Review in: Interpretation
2001 55: 84
Review door: Carol
A. NewsomGevonden op: http://int.sagepub.com/content/55/1/84.1.full.pdf+html
Job
by James A. Wharton Westminster Bible Companion. Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 1999.
191 pp. $16.95 ISBN 0-664-25267-2.
"CAN THERE BE A HUMAN BEING of
such incorruptible integrity toward God and people that not even the worst
imaginable experiences of life are capable of shattering it?" (p. 19).
With this question, Wharton sums up the governing question of the Joban prose
tale and outlines the perspective through which he reads the whole book. The
introduction presents a brief but clear account of the structure of Job and the
reasons it has often been understood as a composite work. It also indicates how
one may read the book meaningfully as a whole.
The commentary departs only once from a simple sequential order. To help
the reader grasp the structure of the friends' arguments, Wharton treats all of
Eliphaz's speeches (chs. 4-5,15,22) together following Job 3. Although one
cannot speak of a consensus in the interpretation of Job, Wharton's reading
follows largely established hermenéutica! paths. Job's persistent integrity,
his conviction
of ultimate vindication, and his vindication by means of God's answer are
hallmarks of Wharton's interpretation.
One can tell that Wharton has taught
the book of Job often. He knows instinctively where to pause to explain the
unfamiliar, where to address readerly resistance, and where to reflect on the
difference between the theology of Job and the theology of Christian
appropriation of the book. If there is a shortcoming in his commentary, it is
that it too quickly moves past some of what might be most disturbing in the
book. Stressing Job's conviction of ultimate vindication can distract from the
rawness of his accusations against God; stressing the function of the divine
speeches as vindication of Job can shortchange their utter strangeness. But
Wharton always urges the reader to form her own conclusions. Of all the
available commentaries on Job for lay readers, this is the one I recommend to
my students. Pedagogically and interpretively, it is an excellent example of
the genre.
CAROL A. NEWSOM
CANDLER SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
EMORY UNIVERSITY
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
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