Notice: This commentary on the book of Job does not explore the book chapter by chapter. Every reader can experience the book in that fashion. Rather, we have focused on sections and characters, attempting to present to the reader a vista that sees the whole of them in a less fractured setting than the setting in the story. This context will then complement a chapter-by-chapter reading.

1:1–2:13; 42:7–17 Review · Prologue and Epilogue: A significant poetic story plays out between these two bookends, but few doubt a close connection between Job’s prologue and epilogue, and for good reason. Both are composed in prose, stitched throughout with similar thread. (1) When speaking with the Adversary, God speaks of Job as “my servant Job” (1:8; 2:3). When speaking to the three friends, God uses …