Job’s Endurance (Jas 5:11b)

Abstract

Interpreters have often struggled to account for the way in which the author of James employs the figure of Job as an example of ὑπομονή (Jas 5:11). Since a “steadfast” or “patient Job” is clearly incongruous with the book of Job, the Testament of Job is often forwarded as the preferred source of James’ Joban tradition. This article argues that James’ language of ὑπομονή should be read against its wider Greco-Roman literary background, and when done so, the Greek term emerges as an active, aggressive virtue, best rendered “enduring resistance.” The article posits that the author of James has reread the book of Job within this Greco-Roman literary framework, resulting in a congruent, though thoroughly Hellenistic, reading of Septua-gint Job in which the virtue of endurance takes on a newfound centrality.