Was the Book of Job written before Genesis?

Answer 1

Another answer from our community:

There's a lot of debate about that. I believe it was myself due to the context of the book itself. There was no mention through the whole bool of any law, rituals, sacrifices for sins, tabernacle, priests, etc. it appears to me to have taken place long before Moses who wrote Genesis.

Answer 2

Based on some of the material in the Book of Job, it is considered to have been written after the Babylonian Exile, although it contains certain material that is pre-Exilic. The Book of Genesis was written in stages, but is believed to have been completed during the Babylonian Exile. Therefore, even the final version of Genesis is probably older than Job.

Answer 3

The Book of Job is the only book in the Hebrew Bible concerning which the Talmud debates as to when it took place. One sage states that this book, like the Song of Songs, is allegorical (Talmud, Bava Bathra 15a), written for the purpose of teaching us, and need not refer to a specific person. The majority opinion is that such a man did actually live. However, even if he lived before Moses, it would have been Moses who committed its chapters to written form (Talmud, ibid 14b). See also:

Who wrote Genesis?

More:

Iyov (Job) was a very righteous man, apparently a descendant of Terah, whom God tested through pain and loss (Job ch.1). His travails lasted for one year (Mishna, Eiduyot ch.2). During his sufferings, he spoke with his three friends concerning God's judgment and wisdom. He, more than his friends, spoke with full trust in God; and at the end of the year, God comforted him and once again gave him health and prosperity (Job ch.42). The Book of Job is in the form of a four-way debate, in which God himself then steps in as the final arbiter.

Why did Job suffer?

As in other cases, God wanted to provide us with a role-model. "Hillel makes the poor people accountable," since he learned Torah despite grinding poverty (Talmud, Yoma 35b). So too, Job served God despite exceptionally hard suffering, thereby teaching us that those of us who suffer can do so too.