Thread by @LikeAsAFire

Many have speculated about WHERE and WHEN the BOOK OF JOB takes place.

Before the Flood?

During Abraham's day?

Sometime after Israel was already established in Canaan?

I believe that I can answer this question definitively based solely on Biblical evidence.

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But what is the reason for the confusion? Why is it so hard to tell what the setting of Job is?

The Book of Job is very self-contained and mysterious. There is no mention of Israel, Jerusalem, Abraham, Moses, the tabernacle, the temple, or anything else of that nature.

So what information DOES the Book of Job give us about its setting?

Let's start with what it tells us about Job himself at the very beginning. Job lived in "the land of Uz" and was "the greatest of all the men of the east."

Where is this "land of Uz" located? Job doesn't give any more detail. Thankfully for us, Job is NOT the only book in which this place is mentioned.

The prophet Jeremiah writes about Uz in his fourth lamentation, which states that EDOM dwells in the land.

Who is EDOM?

Edom is the nation that descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob (from which came the nation of Israel)

In Genesis 36:28, we also find the name "Uz" listed amongst the genealogy of the HORITES who inhabited MOUNT SEIR.

The Horites were the original inhabitants of Mt. Seir, but were succeeded and usurped by the Edomites.

So we see a strong connection between "Uz" and Edom.

It appears that the land was named for one of the Horites that originally inhabited it, but by the time Jeremiah was writing about Uz it had become home to the Edomites.

What else can we glean from Job about its setting?

We're given the names of his three friends, along with the tribes that they belong to:

Eliphaz the Temanite,
Bildad the Shuhite,
and Zophar the Naamathite.

Outside of Job, there are no references to the "Shuhites" or "Naamathites," so Bildad and Zophar aren't going to be much help to us.

HOWEVER, our friend Eliphaz may just be the key to solving this mystery for good.

Let's begin by just looking at the name "Eliphaz."

It first appears in Genesis 36 as the name of one of the sons of Esau (Edom)

Yet another Edom connection! Interesting!

How about the "Temanites," the tribe to which Job's friend belonged?

The origin of the name "Teman" is ALSO found in Genesis 36 yet again!

TEMAN was the son of ELIPHAZ, who was the son of ESAU.

"Eliphaz" and "Teman" are clearly both names with Edomite origin.

But is this enough proof to conclude that Job's friend Eliphaz was an Edomite?

Let's look at other mentions of "Temanites" throughout the Bible:

Husham "of the land of the TEMANITES" reigned king in Edom!

Still not convinced?

Here's 4 verses that clearly identify Teman as a TRIBE of EDOM:

So what can we conclude so far?

The land of Uz was part of the country of Edom, and Job's friend Eliphaz was an Edomite of the tribe of Teman.

If Job takes place in Edom and has Edomite characters in it, it CANNOT be set during Abraham's day or earlier.

Esau (Edom) was the GRANDSON of Abraham.

If the Temanites are already an established tribe during Job, we can assume it takes place 100+ years after Esau's death.

Let's look back at the very beginning of Job for the last piece of the puzzle.

Job is called "the greatest of all the men of the EAST."

If we pull up a map of Israel and Edom, we see that Edom isn't really EAST of Israel... it's SOUTH.

Let's zoom out a bit.

Do you know what Edom IS east of?

EGYPT.

I believe that the logical conclusion we must draw after looking at all of the Biblical evidence is thus:

Job was a man living in Edom during the 400 year sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt before the Exodus.

Job was likely an Edomite himself, or perhaps a Horite.

This would explain why there are no mentions of Israel, Jerusalem, the tabernacle, the temple, etc.

The Israelites were still in Egypt at the time!

Thanks for reading!

What do you think? Did I miss something? Let me know! And of course, follow for more Bible threads!

While you're here, check out this thread about what the book of Job can tell us about the SONS OF GOD: