III. Literary Background And Character

Job is classified with the Wisdom Literature of the OT. This genre of literature has a variety of forms, ranging from simple sayings to learned discourse (Andersen, 23). Such literature is not restricted to the OT or to the Bible. Wisdom Literature has common concerns, and the geographical location of Israel and some parallels in form and thought with extrabiblical literature indicate that a book such as Job would not have been produced in isolation. These points of contact with other sources will help us to interpret the book and possibly help us to understand something about its origin.

Job is didactic, but it is profoundly more religious than the other Wisdom Literature. Virtually every genre of literature in the OT can be found in it. Efforts have been made to characterize Job as an epic poem, a drama, a dialogue, and a lawsuit. But Job is in a class by itself.