I have introduced the five forms of parallelism that distinguish the Book of Job which is written in ancient Hebraic poetic form: Chiastic Parallelism, Antithetical Parallelism, Synonymous Parallelism, Synthetic Parallelism and Step Parallelism. I have also added a fifth: Climactic Parallelism.
As illustrated, the parallelism exists distinctly within the chapters, most written in chiastic form. However, the entire Book of Job is a single poem as I shall partly illustrate below. Chapters 1&2 are incomplete without Chapter 42. They exist in antithetical parallelism.
Job 41:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Job 42:1
Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
The first is the Lord speaking to Satan about the goodness of Job. The second is Job directly speaking to the Lord.
The rest of the chapter 42 is divided into three parts. In Part One, Job sees the Lord. In Part Two, the three friends of Job are chastised and repent. In Part Three everything is restored to Job two-fold.
The crowning chapter of Job must be Chapter 42, the final chapter, for in it Job sees Jesus Christ, the Lord. Everything that happened to Job was in preparation for this moment. The story of Job is an epic journey of one man, who through his trials reaches sanctification insomuch that he sees Christ. Even in the beginning Job was righteous before God. In Job Chapter 1 We read:
Job 1: 8
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
By the time we get to the end of the Book of Job, Job has passed all the trials of his faith that came upon him. He never turned against God. Because of Job’s patience, he was throughout the trial teachable. We focus on the suffering of Job, but the story is really about Christ and his atonement. The Book of Job is the story of one man’s journey on the road to sanctification. Job travels The Celestial Way. Chapter 42, the end of the Book of Job, testifies to that. For example, following his trials, Christ appears to Job.
Job 42:2-6
I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
True to chiastic form, compare Job’s statement above in Chapter 42 with a similar statement in Chapter 2.
“Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”
“And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.”
By reading those together we see a causal relationship. In Chapter 2, Job is trying to find relief from his suffering by scraping his skin with a potsherd while sitting in in the ashes. In Chapter 42, he seeks the Lord for forgiveness in dust and ashes. It shows the spiritual growth of Job. This is particularly poignant because Job was never guilty of serious sins, yet he humbles himself before the Lord and begs forgiveness. Human nature must be considered here. Job could have gone the other way. He could have taken the stand that God was unfair and turned against God, yet Job didn’t. He allowed his suffering to draw him closer to God.
