JOB
(Heb. «’Iyyob»; etym. uncertain).
Upright and pious man of the OT. He lived in the country of Uz (Jb. 1:1). The first mention of Job in any other book of the OT is found in Ez. 14:14, 16, 20.
This patriarch lived somewhere east of Palestine, near the desert, at a time when the Chaldeans were raiding westward (Jb. 1:17).
There is no reason to doubt the historicity of the book of Job or the authenticity of his remarkable experiences, which are described, with great poetic audacity, in the book that bears his name.
The topic is the following: Why does God allow suffering to the righteous? These experiences have given rise to a splendid philosophical poem.