[July 2006 journal entry]
When, in the development of Jewish thought in antiquity, did the pre/nonscientific cosmology (1:6ff) assumed in the story/play Job – e.g., angels, ‘God’ enthroned, an Accuser, celestial beings ‘checking things out on the earth’, ‘God’ causing or permitting things to happen on earth, . . . – become presupposed or taken for granted? With these cosmological presuppositions, how does ‘God’ know of the tragedies described in the prologue? Does the wording in the prologue suggest any divine empathy for the victims? I do not detect it.
When, in the development of Jewish thought in antiquity, did the pre/nonscientific cosmology (1:6ff) assumed in the story/play Job – e.g., angels, ‘God’ enthroned, an Accuser, celestial beings ‘checking things out on the earth’, ‘God’ causing or permitting things to happen on earth, . . . – become presupposed or taken for granted? With these cosmological presuppositions, how does ‘God’ know of the tragedies described in the prologue? Does the wording in the prologue suggest any divine empathy for the victims? I do not detect it.
