Was Job a Prophet?

Question

Hi.
What do you think about Job? Was he a prophet? Islam says yes, Catholics say he’s a folktale. Certainly he is at least a priest in the end, yes?

How does the language it was written in compare to other examples of ancient Hebrew?

Was Job a descendant of Abraham, or did he predate him?

Speaking of Abraham, when God tells him to kill the son he loves, was God expecting him to take Ishmael, and is Abraham testing God back by bringing the miraculous child to the sacrifice?

Thanks!

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    There is no definitive answer to your first question! There is a debate in the Talmud, Tractate Bava Batra 15a, and according to most of the Rabbis in the Talmud Job did indeed exist; however, Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani is of the opinion that Job never physically existed and that the entire Book of Job is allegorical.

    According to Jewish tradition, the Book of Job was probably written by Moses. There is an excellent resource published by ArtScroll Publications called Iyov/Job. It has a contemporary translation and an anthology of various commentaries. It should be easily available from the ArtScroll website – www.artscroll.com .

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team