«You know! For you were born then» (jb 38:1–38): some remarks of composition and meaning

In Job 38,1–42,6 God’s answer comes as a complete overturning of Job’s expectations, frustrating Job’s initial desire for an explicit answer from God. In fact, the words God addresses to Job seem apparently to avoid the problem of innocent suffering in general and Job’s case in particular. God seems also to avoid the simplistic replies of Job’s friends, who have limited themselves to defending the traditional and mechanical application of the law of reward and retribution. Instead, God challenges Job directly to consider his case in the light of his overall cosmic design as creator. Rather than indulging Job’s obsession with his own integrity, he compels Job to come to terms with God’s integrity as Creator of an enigmatic and complex world and from there to achieve an understanding of his limited knowledge about himself and the meaning of his own life. It is in this context, that we will consider Job 38,1-38 as a unit centered on the integrity and power that God has as Creator.