The book Of The Bible Job

The righteous Job suffers severe affliction leading to one of the most studied and debated questions in ancient wisdom literature: what is the meaning and purpose of the suffering of a just person? After Job argues his innocence before his friends in this poetic narrative, he finally hears from the Lord, whose response challenges Job and leads to the conclusion that the mean ing of suffering is beyond human compre hension. The book was probably written between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. The setting of the story, however, is the pa triarclial period in Uz or Edom, the leg endary home of wisdom.

Passages from Job are read in the liturgy on Monday through Saturday of the Twenty-Sixth Week of Year II. Texts from Job are also read during Cycle B of the Fifth and Twelfth Sundays of the Year. Also, a passage from Job is offered as a First Reading at Masses for the Dead where Job asserts, ‘For I know that my Redeemer lives” (19.25).