The Wisdom of Divine Disputation? On Job 40.2-5

Abstract

The standard translations of Job's two responses in the Theophany section suggest that Job has been overwhelmed by the divine discourses and that, as a result, his silence and later repentance express a resigned capitulation to the omnipotence of Yahweh. However, in light of a new translation of the divine-human dialogue that takes place briefly in 40.2-5, it can be argued that this first response of Job is actually a sophisticated epistemological ploy. Read in light of Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical phenomenology, this text discloses a receptive listening on the part of Job by which the protagonist initiates his own acquisition of wisdom.

De-Paganizing Existential Wisdom in Catholic Wisdom Literature

“…(Gutierrez, 1987, pp. 88-89) It can be recalled here that Job was overwhelmed by God's sovereignty and this is understood to be wisdom (Dailey, 1994). Job remained adamant to hastily act on the situation, processing the events and suspending any rational impulse to overcome him.…”