Texts in Conversation
Job 32 introduces Elihu’s long speech with a five-part rhetorical preamble. 2 Maccabees prefaces its history with the same five elements in the same order, suggesting both follow an existing Hellenistic poem template.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Job 32:18
Hebrew Bible
17 I too will answer my part; I too will explain what I know. 18 For I am full of words, and the spirit within me constrains me. 19 Inside I am like wine that has no outlet, like new wineskins ready to burst! 20 I will speak, so that I may find relief; I will open my lips, so that I may answer.
2 Maccabees 2:26
Deuterocanon
25 we have aimed to please those who wish to read, to make it easy for those who are inclined to memorize, and to profit all readers. 26 For us who have undertaken the toil of abbreviating, it is no light matter but calls for sweat and loss of sleep, 27 just as it is not easy for one who prepares a banquet and seeks the benefit of others. Nevertheless, to secure the gratitude of many we will gladly endure the uncomfortable toil,
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Notes and References
… In looking for deuterocanonical (apocryphal) texts for comparison which are functionally similar to Job 32, the Sirach Prologue and the preface of the epitomator (i.e. the author providing an ἐπιτομή, ‘summary’, from the historical account of Jason of Cyrene, compare 2 Maccabees 2:23) in 2 Maccabees 2:19–32 suggest themselves, since both are adaptations of the (originally Greek-Hellenistic) genre of the proem. Their analogous division into five parts each, deployment of similar rhetorical devices, and various parallels of content all serve to suggest that Job 32, likewise, draws on the structural and topical conventions of the Greek proem. First, each proem names the theme of the larger work about to be introduced: in the case of the Sirach Prologue verses 1–3, this is the wisdom handed down through the law, the prophets, and other later writings; in 2 Maccabees 2:19–22, the deeds of Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers. In Job 32, the same function is discharged by the secondary introduction (verses 1–5) …
Lauber, Stephan
"Irony in the Elihu Speeches?" in Häner, Tobias and Virginia Miller (eds.) Irony in the Bible: Between Subversion and Innovation
(pp. 136-137) Brill, 2023
* 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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