- Most noteworthy Biblical personalities are introduced with their lineage. Why is Job’s lineage not stated (Job 1:1)?
- What significance do you attach to the numbers in Job 1:3?
- Explain the geographical reference “East” in Job 1:3?
- What is your initial appraisal of Job based on the brief narrative in Job 1:4-5?
- JPS translates ha-Satan as “the Adversary.” The expected rendering which appears in other versions is “Satan”. Why is there a difference, and does it matter?
- What reason would the Adversary have for roaming the earth (Job 1:7)?
- Why does God single out Job for praise (Job 1:8)?
- In the Adversary’s response, what does he mean by “You have fenced him round” (Job 1:10)?
- The Hebrew word that is translated “he will … blaspheme you” is y’var’kheka, literally, “he will bless you” (Job 1:11). How do you explain this discrepancy?
- Why does God give the Adversary carte blanche except for harming Job himself?
- How would you characterize the progression of calamities in Job 1:13-18?
- What is the significance of mentioning the nationalities of the attackers (Sabeans, Chaldeans) in Job 1:15 and Job 1:17?
- How would you characterize Job’s response to the calamities (Job 1:20-21)?
- When Job says, “naked shall I return there” (Job 1:21), to what is he referring?
