"Hast thou considerered my servant Job"

In the Hebrew Scriptures, Job belongs to "The Writings" - the poetic books, but including Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles and prophet Daniel. it is a drama - the narrativies at the beginning and end are in prose, the speeches and answers of the friends, Elihu, Job, and God Himself in Poetry. But of course, the poetic content of the book does not dminish its reality or reliability: here is the true record of the suffereings of a servant of God.

Yet, inspired though it is, the book of Job is not without its problems, and each new generation of readers has to learn to compredhend its message.

The author of this book examines carefully the development of Job’s character under trial. He sees the whole book as a powerful example of God’s self-revelation.
He portrays the life of Job, moreover, as a parable of human life generally: afflicted by sin (typified by leprosy), in bondage to mortality, in need of redemption, and (with the eye of faith) looking to the hope of resurrection. Many helpful parallels between the language and events of Job’s life and Christ’s redemptive work are drawn.
This book, comprising first an overall survey of the book and then chapter by chapter notes, is useful for all who want to understand more of this fascinating character from partiarchal times.