Deep Things Out of Darkness: The Book of Job, Essays and a New English Translation (review)

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 169 Reviews These three chapters (2-4) conclude with references to passages in rabbinic works which postulate similar links between these texts. This may suggest that it was these rabbinic sources that were the original stimulus for Harris' thesis of which this book is a transcription. It goes without saying that the rabbinical data are of considerable interest, but the exegetical methods on which they are founded preclude their usefulness for the present purpose. Chapter 5 discusses the implications of this study for the composition of Proverbs 1-9 and of the whole book of Proverbs. Claudia Camp's opinion that it is the imagery of the "feminine" that functions as the conceptual framework holding the book together is rejected on the grounds that it ignores a great deal of its contents. Finally, the relation of 6: 1-19 to Proverbs 5 is explored in more detail. A brief summary of the argument of the book (chapter 6) is followed by an appendix recording the author's further reflections since the completion of his dissertation in 1988. It is concerned mainly with the role of Prov 1:1-6 in the context of chapters 1-9 as a whole. There is no index. The author is to be congratulated on having raised the question of intertextuality in Proverbs. This study helps to support the growing sense among scholars that wisdom, and the book of Proverbs in particular, is not an isolated or alien phenomenon in Hebrew thought but has substantial connections with it, even if those are not always apparent. It also helps to dispel the notion that wisdom is somehow "unhistorical." Although the present reviewer remains unconvinced that Harris has succeeded in the particular task that he has set himself, he agrees with the penultimate sentence of the book which claims that it "invites other scholars to take a closer look at...the innerbiblical connections of the book of Proverbs." R. N. Whybray CAMBS Ely CB6 JAY United Kingdom DEEP THINGS OUT OF DARKNESS: THE BOOK OF JOB, ESSAYS AND A NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION. By David Wolfers. Pp. 549. Kampen, The Netherlands: Pharos/Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995. Paper. This book has three sections: an introduction on the art of mistranslation and the provenance of the book of Job, a section entitled "Commentary" in Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 170 Reviews which major issues are discussed, and a third section with a complete translation of Job followed by notes. This is a valuable, provocative volume produced by a physician who studied Job throughout his life. Having first read Job in high school, Wolfers later became enamored with this ancient masterpiece, studying it as an avocation. The book of Job won out. He left his medical practice and spent the last twenty years of his life consumed with its study. In this volume , the reader becomes engaged with a fertile mind in love with the text of Job and filled with a passion to uncover its precise meaning. Written in a lively style, Wolfers skillfully employs metaphors, often with a twist of irony. An example is his description of God's first speech: "in no time at all Job and his friends are reduced to the status of farm animals questioning the way the farm is run" (p. 209). Complex arguments are easy to follow. To the delight of the serious student, the biblical text is printed in Hebrew. Wolfers' major goal is to provide an accurate, poetic, flowing translation of Job. His motivation goes back to his first reading of Job, for even then he was troubled by a translation marred by numerous obscure passages and self-contradictions. It is little wonder that his first chapter addresses "the art of mistranslation" in the form of an insightful, witty, and challenging discussion. Another important chapter deals with identifying the correct antecedents of pronouns to clarify misunderstood texts. A major contribution of this volume to the study of Job, therefore, is a better reading of many lines and paragraphs. While aware of the works of other scholars, Wolfers focuses on presenting his own conclusions rather than entering into debate with scholars. His primary method for discovering the meaning...