Part II - Interlude: Why Job?
Summary
In the interest of the praxiological exploration of contrapuntal hermeneutics as a frame of entry into the biblical text, this project focuses on exegetical explorations of the book of Job. The book of Job suggests itself as a particularly appropriate text for this project for several reasons. First, the book holds in tension the contrapuntal voices of Job, Job's wife, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, Elihu, and God, voices whose atonality is preserved rather than harmonized in the text itself. Second, it has been the subject of a wide variety of interpretations, both academic and vernacular, including historical-critical, literary, theological, feminist and psychological approaches, as well as interpretations from the perspective of various liberation theologies, from within the context of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and from within a variety of Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic traditions. Third, in light of the previous observations, the questions raised in this particular text are demonstrably resonant across a wide variety of contexts and disciplines as well as across the gap between academic and vernacular hermeneutics. As such, the book of Job offers a unique arena within which to play out this contrapuntal encounter. The next three chapters will explore the interpretive possibilities afforded by contrapuntal hermeneutics in the Joban arena.
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- Power and Responsibility in Biblical InterpretationReading the Book of Job with Edward Said, pp. 121 - 124Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2012