Job
in Evangelical Exegetical Commentary
Pages
664
Publisher
Lexham Press
Published
7/17/2024
ISBN-13
9781683597582
“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?”
The book of Job is challenging. Its Hebrew is often obscure, its length and subject matter are intimidating, and its meaning has been debated throughout the history of biblical interpretation. In this commentary, Duane A. Garrett presents a fresh argument for the book’s meaning. Job demonstrates the inability of Wisdom, as a theological tradition, to solve the problem of evil. Without rejecting Wisdom, it shows that only God can truly deal with evil. God’s answer to evil is found only in Christ, who is anticipated in the book of Job.
The book of Job is challenging. Its Hebrew is often obscure, its length and subject matter are intimidating, and its meaning has been debated throughout the history of biblical interpretation. In this commentary, Duane A. Garrett presents a fresh argument for the book’s meaning. Job demonstrates the inability of Wisdom, as a theological tradition, to solve the problem of evil. Without rejecting Wisdom, it shows that only God can truly deal with evil. God’s answer to evil is found only in Christ, who is anticipated in the book of Job.
Reviews
DavidH
August 9, 2026
August 9, 2026
Garrett offers one of the most original and satisfying readings of Job available. Particularly valuable is his account of the friends’ use of traditional wisdom: much of what they say is true in itself, but they increasingly distort reality and falsely accuse Job in order to preserve their theological system. This provides an unusually persuasive explanation of God’s verdict in 42:7–9, where Job is vindicated as the one who has spoken truthfully. Garrett also argues that the divine speeches genuinely address Job’s larger concern about God’s governance of a world containing evil rather than merely silencing him. His readings of Behemoth and Leviathan are fascinating, though at points more speculative than the text requires. Detailed, independent, theologically serious and consistently thought-provoking, this is perhaps the best overall combination of originality and exegetical usefulness among recent Job commentaries.