job 23 and 24

Read Job 23 and 24 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions for each man’s speech are like the divisions in the Psalms that we studied in 2014. There is an understood {s} division at the end of each numbered line, with an {n} marking where a new line begins within a numbered line.

Job 23:1-24:25 {s} Division at the end of each numbered line; with these {n} divisions within lines:
Job 24:5a, Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching diligently for food. {n}
Job 24:12a, From out of the city men groan, And the soul of the wounded cries out; {n}
Job 24:15a, The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me’; {n}
Job 24:18a, He is swift on the face of the waters, Their portion is cursed in the earth, {n}
Job 24:20a, The womb forgets him, The worm feeds sweetly on him; he shall be remembered no more, {n}

Job’s speech in these two chapters does not form a chiastic structure that I can see. I am continuing to outline each speech, for I believe we will find that the whole book forms a single chiastic structure, and we will find our matching pairs once we have crossed the central axis, which I do not believe we have come to yet.

Job 23:1-9, Job desires to come before God to present his case, but he cannot find Him;
Job 23:10-12, Job maintains his integrity and innocence;
Job 23:13-17, God is past searching out, therefore Job fears His dealings with men;
Job 24;1, Job questions why God allows the vicissitudes of life, and the upright cannot see Him;
Job 24:2-8, Those who prosper wrongly from the needy, forcing them to be destitute;
Job 24:9-12a, Those who oppress widows and orphans, forcing them to hard labor while in want;
Job 24:12b, Yet God does not charge them with wrong;
Job 24:13-17, Those who murder, commit adultery, and steal;
Job 24:18-24, Job’s confidence that God will visit justice on the wicked;
Job 24:25, Job’s challenge to his friends, to prove him wrong.

In fact, by outlining Job’s speech, I may have found the chiastic structure, or a reverse parallelism. Outlining is a valuable study tool!

1a) Job 23:1-9, Job’s challenge to God, to hear his case;

1b) Job 23:10-12, Job’s confidence in his innocence;

1c) Job 23:13-24:1, Job’s question: Why does God not maintain the security of the upright;

1d) Job 24:2-8, Those who prosper wrongly from the needy, forcing them to be destitute;

2d) Job 24:9-12a, Those who oppress widows and orphans, forcing them to hard labor while in want;

2c) Job 24:12b, Job’s question: Why does God not charge the wicked with wrong;

2b) Job 24:13-24, Job’s confidence in the outcome of the wicked;

2a) Job 24:25, Job’s challenge to his friends, to prove him wrong.