Job maps & timelines

Geographic Context

Job is set in “the land of Uz,” a region whose exact location is uncertain but which lay somewhere to the east of Canaan, likely in or near northern Arabia or Edom, at the edge of the Syrian and Arabian deserts. It is emphatically outside the land of Israel, and Job and his friends are not Israelites: Eliphaz comes from Teman in Edom, Bildad and Zophar from other eastern clans. This setting gives the book its universal quality: it addresses not a nation’s history but the human condition.

The world of Job is the world of the patriarchs: a pastoral, tribal society of tents, flocks and herds, camel caravans, and raiders like the Sabeans and Chaldeans who carry off his livestock. There are no cities, kings, temples, or armies at the center of the story, only a great household, a place at the city gate where the elders sit, and the vast, wild creation (the sea, the storm, the constellations, and the untamed animals) that God parades before Job at the end as the theater of His unsearchable wisdom.

Timeline of Major Events

• The patriarchal era (c. 2000 BC) - The likely setting of Job’s life, contemporary with or near the age of Abraham.
• In a single day - Job loses his wealth and all ten of his children.
• Soon after - Job is struck with painful sores; his three friends arrive and sit in silence for seven days.
• The long debate - Three cycles of speeches between Job and his friends, followed by Elihu’s speeches.
• The LORD answers - God speaks from the whirlwind, and Job repents.
• After his trial - Job intercedes for his friends and is restored to double his former blessing, living 140 more years.