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Heb 514 (654): The Book of Job. Spring 2004

Professor M. V. Fox

 Goals:

To establish as well as possible the meaning of the text, working on three levels: textual, philological, and literary-ideological. Detailed studies of passages build toward an understanding of the message of the book as a whole.

 

Session 1-2: Tues 8:50; Session 2: Thur 8:50; Session 3: Thur. 9:55

 

Requirements.

Hebrew readings:

Texts prepared for class: Everyone reads each unit in time for the class in which it is discussed. Read with help of the commentaries (see below).

 

Be prepared to translate every verse but the hopelessly obscure. Read with help of the commentaries. IDENTIFY and keep a list of obscure verses for later clarification or quarantine before midterm and final.                      

                        Some readings in 4QJobPaleoa (per Reader)

 

Service as CEO in turn (see below). The CEO reads three commentaries and serves as a resource. Provide a concisesummary for the benefit of the other students and hand it out on the day the passage is read in class. Do this whether or not your chapter is actually read in class.

 

 Versions.

 Readings in LXX. Session 3 (Thur. 9:55). Eight verses. As in first semester, except that we will read some of 11Qum Job when we reach relevant chapters.

            Note: in chaps 38-40, we will read some Peshitta, Targum, and 11QtgJob (in Reader.

 

            Read and compare with MT. Unless otherwise specified the previous week, these will be the first 8 verses (not including titles) of the unit read in session 1. Identify the differences from the MT. Guiding questions: (1) What is the translator's interpretation of the Hebrew text? (2) What Hebrew text underlies the translations? (3) How did the variants come about?

 

Issues to think about as you read Job:

             Structure: What is the scope of the unit and its subsections?

             Text history: have errors crept into the text, and are there different textual traditions for this unit?

             Literary history: Are there signs of revisions or additions?

             Message: what is the main point the persona is trying to convey? How does this message fit in with what he says elsewhere? Is the author trying to communicate something different through the person or behind the persona's back?

             Poetics and rhetoric: What techniques does the speaker use to convey and impress his message on his audience? How does the author communicate with his audience? Are there poetic values beyond the rhetorical? (ie beyond those directed at persuasion).

 

    Special topic: Metaphor.

 

            English readings

            Heb. 514

                       N. Glatzer, The Dimensions of Job (Introduction, pp. 1-48).

 

            In Reader at Bob's Copy Shop, University Square:

Carol A. Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations. Oxford 2003. Pp. 3-31.                                           

Michael Fishbane, "The Book of Job and Inner-Biblical Discourse." Pp. 86-98 in  Leo G. Perdue and W. Clark Gilpin, eds., The Voice from the Whirlwind. Nashville: Abindon Press.

                       George Lakoff and Mark Turner, More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago, 1989.

                        David H. Aaron, Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics, and Divine Imagery. Leiden: Brill, 2001, pp. 1-67.

Adele Berlin, "On Reading Biblical Poetry: The Role of Metaphor," VTSup 1997 (ed. J. A. Emerton), pp. 25-36.

Freeman, Margaret. ?Momentary Stays, Exploding Forces: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach to the Poetics of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, Journal of English Linguistics 30 (2002): 73-90. ELECTRONIC RESERVES. Discussion led by Kevin Chau.

Alonso-Schöckel, A Manual of Hebrew Poetics. Rome 1988. Pp. 95-141.

Items from Leo G. Perdue and W. Clark Gilpin, eds., The Voice from the Whirlwind:

                        Michael Fishbane, "The Book of Job and Inner-Biblical Discourse." Pp. 86-98 in 

                        Edwin Good, "The Problem of Evil in the Book of Job." Ibid. 50-69,

                        René Girard, "Job as Failed Scapegoat." Ibid, pp. 185-207.

                        recommended:

                         Harry Orlinsky, "Studies in the Septuagint of the Book of Job," parts I-V, appeared serially in HUCA 1957-1964.

 

                    Also: J.David Clines, Job (Word) 1982: vol. I. xxix-lxii

 

     

            Commentaries. Use at least one with all readings.

            Clines Job, vol.1 (Dallas: Word Biblical Commentary, 1989). Vol. 2 due in April.

            M. Pope. Anchor Bible. Skimpy but useful for comparative purposes.

            E. Dhorme. Thoroughgoing. The best in textual-philological matters.

            R. Gordis. The Book of Job (NY: Moreshet, 1978). Perhaps the most useful all around.

            Norman Habel (OTL). 1985. Emphasis on form criticism.

            Michael V. Fox (OTL). 2010. But try to pass the course before then.

 

            Term paper:

            "The Meaning of the Book of Job."

                        Maximum 15 pages + biblio. (I stop reading at bottom of p. 15). Due April 29. Stylistic revisions (required before essay is considered complete) are to be completed and submitted by exam day.

            This essay is to be based on your encounter with the text. You may use scholarly literature to help you define and argue your thesis (especially commentaries on difficult and crucial verses), but this is not a seminar-type paper in which you engage extensively with other scholars.
 

        Style: See ..\Style.htm

 

           Oral critiques of articles. Dates to be announced.

           Oral poetic readings of segments, to be announced.

            CEO service. In rotation, prepare and distribute a précis of three commentaries on a section of about 10 verses. Be succinct. Produce a summary of the sort that would help you prepare for exam. That means identifying key issues. The CEO should take the initiative of speaking up to provide insights and and interpretations during the session when his unit is discussed. See below.

 

            Exams

            Midterm: Thur. March 11 at 9:55. Includes material indicated below and Glatzer's and Clines's Introductions. Also discussion of broader thematic issues.

            Final:   At scheduled time, but in VH 1351. Questions may include any of the chapters assigned for the semester, but the emphasis will be on the chapters designated for the final exam. Discussion of broader thematic issues.

                   

 READINGS IN JOB, Independent and in-class:

 

Note: When we reach chaps. 13 and 14, we will look at 4QPaleoJobc (Job 13:18-20; 23-27; 14:13-18); see end of Reader.

  

Hebrew 514

count    chapters

FOR MIDTERM

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

12

13

14

16

19

21

For FINAL (in addition to the above)

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

31

32

33

38

39

40

41

42

 

READ THE REST IN ENGLISH!‑-and in proper sequence. You are responsible for an understanding (ha!) of the book of Job in its entirety.

 

CEOs for first 5 chaps.

cycle:

Nate Bjork            1:1-12; 4:1-11; 7:1-10; 9:24-35;

Jim Kirk                 1:13-21; 4:12-21; 7:11-21; 13:1-11;

Tim Mackie            2:1-13; 5:1-7; 8:1-12; 13:12-19;

Jason Sommerlad    3:1-10; 5:8-16; 8:13-22; 13:20-28;

Tod Twist                3:11-19; 5:17-27; 9:1-13; 14:1-13;

Ching-An Yeh          3:20-26; 6:1-10; 9:14-24; 14:13-22;

 

The CEO units correspond to literary units and are inevitably somewhat unequal. Please do not take it personally if your unit is shorter than others'.

Do all these units anyway, even if (or especially if) we skip or summarize some of the material.

If a component of a speech is not included, I would like the CEO of the adjacent unit in the same chapter to place it in context by briefly summarizing the omitted one.

 

Probable continuation: 16:12-22; 19:20-29; 22:2-14; 24:13-25; .27:8-23 [identify Zophar's speech]; 28:1-12; 28:13-28 (emphasize 23-28)...

Units that MUST be done at the end:

28:1-28; 29:1-25 (at least cursorily); 31:29-40; 32:1-1-22 (at least cursorily); 33:13-33 (ditto); 38:1-41; 39:1-30 (at least cursorily); 40:1-14; 40:15-32 (at least cursorily); 42:1-7; 42:8-17.