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Job’s Go’el, a Heavenly Arbiter, and Imagination (Job 19:25)

  • Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
  • Abbr : KJOTS
  • 2018, 24(1), pp.46-75
  • DOI : 10.24333/jkots.2018.24.1.46
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
  • Received : January 13, 2018
  • Accepted : February 18, 2018

Jun Kim 1

1감리교신학대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Job 19:25 contains Job’s desire for his gō’ēl (“Redeemer”), who will deliver Job from unjust suffering. The topic of Job’s gō’ēl is an important topic in understanding how Job wants to solve his unjust suffering. However, the text is ambiguous and difficult to interpret. So far, many scholars have proposed various views of the gō’ēl whereas little research has been done by Korean biblical scholars on this subject. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that Job’s gō’ēl is one of the heavenly beings who can provide opportunities for Job to face God to plead Job’s unjust suffering, and that this heavenly being is an imaginary entity that Job desires. This paper proceeds in the following order. First, what situations entail Job in earnestly desiring his gō’ēl in Job 19:1-24. This will provide a preliminary consideration of what role Job expects of the gō’ēl , and who can become Job’s gō’ēl. Second, various hermeneutical possibilities of Job’s gō’ēl are presented through textual studies on 19:25. Third, this part will present three representative views on Job’s gō’ēl (Job’s nearest relative, God, and a heavenly being), and will diagnose the advantages and problems of each view. Finally, this paper presents Job’s gō’ēl as an imaginary heavenly being in light of Job’s dire situation in which Job had no choice but to wish for his heavenly being. This paper proposes a new alternative, by revising and supplementing the existing view of Job’s gō’ēl as a heavenly being.

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