Assess the Use of Natural Imagery in the Portrayal of Mankind in Job 14 by Andrew Haddow (9639550) Throughout the book

of Job and also in all the poetic sections of the Old Testament (OT) there is an abundant use of imagery.1 Even just within Job 14 we can see numerous images from nature. I plan to look at some of the natural images, presented to us in this passage, and try to understand the significance of each one, specifically looking at those images that are used in reference to mankind. I conclude that the author's use of the images and the structure he places them in can be seen to highlight the image of the tree found in v7-9. This image is marked out firstly as a picture that does not represent what is being described and secondly it is not part of a parallel. The image of the tree however does parallel what Job is saying in his personal petition to God in v13-17, bringing further highlighting to the importance of this section in this passage. A casual scan of the passage shows us that there are many images taken from nature with which the ancient reader would have been well acquainted with. The first images we see appear in v2, He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.2. The next image that the author uses is that of a tree, and specifically a tree that has been chopped down, in v7-9. Linked to this image is the next picture, presented to us by the author, that of a dry riverbed or an empty sea, As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,3. The final image used by the author is found in v18-19 and depicts the erosion of different kinds of rocks. Flowers & Shadows The first two images are similes pointing to someone being like a flower or a shadow. This someone, referenced by the he used in v2, can be logically deduced as the man born of woman from the start of the first verse. There is disagreement among commentators surrounding the meaning of this phrase, some say that it just points to the frail nature of man as having come from woman4, but others would just consider this a phrase used to describe all mankind.5 Both the image of a flower or a shadow, however, are used many times in the OT.6 The image of flowers to portray mankind's frail nature, is well used in Ancient Near Eastern literature due to it being a common
1 2 3 4 5 Stephen L. Harris, Understanding the Bible, 7th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007), 237. Job 14v2 - This and all other quotations are taken from the NIV translation, unless noted otherwise. Job 14v11. H.H. Rowley, Job (London: Nelson, 1970), 127. See, for example, Job 15v14 where synonymous parallelism is used What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous? (emphasis added). In my opinion this certainly appears to point to a simpler understanding of the phrase as just one used to describe the whole human race. J.H. Eaton, Job (London: T&T Clark International, 2004), 8. 6 See for example: Psalm 90v5-6, 102v11, 103v15, 144v4, Job 8v9, Isaiah 40v6.

natural feature in Palestine and Syria. In these places the grass and flowers were watered solely by the spring rains and would dry up and die within a day due to the scorching east wind.7 This would make the simile very relevant to the readers and well suited for use by the author of Job. The two images here are linked together through the construct of synonymous parallelism8. In this construct we see the poet repeating himself in v2 by saying the same thing in the same way, but using a different image. The implication of both images is that all mankind is transient, there one day and gone the next, just like the flowers of the middle eastern desert as described above or a shadow that lasts as long as the sun shines and leaves no trace of itself. The Hope of Trees The next image is unusual in that it is quite extended, as generally the images used by Hebrew poets would be brief and not prone to deep developments.9 The tree would have been a familiar image to both the reader and the author as it was a common symbol for fertility in the Ancient Near East. Its ability to regrow even after been cut down meant that it also symbolised death, rebirth and immortality.10 This extended consideration of the tree here could suggest that this image is to be highlighted over and above the other images that are portrayed in this passage. Weight is added to this suggestion with the fact that this image parallels what could be considered to be the central section, v13-17, of this passage11. In the image of the tree we see Job's desire, his imagined wishful thinking of v13-17, painted in picture form. Job, however, is a realist and knows that, from his experience of the real world, this hope of rebirth or immortality is only available for the tree.12 This can be seen in the way the author starts his description of the tree with At least there is hope for a tree13. Job's realistic viewpoint, that man is not like the tree, is then borne out with the use of his next image and the conjugative but14 appearing right after the end of the description of the restored tree. After the but in v10 the author shows that he is not using a simile with a verse stating Job's realist
7 Othmar Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, trans. by Timothy J. Hallett (London: SPCK, 1978), 240. 8 Harris, 237-8. 9 Job 13:20-14:22, in The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. 4, ed. by Leander E. Keck (Nashville: Abingdon Press, c1994-c2004), 441. 10 Leo G. Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt: Metaphorical Theology in the Book of Job (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1991), 158. 11 This assumption of v13-17 being central to what Job wants to say to God is based on the change in the personal pronouns. From v1-6 where the pronoun used is an impersonal he, we see a distinct change to the personal pronoun of me in v13. The personal pronouns then continue in use to v17. This along with Job addressing a you within these verses gives rise to the suggestion that this is Job's petition to God, who is the you. 12 J. Gerald Janzen, Job (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985), 108. 13 Job 14v7 14 Job 14v10

view that man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more15. This shows that the fate of the tree is the opposite of the fate of man. After this statement of the unlikeness of the tree to man, the author moves onto his next image to portray what the fate of man is actually like. The Empty Sea and the Dried Riverbed The author uses two images to portray what the fate of man is really like. In a similar way to the first two images in the passage, these images here are linked with a parallelism that helps them to emphasis each other. Some biblical scholars may suggest that another antithetical effect is in use by the author here, due to the fact that in the Near East there were many wadis and bodies of water that would ebb and flow with the seasons, therefore the author has painted another picture of what the fate of man is not like.16 However from the context it makes more sense to read these images as similes as there is no implication in the text that these images are to be viewed as antithetical pictures. If we understand these images as similes for the fate of mankind then there is a further depth in them too. Lakes and rivers in the eyes of mankind would be considered to be permanent features, just as man has a deep conviction that he is immortal. However once an irreversible loss of water occurs17 then, just as man once dead can not rise again, there is no return of the water.18 Here also, the author is using parallelism in his structure.19 In v7-9, as we have already discussed, there is an image that describes what the fate of mankind is not like, now in v11 we see an image used to describe what the fate of mankind is like. The author appears to be using an antithetical parallelism in his structure by the use of these opposite images depicting opposing understandings of the fate of man.20 The Erosion of Hope The final image may seem somewhat disconnected from the previous images, mainly as it does not concern the nature of man himself, but it points to man's hope21. The image of erosion found in v18-19 is developed with great skill by the author and uses four separate images that link together in a clever parallelism. First is the image of crumbling mountains, then the moving of rocks, then wearing away of stones and finally the washing away of soil. The erosion of the image from
15 16 17 18 19 Job 14v10 John E. Hartley, The book of Job (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1988), 234-235. New Interpreters Bible, 441. New Interpreters Bible, 442. Parallelism is not just constrained to the use of similar lines or similar images, but can be seen in the structure of Hebrew poetry as well. - Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry (New York: Basic Books, 1985), 10. 20 Antithetical parallelism can clearly be seen in abundance in the book of Proverbs with the matching of complementary opposite terms - Alter, 168. 21 Job 14v19b.

mountains to soil parallels the erosion of hope.22 Job may see man's hope enduring like a mountain, but inevitably God's power will erode and destroy it, turning it from a mountain that can withstand anything to soil that washes away in water. Although this image does not concern the fate of man but rather his hope, there is still an interesting link between this image and the image of the tree. Both images have water bringing an interesting effect to the picture. For the tree the scent of water23 brings new life and hope for the tree, but for the mountain and the rocks water brings the end of hope as it washes the soil away.24 Conclusion Having discussed each of the images, it is important that we assess how the author has used these images. In my reading of the passage, understanding of the structure and the authors use of parallelism, I would say that it shows the author wants to highlight the image of the tree. The image of the tree is sandwiched between two sections that have images that are similes for mankind, one which speaks of the transience of human life in the images of the flowers and shadows and the other that speaks of the finality of death for mankind in the emptying of the sea and the dried up riverbed. These two bread slices in our sandwich are each made up of two parallel images that repeat each other while the meat of our sandwich is a singular image with no parallel. This singleton and extended image, that is not a simile, highlights itself due to its contrast with the other images. This contrast, in my opinion, points to it being the central image in this passage. This suggestion that the tree is the central image of the passage is backed by the centrality of the very personal section found in v13-17 and the images parallelism with it. This section as discussed earlier is Job's petition to God, his dream about the possibility of weathering the storm of God's wrath in the kingdom of the dead and returning at a time appointed by God, just as a tree would die when chopped down, but at the taste of water would regrow. If only you would hide me in the grave...You will call and I will answer you.25 If it is cut down, it will sprout again26

22 23 24 25 26

Perdue, 163. Job 14v9 Janzen, 110. Job 14v13a,15a Job 14v7

Bibliography
Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Poetry. New York: Basic Books, 1985. Eaton, J.H. Job. London: T&T Clark International, 2004.

Harris, Stephen L. Understanding the Bible. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Hartley, John E. The book of Job. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1988. Janzen, J. Gerald. Job. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985. Keel, Othmar. The Symbolism of the Biblical World. Translated by Timothy J. Hallett. London: SPCK, 1978. Perdue, Leo G. Wisdom in Revolt: Metaphorical Theology in the Book of Job. Sheffield: Almond Press, 1991. Rowley, H.H. Job. London: Nelson, 1970. Job 13:20-14:22, in The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. 4, edited by Leander E. Keck. Nashville: Abingdon Press, c1994-c2004.