Job (The NIV Application Commentary)

Walton is one of my favorite authors, especially after reading his work in Genesis with this same series from Zondervan. Job is proof-texted a lot and otherwise didn't seem to make much difference in my Christian walk, so I needed to see how Walton dissects the content of Job and applies it to today. He asks good questions, does a great review of the original setting, challenged me in my own faith and what I expect from the Lord, and basically helped me find good ground upon which to continue being faithful within my broken world. I particularly appreciated the actual experience of Kelly who wrote her challenges with faith in the "Contemporary Significance" section as she lives with a disability caused by an early childhood accident, and how her disappointment with healing and medical options has shaped her faith. This book is an important study, and takes determination to follow through, because there seems to be a lot of overlap in the various arguments presented by Job's "comforters." Buy this book; study it; but be sure to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you see where you need to learn from it.

I'm almost always pleased by a volume of the NIV Application Commentary, but John Walton's commentary on Job is absolutely outstanding. He excels at helping the reader understand the background cultural influences of the book. The book is readable, not overly technical, and captures the uniqueness of Job's literary genre. The application segments of the book are extremely personal as he follows the story of a young woman who has undergone her own journey of suffering. Walton balances simple explanations of the text with a more detailed exploration of certain topics. Some may find Walton's approach challenging, such as his discussion of Satan's role in Job's suffering. Still, this commentary offers a much needed perspective to the book of Job and is highly recommended to casual and mid level readers. Those looking for a detailed, verse by verse study should look to David Cline's 3 volume series in the Word Biblical Commentary series.

This is my first commentary on Job. I bought it to teach a lesson in our Adult Bible Study (Sunday School) Class and Walton took me in an unexpected direction. His focus is on mankind's interpretation of God's system of "justice". His primary question is not "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but rather "What kind of God makes/allows bad things happen to good people?" I'd always thought that Job was just an example of a righteous man suffering in silence and being rewarded for that in the end but that's not the case at all in Walton's interpretation. Job is anything but silent and, while he stops short of "cursing God to His face" as Satan predicted, Walton shows that he accuses God of being terribly unfair (at least) and possibly even intentionally unjust. In the end, Walton explains that the problem with Job's/mankind's interpretation of God is the fact that we focus on God's "justice" and "reasons" rather than on God's "wisdom" and "purposes". If you are already a bible scholar, none of this may be news to you but as a layman in a "conservative" church, I found it fascinating and insightful.

What a commentary. Loved Walton’s analysis of the retributive principle and how that undergirds the whole book. I agree with his description of the “Challenger” as well as these entities' motivations. So many good things to pull from this commentary. Not to mention the format of the NIV Application series - makes it easy to glide through for enjoyable reading.

The Book of Job is not easy for me to understand. John Walton does what I consider a thorough analysis of the book of Job, including the background and assumptions for the dating of its origin, the placement of the references, the ultimate objectives of the book, and an understanding of God per the full story. As in his other works, the author gives proper due to divergent opinions of interpretations and other assumptions while not shrinking from offering his best estimation for how to navigate and understand especially the "not-so-easy" aspects of the biblical narrative. As part of the greater NIV Application Commentary series, he follows the series' format which allows him to share a 20-century, western-based story of a young woman's own "Job-esque" journey (sensitively and humbly conveyed) for the reader's benefit and contemplation.

I'm a "commentary junkie," and always acquire more than one on each book I study, to make sure I get as broad an understanding of the subject as possible. Walton's book on Job is one of the most superb commentaries I've ever used.The depth he offers in understanding the ancient Near East's thinking on suffering was priceless.His detail in explaining Hebrew word usage assures that the reader will gain a thorough understanding of the text, and his analysis of the role various characters play was tremendously helpful.I'm usually unimpressed by "application" studies, because so many of them strike me as "navel gazing." Walton's approach is unlike any other I've seen. His dialogue at the end of each chapter with a woman who has undergone tremendous pain was so penetrating that after I read each one, I found myself thinking about it, and his reflections on her story, for hours.

This book was incredibly thorough and, in fact, provided much more information than I could possibly assimilate in one reading. Although I don't normally read commentaries from cover to cover, this one was very compelling and offered new insights into the book of Job that challenged what I thought I knew about the book. I particularly liked "Kelly's Story," which ended each section of the commentary and detailed the wise insights, lessons, and applications of a young woman's personal struggles with her own sufferings. The book is very informative and I believe it would be incredibly helpful to anyone facing their own trials and suffering. I plan to read it through again sometime to gain an even better grasp of the material presented.

Fast delivery. lovely book as new, very pleased. many thanks