Editing Book of Job (section)

===History of interpretation===
[[File:Carved wooden figure of Job. Probably from Germany, 1750-1850 CE. The Wellcome Collection, London.jpg|thumb|A carved wooden figure of Job. Probably from Germany, 1750–1850 CE. The Wellcome Collection, London]]
In the [[Second Temple]] period (500 BCE–70 CE), the character of Job began to be transformed into something more patient and steadfast, with his suffering a test of virtue and a vindication of righteousness for the glory of God.{{sfn|Seow|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOn3ZK2n0UUC&pg=PA111 111]}} The process of "sanctifying" Job began with the Greek [[Septuagint]] translation ({{c.|200 BCE}}) and was furthered in the apocryphal [[Testament of Job]] (1st century BCE–1st century CE), which makes him the hero of patience.{{sfn|Allen|2008|pp=362–63}} This reading pays little attention to the Job of the dialogue sections of the book,{{sfn|Dell|1991|pp=6–7}} but it was the tradition taken up by the [[Epistle of James]] in the [[New Testament]], which presents Job as one whose patience and endurance should be emulated by believers ([[James 5]]:7–11).<ref>{{bibleverse|James|5:7–11}}</ref>{{sfn|Allen|2008|p=362}}

When Christians began interpreting Job 19:23–29<ref>{{bibleverse|Job|19:23–29}}</ref> (verses concerning a "redeemer" who Job hopes can save him from God) as a prophecy of Christ,{{sfn|Simonetti|Conti|Oden|2006|pp=105–06}} the predominant Jewish view became "Job the blasphemer", with some rabbis even saying that he was rightly punished by God because he had stood by while Pharaoh massacred the innocent Jewish infants.{{sfn|Allen|2008|pp=361–62}}{{sfn|Noegel|Wheeler|2010|p=171}}

[[Augustine of Hippo]] recorded that Job had prophesied the coming of Christ, and [[Pope Gregory I]] offered him as a model of right living worthy of respect. The medieval Jewish scholar [[Maimonides]] declared his story a parable, and the medieval Christian [[Thomas Aquinas]] wrote a detailed commentary declaring it true history. In the [[Protestant Reformation]], [[Martin Luther]] explained how Job's confession of sinfulness and worthlessness underlay his saintliness, and [[John Calvin]]'s interpretation of Job demonstrated the doctrine of the resurrection and the ultimate certainty of divine justice.{{sfn|Allen|2008|pp=368–71}}

The contemporary movement known as creation theology, an [[Environmental theology|ecological theology]] valuing the needs of all creation, interprets God's speeches in Job 38–41 to imply that his interests and actions are not exclusively focused on humankind.{{sfn|Farmer|1998|p=150}}