Title Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Part One: Reading Job as Literature -- 1 What Is the Book of Job About? -- Job Has Trials, But He Is Not on Trial -- About God, Not About Job -- About the Reasons for Righteousness, Not the Reasons for Suffering -- Studying the Book of Job -- For Further Reflection -- 2 What Is the Rhetorical Strategy of the Book of Job? -- The Purpose of the Book -- Understanding the Structure -- The Triangle of Tensions in Job -- For Further Reflection -- 3 Job in the Context of the Ancient Near East -- Shared Genre: Wisdom Books Featuring a Pious Sufferer -- Job Thinks Like an Israelite: The Great Symbiosis -- The Book of Job Reflects an Israelite Perspective -- Answers Offered in the Ancient Near East and in Job -- Summary and Conclusion -- For Further Reflection -- 4 Is Job a Real Person? -- The Genre of the Book of Job -- Job Elsewhere in the Bible -- The Construction of Legends from Historical Figures -- A Thought Experiment -- Who Wrote Job and When? -- For Further Reflection -- Part Two: Getting to Know the Characters of the Book of Job -- 5 What Do We Learn About God from the Book of Job? -- Literary Caricature -- The Message About God in the Book of Job -- For Further Reflection -- 6 Who Is "Satan" in Job? -- Examining the Lexical Profile -- The Profile of The Satan in Job -- Socio-Religious Profile -- For Further Reflection -- 7 What Is the Role of Job in the Book of Job? -- Job, the Righteous -- Job, the Pious -- Job Has Integrity -- Job the Self-Righteous -- For Further Reflection -- 8 How to Assess Job's Human Advisers -- Job's Three Friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar -- Elihu's Surprising Appearance -- Job's Wife, an Agent of the Challenger -- For Further Reflection -- 9 Who Is Job's Advocate? -- The Lexical Profile of the Advocate -- What Kind of Advocate Does Job Want?.

Is Jesus the Advocate? -- For Further Reflection -- 10 Behemoth and Leviathan, the Most Powerful Creatures Imaginable -- What Are These Creatures? -- Possible Ancient Near Eastern Backgrounds -- Job Must Emulate Behemoth and Think About God Like He Thinks About Leviathan -- For Further Reflection -- Part Three: The Theological Message of the Book of Job -- 11 The Retribution Principle and Theodicy in Job -- Retribution Principle in the Ancient Near East -- Retribution Principle and Theodicy -- Resolving Tensions Between the Retribution Principle and Experience -- What Underlies Retribution Theology? -- For Further Reflection -- 12 The Retribution Principle in Wisdom Literature -- The Retribution Principle in Psalms -- The Retribution Principle in Proverbs -- Reading the Retribution Principle in Ecclesiastes -- The Retribution Principle in Job -- Israelite Theology Versus Biblical Theology: The Retribution Principle -- A Pragmatic Postscript -- For Further Reflection -- 13 Does Job Believe in the Afterlife? -- References to Afterlife in Job -- What About Sheol? -- Hints That Israelites Hoped for Something Better -- Implications for Reading the Book of Job -- For Further Reflection -- 14 Learning About the Cosmos from the Book of Job -- Job's View of the Cosmos -- Cosmic Geography -- God's Ordering of the Cosmos -- God's Control of the Cosmos -- For Further Reflection -- 15 The Theology of Suffering in the Book of Job -- Suffering Is the Lot of All Humanity -- A Contingency of the Creation in Process -- Not Intrinsically Connected to Sin -- Into the Arms of God's Love -- An Opportunity to Deepen Our Faith -- Participating in Christ's Suffering -- For Further Reflection -- 16 Job's View of God -- Job's View of God as Petty -- Job's View of God as Unjust -- Job's View That God Can Be Manipulated -- For Further Reflection.

Part Four: Reading Job as a Christian -- 17 Job and Jesus -- Reading Twice -- "I Know That My Redeemer Lives!" (Job 19:25) -- Do Christians Fear God for Nothing? -- Who Is Wise? -- What Is the Righteousness God Desires? -- Job and Jesus as Innocent Sufferers -- Jesus: God's Ultimate Answer to Our Suffering -- For Further Reflection -- 18 The Message of the Book of Job for Today -- Does the Book of Job Provide Answers? -- Other Questions and Answers -- For Further Reflection -- 19 Does the Book of Job Provide Comfort? -- Comfort or Acceptance? -- Rest -- Shalom -- Coherence -- For Further Reflection -- 20 Applying the Book of Job -- How We Should Think About God -- Thinking Points About God -- For Further Reflection -- Appendix: Commentaries on the Book of Job -- Notes -- Chapter 2: What Is the Rhetorical Strategy of the Book of Job? -- Chapter 3: Job in the Context of the Ancient Near East -- Chapter 4: Is Job a Real Person? -- Chapter 5: What Do We Learn About God from the Book of Job? -- Chapter 6: Who Is "Satan" in Job? -- Chapter 7: What Is the Role of Job in the Book of Job? -- Chapter 8: How to Assess Job's Human Advisers -- Chapter 9: Who Is Job's Advocate? -- Chapter 10: Behemoth and Leviathan, the Most Powerful Creatures Imaginable -- Chapter 11: The Retribution Principle and Theodicy in Job -- Chapter 12: The Retribution Principle in Wisdom Literature -- Chapter 13: Does Job Believe in the Afterlife? -- Chapter 14: Learning About the Cosmos from the Book of Job -- Chapter 15: The Theology of Suffering in the Book of Job -- Chapter 16: Job's View of God -- Author Index -- Subject Index -- Scripture Index -- Praise for How to Read Job -- About the Authors -- More Titles from InterVarsity Press -- Copyright.