The first collection, it is admitted, was not the work of
Solomon. These proverbs were composed as late as 600 B.C. The second
collection is presented as "The Proverbs of Solomon." If any of
Solomon's proverbs exist they are contained in this collection. The
third collection is anonymous. The fourth begins as follows: "These
are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah,
copied out" (700 B.C.). The fifth contains "The words of Agur the son
of Jakeh." The sixth, comprising the first nine verses of the last
chapter, are "The words of King Lemuel." The seventh, comprising the
remainder of the chapter, is a poem, written after the Captivity.
Job.
It is remarkable that the book which, from a literary point of view,
occupies the first place among the books of the Bible, should be the
only one in the collection that was not written by a believer in the
religion of the Bible. It is almost universally conceded that the
book of Job was not written by a Jew, but by a Gentile.
Most Christians ascribe its authorship to Job himself; but there
is no more authority for ascribing it to Job than there is for
ascribing the Pentateuch to Moses. Job is the name of the leading
character of the book, not the name of its author. Its authorship is
unknown. The Talmud asserts, and probably correctly, that Job was
not a real personage--that the book is an allegory. Luther says,
"It is merely the argument of a fable."
Regarding its antiquity, Dr. Hitchcock says: "The first written of
all the books in the Bible, and the oldest literary production in the
world, is the book of Job." The date assigned for its composition is
1520 B.C.
Had Job been written a thousand years before the time claimed, it
would not be the oldest literary production in the world. But it was
probably written a thousand years after the time claimed. Luther places
its composition 500 years after this time; Renan says that it was
written 800 years later, Ewald and Davidson 900 years later. Grotius
and De Wette believe that it was written 1000 years after the date
assigned, while Hartmann and others contend that it was written still
later. While its exact date cannot be determined, there is internal
evidence pointing to a much later age than that named.
"Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the
south" (ix, 9).
The use of these Greek astronomical names proves a later origin. So,
too, does the following passage:
"The Chaldeans made out three bands" (i, 17).
Of this people Chambers' Encyclopedia says: "The Chaldeans are first
heard of in the ninth century before Christ as a small Accadian tribe
on the Persian Gulf." This was seven centuries after the date assigned
for Job, while the same authority states that Chaldea did not exist
until a still later period.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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