Job the Unfinalizable Biblical Interpretation Series Editors in Chief Paul Anderson Yvonne Sherwood Editorial Advisory Board Akma Adam – Roland Boer – Musa Dube Jennifer L. Koosed – Vernon Robbins Annette Schellenberg – Carolyn J. Sharp Johanna Stiebert – Duane Watson Ruben Zimmermann VOLUME 124 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bins Job the Unfinalizable A Bakhtinian Reading of Job 1–11 By Seong Whan Timothy Hyun LEIDEn • BOSTOn The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bins 2013 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hyun, Seong Whan Timothy.  Job the unfinalizable : a Bakhtinian reading of Job 1–11 / by Seong Whan Timothy Hyun.   pages cm. — (Biblical interpretation series, ISSn 0928-0731 ; VOLUME 124)  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBn 978-90-04-25810-5 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBn 978-90-04-25811-2 (e-book) 1. Bible. Job I–XI—Commentaries. 2. Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhailovich), 1895–1975. I. Title.  BS1415.53.H98 2013  223’.106—dc23 2013029373 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.com/brill-typeface. ISSn 0928-0731 ISBn 978-90-04-25810-5 (hardback) ISBn 978-90-04-25811-2 (e-book) Copyright 2013 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. 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COnTEnTS Acknowledgments  .......................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Bakhtin’s Dialogism  ........................................................................... 3 Chronotope  ........................................................................................... 6 The Suitability of Bakhtin’s Dialogism for the Reading  of Job  .................................................................................................. 13 newsom’s/Stordalen’s Dialogic Readings of Job and My  Dialogic Reading of Job  ................................................................ 16 The Establishment of the Text  ....................................................... 23 The Scope of the Text  ....................................................................... 26 Outline of the Book ............................................................................ 27 2 Job in the Chronotope of the Prologue  ............................................ 29 The First Scene (Earthly Realm: 1:1–5)  ......................................... 30 Concluding Remark  ........................................................................... 47 The Second Scene (Heavenly Realm: 1:6–12)  ............................. 47 Concluding Remarks .......................................................................... 59 The Third Scene (Earthly Realm: 1:13–22)  ................................... 60 Concluding Remark  ........................................................................... 68 The Fourth Scene (Heavenly Realm: 2:1–7a)  .............................. 68 Concluding Remark  ........................................................................... 75 The Fifth Scene (Earthly Realm: 2:7b–10)  ................................... 75 Job’s Wife’s Voice  ................................................................................ 77 Concluding Remark  ........................................................................... 80 The Sixth Scene (Earthly Realm: 2:11–13)  .................................... 80 Concluding Remark  ........................................................................... 82 Conclusion  ............................................................................................ 82 3 Job’s Speeches in His new Chronotope  ............................................ 84 Job’s Language in the new/Estranged Chronotope of Chapter 3  .......................................................................................... 84 Spatial Language in the Chapter  ................................................... 85 Temporal Language in the Chapter  .............................................. 85 Chronotope in Chapter 3  ................................................................. 86 vi contents Job’s Speeches in the Chronotope of Chapter 3  ....................... 90 Job’s Language in an Estranged Space in Chapters 6, 7, 9 and 10  ................................................................................................ 108 Spatial Language in These Chapters  ............................................. 108 Temporal Language in These Chapters  ....................................... 108 Chronotope in Chapters 6, 7, 9 and 10  ......................................... 109 Job’s Speeches in the Chronotope  ................................................. 110 Job’s Language and His Body  .......................................................... 110 Job’s Language and His Relationship with God  ........................ 114 Job’s Language and His Relationship to His Friends  ............... 118 The Hopeless Place  ............................................................................ 125 Conclusion  ............................................................................................ 126 4 The Voices of the Three Friends  ......................................................... 128 Eliphaz’ Voice  ...................................................................................... 129 Eliphaz and Job’s Identity  ................................................................ 129 narrativity in Eliphaz’ Voice  ........................................................... 141 Job’s Fate  ............................................................................................... 145 Bildad’s Voice  ....................................................................................... 147 Job’s Words  ........................................................................................... 147 Job’s Piety  .............................................................................................. 151 Job’s Fate  ............................................................................................... 153 Job’s Knowledge  .................................................................................. 155 Zophar’s Voice  ..................................................................................... 158 Job’s Words  ........................................................................................... 158 Job’s Knowledge  .................................................................................. 161 Job’s Fate  ............................................................................................... 163 Conclusion  ............................................................................................ 164 5 The Dialogic Relationship between Voices in the Prologue and Those in the Dialogue Section  .................................................... 166 Job’s Perfect Piety and Possessions in Job 1:1–3  ......................... 182 Dust (רפע)  ............................................................................................. 188 Job’s Voice in the Prologue and in the Dialogue  ...................... 190 Sin (אטח)  ............................................................................................... 190 The Womb (ןטב)  ................................................................................. 191 Give (ןתנ)  ............................................................................................... 192 Return (בושׁ)  ......................................................................................... 193 God’s Voice and Hassatan’s Voice in Job’s Voice in the Dialogue  ............................................................................................ 193 contents vii God’s Voice  ........................................................................................... 194 Heart (בל)  ............................................................................................. 194 Without Reason (םנח)  ...................................................................... 195 Hassatan’s Voice  ................................................................................. 195 Hedge in (תכשׂ)  ................................................................................... 195 Blessings (םיכרב) and Knees (םיכרב)  ........................................... 196 Job’s Three Friends’ Voices  .............................................................. 197 The narrator’s Voice and Eliphaz’ Voice  ..................................... 198 Job’s Integrity  ....................................................................................... 198 Dust (רפע)  ............................................................................................ 198 Job’s Voice and Eliphaz’ Voice  ....................................................... 199 1:21  ........................................................................................................... 199 God’s and Hassatan’s Voices and Eliphaz’ Voice  ..................... 201 Voices in the Prologue and Bildad’s Voice  ................................. 201 Voices in the Prologue and Zophar’s Voice  ............................... 203 Conclusion  ............................................................................................ 205 6 Conclusion: Unfinalizing Job  ............................................................... 207 Conclusion  ............................................................................................ 219 Bibliography  ..................................................................................................... 221 Index of names  ................................................................................................ 229 Index of Scriptures  ......................................................................................... 231 Index of Subjects  ............................................................................................. 240 ACKnOWLEDGMEnTS This book is a revised version of my doctoral thesis submitted to the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield in 2011. Everyone who has written a PhD thesis would agree that writing a PhD thesis is hard and time-consuming work and can never be finished without the aid and support of many. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to those who have helped and supported me to complete my research and the writing of my PhD thesis at Sheffield. First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Hugh S. Pyper, who has provided me with careful and insight- ful guidance and comments throughout my study at Sheffield. Reading the book of Job with Bakhtin’s dialogism and chronotope has never been easy for me. However, Professor Hugh S. Pyper’s guidance and encour- agement have assisted me to carry on this difficult task. I am indebted to him in many ways. I would also like to thank Dr. Diana Edelman at the department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield. As my teach- ing internship supervisor, she has taught me how to act and respond in a classroom setting and provided me with helpful advice for my thesis. She has also provided me with valuable comments for my thesis in a reading group and postgraduate seminars. My gratitude is extended to Prof. Byron Curtis at the department of Biblical Studies, Geneva College, PA, USA. He is the one who opened my eyes to the beauty of the Biblical Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. His teaching at Geneva has inspired me to take the path of studying the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Second, I would like to express my gratitude to a number of my fel- low Korean students and friends. Dr. Sehyun Kim, Dr. Dohyung Kim, Rev. Wonseop Bae, and Rev. Sungchul Yoon have shared thoughts with me and helped me on a number of topics of debate. My special thanks go to Rosemarie Kossov who took the time to read and provide numerous help- ful suggestions to improve the English in my thesis. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my family. My genuine gratitude goes to my family and relatives. My mother, Yong Sin Lee, has supported and encouraged me with her prayers over the many years of my study. Her dedication and concern for my study have encouraged me not to give up the study. My beloved wife, Elizabeth Kim Hyun, has also spent count- less time correcting my English. Particularly, as a supporter, helper, friend, x acknowledgments and wife, she has walked along with me, encouraging me, praying with me and supporting me. Without her, it would have been impossible to ‘complete’ my thesis. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to my two sons, nathan and Caleb Hyun. They have patiently waited and prayed for me every night to finish the thesis so that they may go back to America as soon as possible. Without their loving patience, the years of my research would have been very stressful. Their mere presence has been my joy during these years. My family is the most precious gift that the Lord has given me. ךרבמ הוהי םשׁ יהי . . . ןתנ הוהי Tacoma, Washington Seong Whan Timothy Hyun