Danny ChaiWhen I was younger, I used to say that I wanted 12 sons; each of them would start a tribe and together we would form the nation of Chai. Obviously I didn’t mean it, but I just found it fascinating that a nation could begin with a single man, and each son could be a clan. Why couldn’t that happen today? Could it?
Our church is going through the Bible chronologically, and honestly, the genealogy stuff is boring to tears. The only thing that’s interesting is seeing which people end up starting languages and nations, because the text offers no clues as to why some end up nations and others don’t. I think I was sparked to thinking about this years ago when Pastor Mike offhandedly mentioned in a sermon how Eber is the father of the Hebrews (and the language). Perhaps I should be embarrassed by this, but I never knew that. I think I knew that Shem was where Semitic (and anti-Semitic) came from (speaking of which, why is being racist against Jews called anti-Semitic? As opposed to say, anti-Hebrew or anti-Jew? And doesn’t being anti-Semitic encompass Arabs also?), but not Hebrew.
Anyway, we’re reading it chronologically, so Job in the middle of Genesis. Someone explain to me why Job is thought to happen then. At my Catholic high school they said it was because of the writing style, but not knowing Hebrew, I have no idea what that means. In Walk Through The Bible, I think they just asserted that it did without saying why.
Looking at Chapter 2, shouldn’t it happen near the end of Genesis or later? His friends are said to be a Temanite, a Shuhite, and a Naamanite. Trusty Wikipedia says that Teman was an Edomite clan, which means they had to have come about after Genesis 36. Shuah is the 6th son of Abraham. Naaman is a son of Benjamin, which means they would have to have come about after Genesis 46. So shouldn’t Job be placed chronologically near the end of Genesis or later rather than the beginning?