Texts in Conversation
Proverbs 13 and Job 21 use the image of a lamp to describe the fate of the unrighteous, but in opposite ways. Proverbs says that they lose their light, following an ancient Near Eastern pattern. Job challenges this, questioning why the wicked prosper.
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Proverbs 13:9
Hebrew Bible
7 There is one who pretends to be rich and yet has nothing;another pretends to be poor and yet possesses great wealth. 8 The ransom of a person’s life is his wealth,thus the poor person has never heard a threat. 9 The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked goes out. 10 With pride comes only contention,but wisdom is with the well-advised. 11 Wealth gained quickly will dwindle away, but the one who gathers it little by little will become rich.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Job 21:17
Hebrew Bible
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?’ 16 But their prosperity is not their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! 17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger? 18 How often are they like straw before the wind and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind? 19 You may say, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his children!’ Instead let him repay the man himself so that he may be humbled!
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Wisdom Speech (Job 28) certainly fits with the style of much of the Joban poet(s). It contains the same penchant for the obscure and esoteric that marks much of the dialogue. However, the words of the Wisdom Speech seem to be out of place on the lips of the suffering Job. The Wisdom Speech harmonizes with the larger corpus of wisdom literature in its conclusion that (“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” [Job 28:28]). Proverbs affirms the same type of orthodoxy (Prov 1:7). Yet the character Job has served as an anti-wisdom until Job 26. Job specifically contradicts Bildad and Proverbs 13:9 (Job 21:17). It seems bizarre that Job would radically change his argument so quickly, yet revert to his original argument in the subsequent chapters (Job 29–31) ..."
Swinney, James Kipp
Intertextual Discourse and the Problem of God: The Intersection of the Speeches of Job and Deuteronomy
(p. 23) Abiline Christian University, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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