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There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

1:1 land of Uz. The land of Uz is mentioned in Lamentations 4:21 as home to the “daughter of Edom.” Edom was the same as Esau, brother of Jacob, who later moved into the region, around the southern end of the Dead Sea. It was possibly named after Uz, the grandson of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:20-21, 28), who gave his own name to Mount Seir, in the land of Edom. He, in turn, may have been named after Uz, the grandson of the patriarch Shem (Genesis 10:21-23). Alternatively, the latter may himself have first settled this region.


1:1 Job. Job was a real person, as confirmed in both Old and New Testaments (Ezekiel 14:14,20; James 5:11), despite the contention of religious liberals that he was only a mythological character. The entire context of Job’s narrative is clearly in the patriarchal age, probably the time of Abraham or earlier. Jacob had a grandson named Job (Genesis 46:13) and there are several Jobabs in the Bible (e.g., Genesis 36:33), but all of these clearly lived after the time of this Job. Some have suggested that Job was either Shem or Melchizedek, but these are mere speculations. Job’s narrative stands all alone, probably the oldest book of the Bible, except for the first eleven chapters of Genesis.


1:1 perfect and upright. Job was the world’s most righteous and godly man since Noah and before Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14,20). This introductory statement was twice confirmed by God Himself (Job 1:8; 2:3). He was also “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3), probably the most wealthy and influential man in all the “nations” of the region.


1:1 eschewed. Old English for “shunned.”


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