Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 46:1 (NA 1995)
Article: The Book Of Job And The Fear Of God
Author: Lindsay Wilson

TynBul 46:1 (1995) p. 59

The Book Of Job And The Fear Of God

Lindsay Wilson

Summary

This article studies the function of the ‘fear of God’ idea in the book of Job. It is argued that, despite the difference in terminology, the ‘fear of God’ is equivalent to the ‘fear of the LORD’ concept of Proverbs. The location of the motif in the final form of the book of Job suggests that the ‘fear of God’ is not being proposed as the answer to Job’s dilemma. Rather, Job is one who maintains his ‘fear of God’ throughout the book, yet is left with his questions and suffering. The ‘fear of God’ is seen as the solution by Job’s friends, the wisdom interlude of chapter 28, and by Elihu, yet all this is overridden by the Yahweh speeches and epilogue, where the ‘fear of God’ is not mentioned. While the ‘fear of God’ is central to the wisdom stream, the book of Job establishes that it is not the answer to every problem in life.

I. Introduction: The ‘Fear Of The Lord’ In Wisdom Literature

Since the ‘fear of the LORD’ is a concept of utmost importance in the OT, it is surprising that no major monograph has been written in English on the subject, and those that have appeared in French and German are now over 25 years old.1 It is appropriate, then, to re-examine how this pivotal idea is understood in the wisdom tradition.

TynBul 46:1 (1995) p. 60

The ‘fear of the LORD’ is prominent in both wisdom and non-wisdom texts. In the covenant strand of the OT, the ‘fear of the LORD’ (or Yahweh) is most evident in Deuteronomy (e.g., 4:10; 5:29; 6:2, 13, 24; 10:12, 20), but it is also common in the historical books (e.g., 1 Sa. 12:14, 24; 1 Ki. 8:40, 43; 2 Ch. 19:7, 9) and the prophets (e.g., Is. 11:2-3; Je. 5:22-24; Mal. 3:5). Yet, this fear of Yahweh is also woven into the fabric of the wisdom books, in which Israel’s salvation history is strangely absent. It is b...