Was Job taken from ancient Sumerian and Babylonian legends?
Asimovs Guide to the Bible p.474 suggests so. On the contrary, it would be surprising if there were no other literature that dealt with this issue. There are two Mesopotamian works that address the problem of suffering. I will Praise the Lord of Wisdom, an Akkadian work, sometimes is called the Babylonian Job. The Dialogue of Human Misery (also called the Babylonian Theodicy) asks why there is suffering in general, while Job asks why he is suffering. The Dialogue of Human Misery answers by saying the gods made men evil. The book of Job answers this by saying that it is not because of Jobs sin. Rather, God is so much greater than us, that sometimes He has reasons we cannot see for why He allows his obedient servants to suffer. In Jobs particular case, Jobs demonstrated faithfulness in suffering glorified God. In Jobs case, things worked out well before the end of his physical life, but regardless, Job knew he would be vindicated after death (Job 13:15). In modern times, the book The Pro
