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In Contested Creations in the Book of Job: the-world-as-it-ought- and -ought-not-to-be Abigail Pelham reads the Book of Job both ‘forwards’—examining the perspectives on creation presented by Job and his friends and corrected by God’s authoritative voice from the whirlwind—and ‘backwards,’ demonstrating how the epilogue explodes readers’ certainties, forcing a reappraisal of the characters’ claims. The epilogue, Pelham argues, changes the book from one containing answers about creation to one which poses questions: What does it mean to make the world? Who has the power to create? If humans have creative power, is it divinely sanctioned, or has Job, acting creatively, set himself up as God’s rival? Engaging more thoroughly with Job’s ambiguity than previous scholars have done, Contested Creations explores the possibilities raised by these questions and considers their implications both within the book and beyond.
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Contested Creations in the Book of Job
Biblical Interpretation Series Editors in Chief
Paul Anderson Yvonne Sherwood
Editorial Board
Akma Adam – Roland Boer – Musa Dube Jennifer L. Koosed – Vernon Robbins Annette Schellenberg – Carolyn J. Sharp Johanna Stiebert – Duane Watson Ruben Zimmermann
VOLUME 113
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/bins
Contested Creations in the Book of Job The-World-as-It-Ought-and-Ought-Not-to-Be
By
Abigail Pelham
Leiden • boston 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pelham, Abigail. Contested creations in the Book of Job : the-world-as-it-ought-and-ought-not-to-be / by Abigail Pelham. p. cm. — (Biblical interpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731 ; v. 113) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-21820-8 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Creation—Biblical teaching. 2. Bible. O.T. Job—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. BS1199.C73P45 2012 223’.106—dc23
2012010127
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface. ISSN 0928-0731 ISBN 978 90 04 21820 8 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 23029 3 (e-book) Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper.
For Peter
CONTENTS Prologue: The Author, the Reader, and the Professional Not-Knower ................................................................................................... Writing and Un-Writing ............................................................................ The Author in Biblical Studies ................................................................ The Reader in Biblical Studies ................................................................ It’s Complicated ........................................................................................... ‘Quod Scripsi, Scripsi ’: The Reader as Writer ...................................... Job’s Ambiguity ...................................................