Was Job a Prophet?
In the Jewish biblical canon (known in Judaism as the Tanakh) the book of Job appears in the “Writings” section of the Bible—in Hebrew, Ketuvim—rather than in the preceding books of the Prophets. In Christian canons, Job is included among the so-called Wisdom literature alongside didactic texts like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (called Qohelet in Jewish tradition). Yet, despite these canonical placements of the book, ancient Jews viewed Job as a prophet.
The epistle of James (or “Jacob” in Greek: Ἰάκωβος, Iākobos) states, “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets (τοὺς προφήτας, toūs prophētas) who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful’” (James 5:10-11). Here, James introduces the example of “the prophets” and cites Job as a specific exemplar of prophetic patience in the midst of suffering. Likewise, Jewish commentary in the Babylonian Talmud says, “Seven prophets (נביאים; nevi’im) prophesied to the nations of the world, and they are: Balaam and his father, and Job, Eliphaz… Bildad… Zophar… and Elihu” (b. Bava Batra 15b). Thus, the expressions of Judaism in both the New Testament and the Talmud indicate that Job was a prophet.
Early Jewish commentators might have viewed Job as a prophet because he had the prophetic privilege of seeing God. Moses, for instance, the Torah deems Moses a “prophet” (נביא; navi), both explicitly (Deut 18:15; 34:10) and implicitly (e.g., Exodus 7:1; Numbers 12:6-8), and Moses sees God on multiple occasions (see Exod 33:17-23; 34:29-35; Num 12:8). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah recalls, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw (אֶרְאֶה; ereh) the Lord seated upon a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1). Jeremiah implies that true prophets behold the Lord when he asks, “For who among [the false prophets] has stood in the council of the Lord and seen and heard (וְיֵרֶא וְיִשְׁמַע; ve’year ve’yishma) his word, or who has paid attention to his word and heard?” (Jeremiah 23:18). Similarly, Job says to God, “I heard you (שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ; shematikha) by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you (רָאָתְךָ; ra’atekha)” (Job 42:5). Since Job gets to behold the Lord, ancient Bible readers had good reason to proclaim Job a prophet.
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