Literary Devices in Book of Job
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Uz-zy Wuzzy The story is set in the land of Uz, which, it should be noted, is not part of Israel. You could guess that this officially classifies Job as a non-Israelite (a pretty shocking char...
Genre
Sound the sirens, Shmoopers: Job is a combination of poetry and prose, and the Bible never merges two styles lightly. What does this mean for you, the alert reader? Read on to find out. The frame s...
What's Up With the Title?
The title of this book is one of the very few cases where the Bible just says what it means—no deceptive advertising here. "Job" (pronounced y-obe) means hate or persecution in Hebrew. Makes a go...
What's Up With the Ending?
At the end of the Book of Job, God speaks. Whether there was a booming echo, we can't be sure, but it sure shuts Job up. For all of his yammering throughout the book, once God starts speaking, Job...
Trivia
Even though Job isn't at the beginning of the Bible, a lot of people think it's one of the earliest stories. We're millennia and millennia ago. Check out our discussion of "Setting" for a bit more...
Sex Drugs And Violence Rating
Aside from being a little heavy on the heart, Job is mostly a philosophical discussion. Sure, Job has some nasty skin diseases, but we don't hear them described in that much detail. This is pretty...
Allusions
J.B. by Archibald MacLeishThis Pulitzer Prize-winning play, published in the early 1950s, retells the story of Job through the eyes of two circus performers who take on the roles of Satan and God....