of the unit's content, literary texture, meaning, and theological implications. In so doing, he offers a rich, holistic reading of Job that combines grammatical, historical, literary, and rhetorical concerns with inter-textual, intra-textual, and theological reflections. . . . [This commentary] provide[s] seminary students, ministers, and those within the academy with an invaluable resource."
--Christopher B. Ansberry, Themelios

"This commentary hits the mark with its intended readership. Ministers and seminary students will find a reliable guide through Job's rich and complex poetry, and the commentary's reflective essays helpfully locate the book's themes within the larger biblical canon."
--Andrew R. Davis, Catholic Biblical Quarterly

"Longman has produced an important new commentary on one of the most demanding but important books that requires theological and pastoral work from the preacher."
--R. Albert Mohler Jr., Preaching

Author Biography

Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Before coming to Westmont, he taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for eighteen years. He has authored or coauthored numerous books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament, How to Read Proverbs, and commentaries on Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Jeremiah and Lamentations, and Song of Songs.