I’ve read Barry Webb in other places and liked his work, especially in Five Festal Garments, so I was excited to see him in this EBTC series. The series itself has found its niche and is off to a good start.

The Introduction of 88 pages, quite lengthy for a commentary of this type, succeeds in theology while I just couldn’t get on with the Wisdom as the controlling theme rather than, say, theodicy. Read his arguments and decide for yourself, but that strikes me as making the secondary primary. His presentation of history and genre didn’t ring the bell for me either. His discussion of structure was good as far as it went. When he got to theology, his work grew much richer. These Introductory issues do not define this work for me, but they are its weakest features in an otherwise nice work.

The commentary proper struck me as thoughtful. Real wrestling with the text occurs and that’s why this work ends up being a good one. Strangely, those occasionally bizarre discussions between Job and his three friends is where he did his best work. He really contributes there. Maybe that stuck out to me because I always found those speeches the more bewildering part of Job.

This commentary is a fine one to have alongside the larger works. Make this one an additional resource to spice up the theology and gain additional insights with those speeches. For those contributions, I’ll give it a solid recommendation.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.