
Job the Silent
A Study in Historical Counterpoint
Bruce Zuckerman(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 22. October 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-19-512127-8 (ISBN)
Description
This remarkable work offers a brilliantly original reading of the book of Job, one of the great classics of biblical literature, and in the process develops a new formula for understanding how biblical texts evolve in the process of transmission.
Zuckerman presents the thesis that the book of Job was intended as a parody the stereotypical righteous sufferer. In his most extended analogy, Zuckerman compares the book of Job and its fate to that of a famous Yiddish short story, `Bontshe Shvayg', another covert parody whose protagonist has come to be revered as a paradigm of innocent Jewish suffering. The history of this story is used to show how a literary text becomes separated from the intention of its author, and comes to have a quite different meaning for a specific community of readers.
Zuckerman presents the thesis that the book of Job was intended as a parody the stereotypical righteous sufferer. In his most extended analogy, Zuckerman compares the book of Job and its fate to that of a famous Yiddish short story, `Bontshe Shvayg', another covert parody whose protagonist has come to be revered as a paradigm of innocent Jewish suffering. The history of this story is used to show how a literary text becomes separated from the intention of its author, and comes to have a quite different meaning for a specific community of readers.
Reviews / Votes
'This is one of the most fascinating and perceptive studies of the book of Job that I have read.' * Journal of Theological Studies * '[A] scintillating study...a magnificent counterpoint to the traditional interpretation of the book of Job' * Hebrew Studies *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
503 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-512127-8 (9780195121278)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/1998
1st Edition
Oxford University Press, UK
€80.39
Available for download
Person
Author
Professor of ReligionProfessor of Religion, University of Southern California