This book fascinated me. Fyall’s study uncovers references to Canaanite mythology that have long been hidden in favour of more naturalistic interpretations of the text. For example, the NIV footnotes suggest that Behemoth (40:15) is an elephant or hippopotamus, and Leviathan (3:8, 41:1) is a crocodile. Fyall digs deeply and comes up with interpretations of these creatures that satisfy the narrative, and hold the whole book together. (If you’re curious, Behemoth is the Canaanite god of death, and Leviathan is a guise of the Satan.)

In the end, Fyall’s technical study yields some important conclusions. I love how he sums it up on the last page:

The book is not so much about suffering per se as about creation, providence and knowing God, and how, in the crucible of suffering, these are to be understood.

The discussions are quite technical, but the subject matter is well worth the effort. I’ll never read the book of Job the same way again.

Fyall, Robert S. Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job. InterVarsity Press, 2002. New Studies in Biblical Theology 17.