Irony in the Opening of God’s Speeches (Job 38:2–3)
Keywords:
Book of Job, God’s speeches, irony, rhetorical questions, mitigationAbstract
The study focuses on the ironies in the opening of God’s first speech to Job (Job 38:2–3). The analysis is based on Edgar Lapp’s linguistic study, which defines irony as a simulation of insincerity. In 38:2, ironies are discernible in the peculiar shape of the rhetorical question and in the allusions to Job’s initial lament (Job 3). Similarly, 38:3 alludes to Job’s challenge in 13:22–23. The ironic tone comes to the fore by comparing the specific use of the words and locutions in 38:2–3 with their occurrence in the book and in the Hebrew Bible as a whole. These ironies have a mitigating effect as they partly hide the criticism of Job in the unsaid.
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