It has been pointed out at the outset, that Job was probably composed in the late 5th or early 4th century BCE. Is it possible that the anonymous author was influenced by Greek culture? The question is of considerable difficulty. The debating technique used in Job is not found in other books of the Old Testament. These comprise historical narration, prophecies of wrath, eschatological and apocalyptic messages and allegories. Terms and metaphors are not defined. It is assumed that the reader understands the meaning of words such as “God” and “justice” For instance, in Ha’Azinu [האזינו] we are told: “He is the rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are justice: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he [Deut. 32:4].1

In contrast, the meaning of “justice” [צדק] is one of the issues debated by Socrates and his fellows in The Republic. Books I and II of the tome demonstrate a highly sophisticated and analytical examination of the term. But could this analysis have been known to the anonymous author of Job?

Socrates was born at around 470 and died in 399 BCE. Plato’s dialogues respecting Socrates, including The Republic,2 were composed between Socrates’ death and Plato’s first trip to Sicily in 387 BCE. It is believed that they became well known throughout the Levant as indeed were other writings respecting Socrates, such as Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Aristophanes’ Clouds. However, and as stated above, these appear to have been composed after Job.

At first glance, this suggests that Job could not have been influenced by these works or by Greek philosophy. The dialectic, or debating approach, was however used in Greek politics even before it permeated into philosophy. It was the method used in debates at the Athens Assembly.

An attempt to unveil the origin of these Greek polemics is outside the scope of this investigation. Suffice it to emphasize that two friends of the young Socrates – Pericles and Alcibiades – were masters of rhetoric.3 Notably, Pericles’ consort, Aspasia,4 was well acquainted with Socrates. It is likely that her skills influenced the young philosopher, were adopted by him during his later years and, in due course, became the basis of the debating or dialectic approach employed in Plato’s dialogues. If this were the case, the technique of Athens’ political leaders was likely to have been known to the author of Job.

That Job uses the debating, or dialect, approach is clear. A proposition – namely theodicy – is posed and discussed at length. Undoubtedly, some books of the Old Testament have lengthy statements of an issue, such as the duty to observe law. Isaiah and Jeremiah are examples in point. Others concentrate on the praise of God. Psalms provides the best illustration. Other books still, for instance, Judges and Samuel\Kings are of the narrative gender.

Further, the dialectic method is alien even to Biblical Books of Wisdom other than Job. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes set out sharp and usually concise epigrams, which prescribe an appropriate and wise norm of conduct. It is true that, in some instances, the advice or prescription encompasses a number of verses5 but these do not question the issue.

It may be argued that the Talmud is renowned for the use of dialectics. This is, undoubtedly, true as regards the later part of the Talmud – the Gemara [גמרא], which was sealed in the 8th century CE. The earlier part of the Talmud – the Mishna [משנה] – does not use it. It is written in resonant Hebrew and was probably sealed by the end of the 2nd century CE. Basically, it includes legal principles and short narraratives. It supports the view that, in the period in which Job was written, dialectics (or the Socratic discourse) were not practised in Judaism. All this leads to the conclusion that, unless the author of Job invented the method on his own, he was influenced by a method common elsewhere, such as Greece at the relevant time.

The suggestion that Job manifests Greek influence is not novel. In 1918 Kallen opined: “The Greek influence is … beyond question.” He then explains: “ … we have in the Book of Job … a Hebraized form of the Greek tragedy…”.6

Kallen’s opinion of the influence of Greek tragedy is to be doubted. The impact of the dialectic method is obvious.

  1. הצור תמים פעלו כי כל-דרכיו משפט. אל אמונה ואין עול, צדיק וישר הוא. [MT Hebrew]. ↩︎

  2. For an authoritative examination seeking to date Plato’s dialogues, see G. Vlastos, Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher, (Cambridge 1991), caps. 2 to 4. Greenstein, article., oop.cit., suggests that a similar approach was used in early Canaanite and Mesopotamian texts. ↩︎

  3. Aristotle’s renowned On Rhetoric was published late in the 4th century BCE and hence well after the Peloponnesian Wars (431 - 404 BCE) and hence after the composition of Job. The discussion, though, deals with a technique well known in his time. ↩︎

  4. For a brief and most interesting treatment, see W. Buckingham, “Aspasia, the Philosopher Who Taught Socrates Rhetoric” https://www.lookingforwisdom.com/Asapsia/ and M.M. Henry, Prisoner of History: Aspasia of Miletus, OUP 1955). ↩︎

  5. Such as the lengthy warning against hedonism (in Prov. 31:2-5) and the doubts cast on wisdom (in Ecc. 9:13-16). ↩︎

  6. H.M. Kallen, The Book of Job as a Greek Tragedy, (New York, 1918), at p. 7. See also J. Kuriakose, “The Book of Job: A Greco-Hebrew Rhetorical Drama” in 6 No. 2 English Language and Literature Studies (2016) pp. 72 et seq. ↩︎