Job (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms | BCOTWP)

This latest gift from the trusted pen of Tremper Longman evinces the rare combination of stretching the most learned mind and touching the most tender soul. Grappling with the intricacies of this most difficult of biblical texts and the opaqueness of much of its theological argument, Longman offers here a work of inestimable pastoral and practical value.

—Eugene H. Merrill, distinguished professor of Old Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

When a singular biblical text causes an accomplished commentarial hand to tremble in attempting to grasp it, we are struck with respect for both authors. Here a biblicist conversant with Wisdom literature sifts reams of earlier commentary to identify the genius of Job as a pointed poetic challenge to reducing Scripture to ‘retribution theology’ and thus allows the ‘voice from the whirlwind’ to move us from expecting answers to responding to an encounter.

—David B. Burrell, professor of comparative theology, Tangaza College, Nairobi

I have greatly benefited from Longman’s excellent new translation and commentary on Job. He masterfully guides the reader through the book’s challenging, complex grapplings with the question of undeserved suffering. All this grappling with suffering, he argues, is the means to a greater end: debating and exploring the nature of true wisdom. In his interpretations, Longman presents his own penetrating reflections and gleans rich insights from the vast world of Job commentary. He has a rare, enviable talent for presenting solid scholarship in well-written prose that is eminently understandable and immediately relevant. I highly recommend this volume.

—Stephen L. Cook, Catherine N. McBurney Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature, Virginia Theological Seminary