The Analysis of the Book of JobThe Book of Job is generally regarded as a masterpiece of the Bible and even of world literature. Its fullrichness can never be exhausted; every approach remains limited. Our approach to the text is synchronic.Most studies of this Book emphasize the complex history of its formation: the prose prologue and epiloguecontrast sharply with the poetic dialogues in the central section. At the beginning and at the end, threefriends are mentioned. So where does the sudden appearance of the fourth speaker, Elihu (32–37), comefrom? Many other irregularities have led scholars to conclude that the book has undergone a long prehis-tory. Historical‑critical studies are diachronic: they investigate how the book developed, but their recon-structions of the prehistory of the book remain hypothetical, and vary from one scholar to another.Our analysis takes the Book of Job in its present form. There are indeed good reasons to accept a prehistory,with additions, different redactions, and so on. Be that as it may, we now have a book that forms a unity. Itis a distinct biblical book that has been read and transmitted as such for centuries, and it deserves to be readwith great reverence in that form.Much has been written about the meaning of the book. Is it about the problem of the suffering of theinnocent, about God’s justice, about the doctrine of retribution? We will not search for the meaning of thetext. A text can have an openness to meanings; We will rather try to discover its structure. How does thebook function? What is happening within it? How do all the parts of the book belong together? What are thelinks between them? How does the text evolve?Is the book historical? Job is not a historical figure: the beginning of the book is formulated in the typicalstyle of a folk tale: "There was a man in the land of Us"; but he is at the same time historical, because everyhuman being is this Job.1. THE NARRATIVE SEQUENCE OF THE BOOK OF JOBIn a text a person can...