Joash or Jehoash

JOASH or JEHOASH, the name of two kings in the Bible.

I. Son of Ahaziah (see JEHORAM, 2) and king of Judah. He obtained the throne by means of a revolt in which Athaliah (q.v.) perished, and his accession was marked by a solemn covenant, and by the overthrow of the temple of Baal and of its priest Mattan (-Baal). In this the priest Jehoiada took the leading part. 2 Chronicles adds several new details, including a tradition of a conflict between the king and priests after the death of Jehoiada (xxii. II ; xxiv. 3, 15 sqq.). The king perished in a conspiracy, the origin of which is not clear.

2.

Son of Jehoahaz and king of Israel. Like his grandfather Jehu, he enjoyed the favour of the prophet Elisha, who promised him a triple defeat of the Aramaeans at Aphek (2 Kings xiii. sqq. 22-25). The cities which had been taken from his father by Hazael, the father of Ben-hadad, were recovered and the relief gained by Israel prepared the way for its speedy extension of power. When challenged by Amaziah of Judah, Joash uttered the famous fable of the thistle and cedar, and a battle was fought at Beth-shemesh, in which Israel was completely successful.

JOB.

The book of Job in the Bible is an acknowledged master piece, both as an expression of religious experience and as a work of poetic genius. Its theme is the struggle of a deeply reli gious soul with the doubts aroused by undeserved suffering.

Contents.

Job is a man of exemplary piety, but in heaven "the adversary" charges that he is pious because he is prosper ous. To disprove this God permits the destruction of Job's prop erty, his children and his health. Job's patient endurance under these afflictions at length gives way to bitter lamentation. His friends—Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar—maintain that he is suffer ing for his sins, but this he indignantly denies. One after another they reason with him, and to each he replies in turn. A second and a third time they speak, advancing from gentle suggestions to specific accusations, while Job, vehemently asserting his inno cence, is driven not only into anguished perplexity regarding God's ways but even to outright denial of His justice. Neverthe

less from the cruel dogmatism of his friends he turns again and again to God, increasingly confident that the very One who seems so unjust will ultimately vindicate him. A young man named Elihu now enters the debate and eloquently but vainly enlarges upon what the friends have been saying. Finally in the majestic voice of a whirlwind the Almighty Himself replies to Job, re viewing the marvels of Creation until Job confesses that his de nial of God's justice was due to ignorance. God then condemns the friends, declares that Job has spoken rightly of Him and restores the sufferer to wealth and happiness.

Literary Form and Relationships.

Two introductory chap ters of prose narrative present the characters and bring the story to the point where Job's patience breaks down. The conclu sion of the book, narrating the condemnation of the friends and the restoration of Job's fortunes, is also prose (xlii. 7-17).

Between these lies the main body of the work, including Job's first passionate complaint (ch. iii.), the three successive rounds of argument with his friends (iv.–xxxi.), the long harangue of Elihu (xxxii.–xxxvii.) and the divine speeches with Job's sub mission (xxxviii.–xlii. 6). All this is written in the form of poetic dialogue.

Commentators have sometimes compared the book of Job with the Greek philosophical dialogue. Job's problem is distinctly philosophical, but its treatment is poetic. The author was more closely related to the dramatists than to the philosophers of Greece. Parallels between Job and the Prometheus Bound of Aeschylus have often been pointed out. A comparative study of these products of Aryan and Semitic thought, and of such mod ern works as Faust or Manfred, is very instructive, though the Greek poet's theme was the jealous hostility of the gods to man's progress in civilization rather than the difficulty created for ethical theism by a righteous man's suffering.