The Literary Forms in the Book of Job and Ecclesiastes - Essay Example

The Literary Forms in the Book of Job and Ecclesiastes Literary Forms in the Book of Job The Book of Job is one of the books in the Old Testament andis the most celebrated biblical literature. The book is well written and investigates some of the weightiest questions asked by humans concerning their lives (Spark Notes Editors 1). The main primary literary forms in the book of Job include the didactic narrative, disputation and lament. The didactic narrative indicates the redemption of the protagonist who is treated unjustly. The narrative is dated in time that would tolerate the simplistic assertion of the patient’s virtues suffering through a morally and innocent upstanding individual who at the end is redeemed by the previously apprehensive, now righteous judge (Perdue 94). The book of Job has numerous frames narrative that arises from the shifts in voice, perspective, language, and scene. The most outstanding of all is the frame narrator who tells the story of Job from the perspective of God’s eye. This is done through the prefacing of the book in Job 1:1 – 2:12, the introduction of most speeches in Job 3 – 42, and giving the conclusion in Job 42 from verse 7 to 17. The perspective of the omniscient narrator is written in prose form, and it stands together with a set of human speeches in Job chapter 3 to 42. It is also written in poetry, and it develops a sense of paradoxical juxtaposition between the human and divine views of Job’s sufferings. The differing sides of Job found on the two sections of the frame (reverent and silent) and the sporadic reaction in the poetic body emphasize the juxtaposition (Enns and Longman 242). The book of Job relies heavily on lament. This literary genre is expressed in the two plays of Job in chapter 3, 29, 30, and 31. It is important to note that lament is an important characteristic of the Joban arguments. The formal characteristics of lament normally comprise an invocation, questions of reproach, a condemnation of enemies, an affirmation of confidence, assertion of innocence, a vow, hymnist blessings, and praise, recognition of divine response, a petition for help and a description, or complaint of suffering. Lamentations made by Job resemble the accusatory laments made in chapter 10, 13, and 23 of the book of Job (Perdue 94). The lamentations are even more clamorous in criticizing God for the unjust maltreatment of an innocent and just person. In addition, from the lamentation made by Job, there are no prospects for future redemption but only the ultimate outcome of eternal death. The political role of lamentations in that period was to merge the nation as one people who relied on the divine salvation through the monarchy. Lamentations also created an outlet through which defeat and difficulties disappointments would be expressed. However, lamentations by Job are generally accusations against God’s justice and an attempt to bring down the conceptual model of the temple’s function in effecting divine redemption. With the denial of God’s justice, this priestly spirituality collapsed (Perdue 95). In the book of Job, dialogue is the most important literary form, and in this case, it is an argument resulting to a heated debate. Job’s passionate attack on his opponents entails ridicule and show of direct allegations of fear and foolish reliance on a disproven hermeneutic of vengeance. Job blames them of senselessly defending the justice of God who abuses the righteous and his creation. The opponents refuse to give in to Job’s accusations and argue that Job must have done something bad that resulted to his suffering. From their arguments, it is very clear that the victim (Job) deserves whatever suffering he is going through (Perdue 95). The book of Job expresses a bold stroke in attaining the support of a significant number of exiles, that is, the manner in which we would be ready for a new sociopolitical certainty to come into existence. The book was not just based on theological debate or a theoretical explanation of the issues of innocent suffering. By refusing the mercy and justice of God, Job began a direct attack on continuing sociopolitical power remnants in the form of priesthood and kingship based on the conventional theology. However, the aim of the poet may not have “been to convince the exiles to enter into a void of meaningless despair, but to provide them the basis for a new social construction of a future reality in which God or at least past theological conceptions would be repudiated” (Perdue 95). Literary Forms in the Book of Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes has several literary genres and forms found in the earlier literature. The most prominent literary forms in the book of Ecclesiastes include maxims and proverbs, autobiography, royal testament, and narrative. The book is mainly composed of a collection of longer maxims and short proverbs offering advice and summarizing observations concerning the habits of the world. Most of the Wisdom Literatures is in this format. In both substance and form, “Eccl. 4:17-5:6, 7:1-12, 16-21, 8:1b-8, 9:17-10:20, and 11:1-6 are series of proverbs, most of which would be at home in more conventional Wisdom books” (Fox xii). Though Koheleth’s (Teacher’s) pessimistic, aggrieved, and unorthodox reflections provide the book a peculiar feature, he was a proverb-maker and a wisdom teacher (12:9), and he has useful advice to give (Fox xiii). Autobiography is a literary form evident in the book of Ecclesiastes. The Teacher (Koheleth) narrates his own story. The discourse of Koheleth is based on the traditional fictional autobiography from Mesopotamia. In those types of texts, the character (historical or otherwise) usually a king, narrates his experiences, and borrows lessons from them, majority of which are self-critical. In a similar way, Koheleth recognizes himself as the king and speaks of his search for wisdom, reports his conclusions and acknowledges his own shortcomings. Fictional autobiographies borrow from formulas identified from actual royal writings, in which the king prides himself on his accomplishments. In the book of Ecclesiastes, the same formulas appear in chapter one verse 12 to chapter two verses 9. Royal testament is also used in the book of Ecclesiastes, and it is an Egyptian Wisdom genre that involves the speaker (the king) narrating his experiences to his son and giving advice relevant to him in particular (Fox xiii). The autobiography of Koheleth is framed by the voice of the narrator, that is, that of the speaker in the epilogue (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14). The voice also refers to the Teacher in the third person in Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, 7:27, and 12:8. The epilogist reflects at Koheleth and extols his wisdom, but also tells us again that wisdom is not the man’s main concern, and it has its own limits. The epilogue is generally thought to have been added by a devout scribe who wanted to moderate the book in an unorthodox manner. However, it is also thought that the author himself who quoted the words of Koheleth could have written the epilogue. It is important of the reader to read Ecclesiastes in a narrative manner but not just as a collection of epigrams and proverbs intended to be separately valid and understood in itself. Thus, one cannot assume that the statements made by Koheleth express the teachings of the book (Fox xiii). The discourse by Koheleth is reflexive. He glances at himself and narrates what he did, thought, planned, and experienced. Some of his thoughts and feelings may be transitional and temporary, “left behind at a more mature stage in Koheleth’s development, as when he says that he had earlier come to loathe life (2:17; cf. 4:3)” (Fox xiii). He uncovers his soul in all its turning and twisting, difficulties, going with his readers on an every now and then difficult journey to knowledge. At the end, the knowledge turns out to be incomplete. Thus, the readers are to absorb Koheleth’s teachings and to observe as he moves through the winding and rocky path towards accepting and understanding life’s uncertainties and frustrations. Ultimately, the journey is very important (Fox xiii). How the Literary Forms Help To Bring Out the Message in the Book of Job and Ecclesiastes The book of Job unfolds as a didactic tale and it is preserved in a prose narrative thus, creating the present epilogue and prologue. Therefore, the story suggests to the students the significance of the virtue of abiding in God’s justice and being patient in suffering having hopes, that salvation will come, and those opposing the steadfastness of God are exposed and on certain occasions, they will be punished (Perdue 94). In other words, the literary form teaches us to be patient, to believe in the justice of God and to have hopes that one day God will redeem us. Thus, the didactic narrative used in the book of Job brings out clearly the message of God, Job, and his opponents. In the biblical period, lamentation featured things such as questions of reproach, affirmation of confidence, a complaint of suffering, and hymnist blessings and praises (Perdue 94). Our understanding of lamentations narrow down to a complaint of suffering, and it does not include the many elements as shown in Job’s lamentations. Thus, lament as a literary device has been used in the book of Job, to bring out clearly the message being passed. The dialogue is another element used in the book of Job. It is an important literary element in the form of an argument, which results to a heated debate between Job and his opponents. The dialogue is thought to bring out the message of a new social construction in the future in which God would be repudiated (Perdue 95). In the book of Ecclesiastes, the literary forms used bring out clearly the intended message. Most of the texts in this book are in the form of short proverbs and longer maxims. This literary form offers advice and summarizes some of the observations in world habits. In other words, the words in this book are full of wisdom and teachings about the world. Autobiography is another literary form used in the book of Ecclesiastes. This literary form expresses the struggles the king is undergoing as he attempts to recognize himself as the king and his quest for wisdom. At the end, the wisdom he seeks, he says it is meaningless. Narrative is another important literary form used in this book. Like autobiography, it uncovers the struggles the king he is undergoing in his struggle for knowledge which at the end turns out to be incomplete. Works Cited Enns, Peter, and Tremper Longman. Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008. Print. Fox, Michael V. The JPS Bible Commentary: Ecclesiastes. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2004. Print. Perdue, Leo G. Wisdom Literature: A Theological History. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. Print. Spark Notes Editors. Bible: The Old Testament. Sparknotes.com, 2002. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Read More