TY  - BOOK
AU  - Hernández,Dominick
TI  - The Prosperity of the Wicked: A Theological Challenge in the Book of Job and in Ancient Near Eastern Literature 
T2  - Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts
SN  - 9781463244255
U1  - 223/.106 23/eng/20230419
PY  - 2022///]
CY  - Piscataway, NJ
PB  - Gorgias Press
KW  - Bible
KW  - Criticism, Interpretation/Old Testament
KW  - Religion
KW  - RELIGION / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / Old Testament
KW  - bisacsh
N1  - Frontmatter --; Table of Contents --; Acknowledgments --; Abbreviations --; 1. The Prosperity of the Wicked and Divine Injustice --; 2. The Conflict over the Fate of the Wicked --; 3. “Unequivocal Reiteration”: Eliphaz in Job 15:17–35 --; 4. “Woe is the Way of the Wicked”: Bildad in Job 18 --; 5. “The Destitute, the Dispossessed, and the Dead”— Zophar in Job 20:4–29 --; 6. The Prosperity of the Wicked According to Job—Job 21 --; 7. Conclusions --; Bibliography --; Index; restricted access
N2  - The book of Job has long been considered the biblical text that is most relevant to the question of theodicy. Therefore, much of its interpretational history has focused on considering theological explanations for the problem of innocent suffering. This emphasis on the “righteous sufferer” motif, though reasonable, has caused scholars to overlook what considerable sections of the first two rounds of dialogue communicate about the characters’ perceptions concerning the fate of the wicked. To Job’s friends, justice comes in the form of the wicked consistently suffering divinely appointed consequences for their sins, which is an outcome they eventually apply to Job as the conversation intensifies. According to Job, human experience blatantly contradicts his friends’ claims about uniformity in retribution. Job’s overt allegations about the inconsistency of God’s justice, coupled with the assertion that the wicked prosper with no divine restraint, are revolutionary when compared to other sections of the Bible. As one branches out from the Bible to other ancient Near Eastern compositions (i.e., from Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt), it is readily noticeable that several of the “righteous sufferer” compositions similarly exhibit the prevalence of the doctrine of just retribution, utilizing comparable language and imagery to communicate corresponding ideas to those in Job. Does Job convincingly argue against a fixed system of just retribution by proclaiming the prosperity of the wicked—an assertion that distinctly runs contrary to traditional biblical and ancient Near Eastern wisdom? This study addresses this question, giving careful consideration to the rhetoric, imagery, and literary devices used to treat the issue of the fate of the wicked in Job’s first two rounds of dialogue, where the topic is predominantly disputed. The analysis will glean from related biblical and non-biblical texts to illustrate that Job specifically counters five recurring arguments of his friends’ speeches that are based upon traditional wisdom
UR  - https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463244255
UR  - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781463244255
UR  - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781463244255/original
ER  -