Who wrote the book of Job?

We don’t really know who wrote the book of Job. Ideas range from a Hebrew well-versed in Scripture and wisdom literature to Moses to Job himself. It was written sometime during Israel’s history. I’m dead serious. That’s what we know about the author of Job.

The date range for the book is anywhere from the 1500s BC to the 500s BC. You might as well say, “Some Israelite wrote the book of Job during Israel’s history.” But there are a few theories about who the author might be.

One of the standards for inspired books of the Bible is that they must be written by a prophet or an apostle. Moses was a prophet and five books are already attributed to him. If Job wrote the book, it sounds like he lived in an ancient time, possibly the time before the flood. The book would need to be preserved in some way.

In that case, they would most likely have used oral tradition to pass his story on from generation to generation until it was written down by someone. Oral tradition, contrary to Western understanding, was extremely accurate. The Hebrew language lends itself to the memory and the ability to remember and recount stories.

Another question coming up asks about how Job would have known about the conversation between God and Satan in Job 1-2. I will answer that a little bit later. But it suggests that Job wrote the book.

Since the author is not named, we can’t possibly know for sure who it was. But I would suggest that since it was accepted into the Canon as an inspired book by the Jews, it must be a prophet. I can’t think of another book of the Old Testament that was not written by a prophet. Which prophet? Your guess is as good as mine. This is one of those questions will have to ask God we get to heaven.