Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job (New Studies in Biblical Theology)

by ROBERT FYALL

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Collection

Description

'Now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5)Few biblical texts are more daunting, and yet more fascinating, than the book of Job--and few have been the subject of such diverse interpretation.For Robert Fyall, the mystery of God's ways and the appalling evil and suffering in the world are at the heart of Job's significant contribution to the canon of Scripture. This New Studies in Biblical Theology volume offers a holistic reading of Job, with particular reference to its depiction of creation and evil, and finds significant clues to its meaning in the striking imagery it uses.Fyall takes seriously the literary and artistic integrity of the book of Job, as well as its theological profundity. He concludes that it is not so much about suffering per se as about creation, providence and knowing God, and how--n the crucible of suffering--these are to be understood. He encourages us to listen to this remarkable literature, to be moved by it, and to see its progress from shrieking protest to repentence and vision.Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.… (more)

Publication

IVP Academic (2002), 208 pages

Rating

(4 ratings; 3.4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
This book fascinated me. Fyall’s study uncovers references to Canaanite mythology that have long been hidden in favour of more naturalistic interpretations of the text. For example, the NIV footnotes suggest that Behemoth (40:15) is an elephant or hippopotamus, and Leviathan (3:8, 41:1) is a
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crocodile. Fyall digs deeply and comes up with interpretations of these creatures that satisfy the narrative, and hold the whole book together. (If you’re curious, Behemoth is the Canaanite god of death, and Leviathan is a guise of the Satan.)

In the end, Fyall’s technical study yields some important conclusions. I love how he sums it up on the last page:

"The book is not so much about suffering per se as about creation, providence and knowing God, and how, in the crucible of suffering, these are to be understood."

The discussions are quite technical, but the subject matter is well worth the effort. I’ll never read the book of Job the same way again.
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