In view of the didactic character of the entire Holy Scriptures, the assimilation of the name "instructive" to only some books indicates that they were written with the special purpose of teaching, instructing, and showing how one should think about a certain subject, how it should be understood. This goal, when applied to religious and moral truths, is indeed pursued by teaching books. Their view, the basic point of view on the doctrine of faith and piety, is the same as in the law; Its peculiarity lies in the desire to bring the divinely revealed truth closer to the understanding of man, to bring him, with the help of various considerations, to the realization that it should be presented in this way, and not otherwise. Thanks to this, offered in the law in the form of a commandment and prohibition, it appears in the teaching books as a living conviction of the one to whom it is given, who has thought and reflected on it, and is expressed as truth, not only because it is revealed in the law, as truth, but also because it fully agrees with the thought of man, has already become, as it were, his own property, his own thought. By bringing divinely revealed truths closer to human understanding, teaching books really "perfect consciousness and piety." And as for examples of such elucidation of them, they are primarily observed in the Book of Genesis. Job. Its main thesis, the question of the relationship between God's truth and human truth, is interpreted by the author from the point of view of its acceptability for human consciousness. Initially doubting Divine Justice, Job finds himself as a result of conversations believing in the inflexibility of divine truth. The objective proposition: "God is just" is raised to the level of personal subjective conviction. A similar character distinguishes Prince Alex. Ecclesiastes. Its purpose is to inspire man with the fear of God (XII:13), to induce him to keep the commandments of God. The means to this is, on the one hand, the explanation of the proposition that everything that distracts a person from God, leading to His oblivion – various worldly goods do not constitute true happiness for a person, and therefore one should not indulge in them, and, on the other hand, the revelation of the truth that keeping the commandments gives him real good, since it leads to the blessedness granted for a good life after death,  — to this eternally abiding good. In the same way, Prince. Proverbs contains reflections on the principles of revealed religion, law and theocracy and their influence on the formation of the intellectual, moral and civil life of Israel. The result of this reflection is the proposition that only the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of His Holiness constitute true wisdom that soothes the mind and heart. And since various rules of religious and moral activity serve as an expression of this kind of wisdom, they are based on the conviction that revealed truth agrees with the requirements of the human spirit.

Revealing the revealed truth from the point of view of its agreement with the understanding of man, the teaching books are indicators of the spiritual development of the Jewish people under the guidance of the law. In the person of his best representatives, he was not only a suffering being in relation to the truths he discovered, but more or less pondered over them, assimilated them, i.e., brought them into harmony with his inner convictions and beliefs. Immersing his heart and mind in the realm of revelation, he either presented the objects of his contemplation for instruction, for the development of religious knowledge and the promotion of the purity of morality required by the law, as we see in Book II. Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and some Psalms (LXXVII, CIV, CV, etc.), or noted, expressed the impression that this contemplation made on his heart, in the lyrical form of religious feelings and heartfelt reflections (Psalms). The fruit of divinely enlightened reflection on the Divine revelation given to the Jewish people as a law, the teaching books are primarily subjective in nature, in contrast to the objective exposition of the truths of faith and piety in the law and the objective description of the life of the Jewish people in historical books. Another difference between teaching books is their poetic form with its characteristic feature - parallelism, defined by researchers of Jewish poetry as the relationship of one verse to another. It is a kind of rhyme of thought, a symmetry of an idea, usually expressed two or sometimes three times in different terms, sometimes synonymous, sometimes opposite. In accordance with the different relationship of poems, parallelism can be synonymous, antitic, synthetic and rhyme. The first type of parallelism occurs when parallel terms correspond to each other, expressing the same meaning in equivalent terms. Examples of such parallelism are provided by Psalm CXIII — "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from (among the foreigners), Judah became His holiness, Israel became His possession. The sea saw it and fled, the Jordan turned back, the mountains leaped like rams, and the hills like lambs." Antitic parallelism consists in the correspondence of two terms to each other through the opposition of expressions or feelings. "Sincere are the reproaches of the lover, and false are the kisses of the hater. A well-fed soul tramples on even a honeycomb, but a hungry soul is sweet all bitterness" (Proverbs XXVII:6-7). "Some of chariots, some of horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. They staggered and fell, but we arose and stand upright" (Psalm XIX:8-9). Parallelism can be synthetic, when it consists only in the similarity of construction or measure: words do not correspond to words and the members of the phrase do not correspond to the members of the phrase, as equivalent or opposite in meaning, but the turn of phrase and the form are identical; the subject corresponds to the subject, the verb to the verb, the adjective to the adjective, and the meter is the same. "The law of the Lord is perfect, it strengthens the soul; the revelation of the Lord is true, it makes the simple wise; the commandments of the Lord are righteous, they rejoice the heart; the fear of the Lord is pure, it enlightens the eyes" (Psalm XVIII). Finally, parallelism is sometimes merely apparent, and consists only in a certain analogy of construction or in the development of thought in two verses. In these cases, it is purely rhyming and lends itself to endless combinations. Each member of parallelism in Hebrew poetry constitutes a verse consisting of a combination of iambic and trochaeans, the most common verse of the Hebrews being the heptasyllabic, or seven syllables. Poems of this meter were written by book. Job (III–XLII:6), the entire book of Proverbs, and most of the Psalms. There are also verses of four, five, six and nine syllables, sometimes alternating with verses of various sizes. Each verse is, in turn, a part of a stanza, the essential property of which is that it contains a single, or main, idea, the full disclosure of which is given in the totality of its constituent verses. However, in some cases, two different thoughts are combined in one stanza, or the same thought develops and continues beyond this limit.

ABOUT THE BOOK OF JOB

Title of the book. The place and time of Job's life. The Book of Job (Hebrew??? Greek: Ίώβ) received its name from the main character in it, whose story of misfortunes served as a reason for the author to resolve the question of the causes of the suffering of the righteous man.

In the book of his name, Job appears with all the signs of a historical person: it indicates his origin, time and place of life, its duration, a description of the family life of the sufferer, social status, etc. In contrast to this, Theodore of Mopsuetia denied the existence of Job, considering the book of his name to be a collection of fables. The same view was expressed by the Jewish rabbis Resh-Lakish and Samuel bar Nachman. "Job," remarks the latter, "never existed; he was not a created man, but a parable like the one that Nathan offered to David" (Talmud. Baba. Bathra, 15a). The extremity of this view, later repeated by Salmisius, Michaelis, Augusti, and De Wette, was recognized by the rabbis themselves, of whom Chai-Gaon (1000) modified the words of Samuel bar Nachman as follows: "Job existed, but he was created to become a parable." And indeed, the denial of the existence of Job is not reconciled with the testimony of St. John. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: "Son of man, saith the Lord to the prophet Ezekiel, if any earth had sinned against me... and (I) would send (I) upon it famine and began to destroy men and cattle on it; and if these three men had been found in it: Noah, Daniel and Job, they would have saved only their own souls by their righteousness... neither sons nor daughters would have been saved, but they, only they, would have been saved..." (Ezekiel XIV:13-16). The mention of Job, along with the undoubtedly historical figures Noah and Daniel, does not allow any doubt about the historical character of his personality. The historical authenticity of Job's sufferings, and consequently of Job himself, is also recognized by the well-known words of Ap. James: "Behold, we bless those who have endured. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of it from the Lord" (James V:11). It is also pointed out that the name of Job is a symbolic name – "the one who is at war"; it may have been given to him as a result of the writer's idea that he was enmity against God and friends, therefore, in accordance with his character depicted in the book, i.e., it is a fictitious name. But if the name itself is fictitious, then there is no obstacle to think that the person himself is fictitious. But, as can be seen from the Bible, many of the names of the Jews – Abraham, Israel – had a symbolic character, since they denoted certain circumstances, and therefore from the symbolism of the name it is impossible to conclude that the person is not historical. In the mouths of the people, Job could have received this name after his misfortune, thanks to the character revealed in the disasters. This, perhaps, is indicated by the postscript of the text of the LXX, noting that it was previously called Joab.

If Job is a completely historical person, then the question of the place and time of his life arises more naturally. According to the book itself, he lived in the land of Uz, "in the land of the Ausitidians," as the LXX interpreters call it (I:1). But where exactly this area was located cannot be said with certainty. The remark at the end of the LXX reading book: "on the borders of Idumaea and Arabia" (XLII:17) is as general as the indication of the 3rd verse of chapter I, that Job was "more famous than all the sons of the East," i.e., the Arabs (see commentary on this verse); and the mention of the land of Uz in the book. Prophet Jeremiah (XXV:20) and in Book II. Lamentations (IV:21) do not clarify her situation. True, the words of the book. The lamentation, "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, who dwelleth in the land of Uz," apparently gives us the right to think that Uz was in Edom, that it was its province. But such an assumption is refuted by 20 and 21 of Article XXV of the Book of Kings. From which it is evident that the land of Uz, mentioned separately from Idumea, was not part of it. If the prophet ascribes it to the Edomite, it is explained, according to Ewald, by the fact that the land of Uz was given to them by Nebuchadnezzar in return for the help they gave to the Chaldeans in the conquest of Judah. As for Jeremiah XXV:20, etc., some see in these verses an enumeration of the neighboring countries, and accordingly the location of Uz is indicated between Egypt and Judah, southeast of the latter and east of Idumea. The validity of such a consideration is weakened by verses 21 and 22 of this chapter, which testify that in enumerating the countries, the prophet was not guided by the beginning of contiguity.

The absence of biblical indications of the location of the land of Uz prompts exegetes to resort to all sorts of conjectures. It is assumed that the land of Uz received its name from the name of Uz, which is adopted by the Bible to three persons: the eldest son of Aram, the grandson of Shem (Genesis X:23), the eldest son of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Genesis XXII:21), and the firstborn of Dishan, the youngest son of Seir the Chorreite (Gen. XXXVI:28). Explaining the origin of the name Uz in this way, the location of this land is indicated either in Syria, the country of Aram, or in Mesopotamia, on the banks of the Euphrates, where Nahor lived, or, finally, in Idumea. As for the latter view, it cannot be recognized as fair on the above grounds. The opinion about the position of the land of Uz within the boundaries of Mesopotamia found a place in the Alexandrian redaction of the Greek postscript to the book of Job. In it, he is called living on the banks of the Euphrates, and his friend Baldad is called the son of Amnon of Hobar (Chobar is a tributary of the Euphrates). In spite of its antiquity (the postscript is already known to Origen), this view can hardly be recognized as fair. He does not reconcile himself with the remark of Article 19 of Chapter I. Job, that the wind that destroyed the house of my eldest son came "from the wilderness," or rather, "from the countries that lie beyond the wilderness," and with the words of Elihu, "the storm comes from the south" (XXXVII:9). Taken together, these two expressions make it clear that the land of Uz was near or within the northern reaches of the desert. Mesopotamia cannot be considered a desert. As for the assumption about the position of the land of Uz within Syria, it is confirmed by the testimony of ancient writers. Thus, Eusebius of Caesarea, repeating the words of Josephus Flavius that Uz, the son of Aram, was the founder of Trachonitis (the entire basalt space on the eastern side of the Jordan, bounded on the south by the Gilead Mountains, and on the north bordering on Damascus) and Damascus (Antiquities of Jude. I, ch. 6), adds: "From here came Job" (De originibus. XI, 2, 6). According to another of his works (Onomastionia), Job lived in Vatanea, ancient Bashan, in a place called "Astaroth Kamaim" in his time. The same view is held by Bl. Jerome (liber de situ ei nominis hebraeorum), noting that the Greek name of the country "Ausigida" is the same as "Usitida" and was given to it by the name of Utsa, the son of Aram, who settled with his descendants Trachonitis (commentary on chapter X of the 23rd Book of Genesis). The Arab writers Mugir ad din el Hambeli and Abulfeda and the geographer Muhammed el Makdesi also indicate the place of residence of Job: "Job," say the first two, "belonged to the Damascus province of Vataneya." A clear expression of this legend was the monastery built in the region of Damascus in honor of the long-suffering Job (Volck. Calendarium Syriacum, p. 29).

Indicating in general terms the place of residence of Job, the postscript at the end of the book in the text LXX also determines the time of his life. According to her, he was the fifth from Abraham, i.e., he lived in the patriarchal period, but later than Abraham. The latter remark is proved by the fact that Job's two friends, Eliphaz and Bildad, are descended from Abraham, the former through Teman, the grandson of Esau, and the latter through Shebaiah, the son of Abraham, from Hetturah (see note to chapter 11, verse II). No less reliable is the general definition of the time of Job's life, in the patriarchal period. At least, the features of his life are quite reminiscent of patriarchal life. And above all, like the patriarchs, Job combines in his person the rights of the head of the family with the duties of a priest. In the absence of a class of priests, he himself offers sacrifices (I:5; cf. Gen VIII:20; XII:7; XXII:2; XXVI:25; XXVIII:18; XXXV:7). The characteristic of the pre-Mosaic patriarchal time fully corresponds to the peculiarity that the burnt offering offered by Job is a purifying sacrifice. Although according to the law of Moses, a similar meaning is given to every blood sacrifice, including burnt offerings (Lev I:4), but for the cleansing from sin there are established two special sacrifices, unknown to the Book of Job, for sin (Lev IV:29, 32-33) and guilt (Lev V:25; VII:1). The underdevelopment of the cult corresponds to the simplicity of social relations characteristic of antiquity. In the absence of a ruling authority in the form of kings or judges, the judgment is carried out by the people's elders (XXIX:7-25; cf. Gen XXIII:5-6). An indicator of great antiquity is further the method of writing, the carving of letters on stone (XIX:24), the use of the coin "kesita" attributed by the Pentateuch to patriarchal times (XLII:11; Gen XXXIII:19), the same as in the time of the patriarchs of musical instruments (XXI:12; XXX:31; Genesis IV:21; XXXI:27), Job's longevity, and, finally, the suppression of facts after the time of Moses in acquaintance with the events of the early time, such as the destruction of Sodom (XVIII:15), the flood (XXIV:18).

The time of writing the book. Job and its author. The usual data for deciding the time of writing and the author of this or that sacred book are its own testimony and the testimony of other sacred writers. But the book of Job itself does not contain strictly defined indications of the time of its compilation, and from extraneous evidence we know only the testimony of the prophet Ezekiel about it. His words: "Noah, Daniel, and Job... would have saved neither sons nor daughters from the four grievous plagues: the sword, famine, grievous beasts, and pestilence" (Ezekiel XIV:14-21) represent an almost literal repetition of the words of Eliphaz (V:20, 22) and thus indicate the existence of Book of Eliphaz by his time. Job. Thanks to such conditions, the question of the time of its writing and the author has evoked and continues to evoke a variety of answers in exegetical literature. In the space of time from Moses to the prophet Ezekiel and later, there is not a single period and epoch to which it would not be possible to date the writing of our book. And above all, according to the Talmud (Jar. Sola V, 8, 6. Bathra 15a), shared by Origen, bl. By Jerome, Polychronius, and expressed in modern times by Karpzovius, Eichhorn, Jan, Berthold, and Ebrard, the book of Job was written in the age of Moses. In support of this view, they point out not only its unfamiliarity with the law, prophets, history, and religious terminology of Israel, but also its similarity to the Pentateuch in language. Some Hebrew words and whole phrases are used only in these two books and nowhere else. Such are "semez" – "rumor", "rumor" (Job IV:12; Exodus XXXII:25); "maschasch" — "to feel" (V:14; Deuteronomy XXVIII:29), "Kesita" (Gen. XXXIII:19; Job XLII:11), "until... His breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils" (XXVII:3; Genesis II:7), "Job died,... full of days" (XLII:17; cf. Gen XV:15; XXV:8; XXXV:29). According to another view, the defenders of which include Rabbi Nathan, the Church Fathers Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, and orthodox Protestant as well as Catholic exegetes Gefernik, Hahn, Keil, Delitzsch, Kalmet, Corneille, Vigouroux, Knabenbauer, and others, the book of Job was written in the heyday of Jewish literature and poetry, in the age of Solomon. It corresponds to it in character, content, form and language. Didactic in spirit, it is most suitable for the teaching direction that is expressed in the Psalms, Parables, and Ecclesiastes, and it also copes with them in certain points of doctrine. Such is the teaching about divine wisdom, its transcendence, participation in the creation of the world (Job XXVIII; Proverbs I-IX, especially VIII), and about the afterlife of man. On the question of him, Prince. Job expresses the same views as the psalms of the time of David and Solomon. In them, the author turns out to be a son of the epoch to which Heman, the compiler of Psalm LXXXVII belonged (Job XIV:13; Psalm LXXXVII:6; Job XIV:12; Psalm LXXXVII:11; Job XIV:21; Psalm LXXXVII:13, etc.). Job is similar to Psalm LXXXVII in calling the inhabitants of Sheol "Rephaim" (XXVI:5; Psalm LXXXVII:11); of the underworld, "abaddon" (XXVI:6; Psalm LXXXVII:12) and Psalm LXXXVIII in the name of the angels as "saints" (V:1; (XV:15; Psalm LXXXVIII:8). Common to all three are also separate thoughts and expressions (cf. Job VII:7; Psalm LXXXVIII:48; XIV:14; Psalm LXXXVIII:49; XVI:19; Psalm LXXXVIII:38; XIX:8, 13–14, 17; Psalm LXXXVII:9; XXVI:12; Psalm LXXXVIII:10). In the same way, in the disclosure of a similar doctrine, the same phrases are used in Job XIV:2 and in Psalm XXXVI:2; Job XV:35 and in Psalm VII:15; Job XVII:9 and Psalm LV:2-7; LXII:8–9; LXXII:26–28; XCIII:16–19; Job XV:25-26 and in Psalm LXXII:3-9; LXXIV:5–6; Job XXII:11 and Psalm XVII:17; Job XXII:13 and in Psalm LXXII:11; Job XXXVI:16 and in Psalm XVII:20; Job V:3 and Proverbs XXIV:30; Job V:17 and Proverbs III:11; Job XVIII:5; XXI:17 and Proverbs XIII:9; XX:20; XXIV:29; Finally, some Hebrew expressions, such as "alas" — "to be merry" (Job XX:18; Proverbs XII:18), "tahbullot" — "intentions" (Job XXXVII:12; Proverbs I:5), are found only in Book II. Job and the works of Solomon. As written in the age of Solomon, the book of Job was known, say the defenders of this view, to subsequent biblical writers who borrowed certain expressions from it. Thus, the words of Amos V:8, "Who made the seven stars and Orion," are taken from Job IX:9; the words of Isaiah XL:2: "the time of his struggle is over" in Job VII:1; XLIV:24–25: "The Lord alone has stretched out the heavens" in Job IX:8; XIX:5: "The waters of the sea shall be exhausted, and the river shall dry up and dry up" in Job XIV:11; XIX 11: "The princes of Iran have gone mad, the counsel of Pharaoh's wise counsellors has become senseless" in Job XII:24 (cf. also Job X:16 and Isaiah XXXVIII:13; Job XXXVIII:17 and Isaiah XXXVIII:10, etc.). If Amos and Isaiah are familiar with the book of Job, then it appeared no later than Solomon and his century, since from the death of Solomon to Jeroboam II, a contemporary of Amos, the Old Testament books did not appear, and there was no one to write them.

While the coincidences of the Book of Kings. Job with psalms, parables, bk. The prophets Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah (Job III, Ep XX) give the above-mentioned exegetes the right to consider it written in the age of Solomon, in the hands of other scholars these data turn into proofs of its later origin. It was not Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah who were acquainted with Book II. Job, and, on the contrary, the author of the latter — with their works. It is written later than them, written after Hezekiah, as Rigm argues, or at least in the age of Isaiah, as Strick asserts. Of the other exegetes, Ewald and Renan include the compilation of the Book of Kings. Job to the time of Manasseh; Hirzel to the time of Jochaz's captivity, since its author reveals an acquaintance with Egypt; Schrader, Noldeke, Reis — to the era of the Assyrian captivity, as indicated by XII:14–24 bk. Job. The most recent date of the compilation of the Book of Job is considered by scholars of the negative trend (Grotius, Cleric, Schrader, Dielman) to be the period after the Babylonian captivity. It belongs to this time allegedly because it bears in the language a strong Aramaic coloring, characteristic only of the post-exilic biblical writers; in grammatical forms and phrases it has a parallel in Psalm 136, in Daniel and the Targums, and, finally, in some points of doctrine (on Satan, guardian angels, — Job I-II; V:1; XXXIII:23) is similar to Book II. Daniel (IV:10, 14) and Zechariah (III:1–3).

The opinions of Western biblical scholars just enumerated found a place in the Russian book dedicated to Book II. Job, literature. Thus, Metropolitan Philaret (Book Job in Russian translation with brief explanations), His Grace Agafangel (St. Job the Much-Suffering) and Arch. F. Bukharev. (St. Job the Long-suffering) refer to it as one of the most ancient works of biblical writing. "By conjecture," says the first, "to the time of the patriarchs belongs to Prince S. Job." "This," remarks the latter, "took place before the Mosaic legislation" (p. 4). Bishop Irenaeus (Horde) considers the book of Job to have been written during the reign of Hezekiah (A Guide to the Sequential Reading of the Teaching Books of the Old Testament); Metropolitan Arsenius of Kiev (Introduction to the Holy Book of the Old Testament, Works of Kiev, D. Ak. 1873, II) and Prof. Yungerov (General Historical and Critical Introduction to the Holy Book of the Old Testament, p. 25, The Origin of the Book of Job, Pravosl. Sobesednik, 1906, March, p. 334) — before the Babylonian captivity; Mr. Pisarev (On the Origin of Prince Job. 1865. May) and Afanasyev (Teaching Books of the Old Testament) — in the age of Solomon, and Rev. Philaret, Bishop. Riga (The Origin of the Book of Job), based on its similarity to all the canonical books, presents it as the most recent work of biblical writing. The Book of Job is one of the earliest and latest works of the Old Testament canonical writing, such are the two extreme opinions about the time of its origin. But as to the former, it admits the impossible and improbable fact of the appearance at the beginning of writing of a work which is in content the height of religious reflection, and in form one of the greatest poetic works of the whole world, a poem most perfect in plan and majestic in execution. The period of legislation is not characterized by abstract theoretical reasoning, especially those that we encounter in Book II. Job. In particular, the works of Moses are imbued with faith in Divine Justice and the strict correspondence of piety to earthly well-being, and the book of Job not only expresses doubt about this, but also goes so far as to directly deny the truth in the matter of divine world government (see Chapters IX, X, XII). According to the teaching of Moses, the happiness of the righteous, the reward for godliness, consists in the use of earthly goods (Deuteronomy XXVIII). Just as Job did not rejoice in much of his riches and the acquisition of his hand (XXXI:25), so he did not fall into despondency when he lost them (I:21). For him, a pious man, earthly goods do not constitute the highest reward; such is God Himself (XXII:25), and the highest good is the consciousness of devotion to Him (VI:10). In a word, in the matter of the development of religious and moral consciousness, Prince. Job represents an undoubted step forward in comparison with the Pentateuch. Their appearance in one century is impossible. Nor can a second opinion be admitted. The pre-exilic origin of the Book of Job is evidenced by the above-quoted words of the prophet Ezekiel. Repeating verses 20-22 of Chapter V. Job, they assume its existence. As for the signs of its post-exilic origin noted by exegetes (the doctrine of Satan and guardian angels), they have no such significance. The doctrine of good spirits, in particular of guardian angels, is found already in Book II. Genesis (XXVIII:12–22; XXXII:1–2; XLVIII:16) and is revealed in Psalm XC, and Book II. Kings speak of an evil, deceitful spirit (1 Samuel XVI:14-15, 23; 1 Kings XXII:19-23). In view of this, there are no sufficient grounds to consider the same exact teaching of Book II. Borrowed from the Persians in the post-exilic period.

The book of Job was composed between Moses and the Babylonian captivity, most likely in the age of Solomon.

If the time of writing the book. Job can be determined more or less plausibly, the identity of its author remains completely unknown. Of course, it was not Moses, and there are as many reasons to consider Solomon as the author, as Gregory the Theologian and partly John Chrysostom assume, as there are any wise men of his time. Keil supposes, for example, that Emann was the author. An unknown Jew author, however, owns only the modern redaction of Book II. Job; it is thought to be based on a record not of Jewish, but of Arabic-Idumaean origin: "The origin of Prince. in Arabia is confirmed, says Prof. Yungerov, by the close acquaintance with the life of the peoples who inhabited Arabia has been discovered in it; e.g., a detailed description of gold mining in Arabia (XXVIII:1–11); understandable to the Lord's listeners with descriptions of Arabian horses (XXXIX:19-25), ostrich, onager, unicorn, peacock (XXXIX:1-18). Biblical Hebrew writers do not find anything of the kind, since in densely populated Palestine there could not be these animals that love the Arabian steppe desert expanse. Job's wealth consisted, among other things, of camels (I:3), and they are recognized as the property of the inhabitants of the deserts (Isaiah XXX:6), the steppes, the nomads, and the nomads (Judges VI:5; 1 Samuel V:21; Jeremiah XLIX:29). In none of the biblical books is there a description of crocodiles, or leviathans, as in the Lord's speech (XL-XLI). This may be explained by the assumption that a Jew who had not seen anything like it in his Jordan might not have understood such a description, but that the Arabs who had been to Egypt with their caravans (Gen. XXXVII:25-28, 36) and had seen these animals in the waters of the Nile might have understood it. In general, the foreign, non-Jewish, origin of the book is evident from the silence of the writer and the persons he describes about the Jews, the Jewish Old Testament law, the events of Jewish history, etc." (Orthodox interlocutor, 1906, March, pp. 336-337). If, in spite of his non-Jewish origin, the Book of Bishops. Job expounds a purely biblical teaching about God, the creation of the world, Sheol, good and evil spirits, and coincides in language with other Old Testament books, this is explained by the fact that the original record of the history of Job's sufferings and beliefs (XIX:24-27) became known to some inspired Jewish writer familiar with the Arabic language. He translated it into Hebrew, made perhaps certain alterations, brought it closer to the biblical views of the Old Testament, and, with the participation of Divine inspiration, compiled a canonical book (Ibid., p. 339). Traces of such processing are indicated, among other things, in a symmetrical calculation of Job's children and property: 7 sons and three daughters, 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels; 500 oxen and 500 donkeys; - in the timing of disasters to one day, as well as in a strictly executed plan, gradualness in the course of thoughts, constant parallelism of members, etc.