Annotated Outline of Job

Job

1. Historical background (Gen. 46:13; Ez. 14:14-20; Jas. 5:10-11)  (1:1-22)
   1. Job's character  (1:1)
   2. Job's family (cp. Job 42:13-17)  (1:2)
   100. Greatness and riches: $790,000 worth of livestock, and many servants and houses  (1:3)
   4. Job's piety (Job 1:1, 8, 20-22; 2:3, 10; Jas. 5:10-11)  (1:4-5)
   5. God, Satan, and Job (Job 1:6-2:8)  (1:6)
      1. God and Satan  (1:6)
         1. Angelic worship in heaven (Job 2:1; 38:7; Ps. 103:20; 148:2; Lk. 2:13; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 5:11-14)  (1:6)
   6. God's twofold inquiry of Satan (Job 2:2-3)  (1:7-8)
   7. Satan's fourfold theory of Job (Job 2:4-6)  (1:9-11)
   8. God's limited permission to Satan to test Job (Job 2:6)  (1:12)
   1. Satan and Job  (1:13-15)
      1. Job's fourfold loss  (1:13-15)
         1. A. Servants, oxen, and asses  (1:13-15)
   10. B. Servants and 7,000 sheep  (1:16)
   11. C. Servants and 3,000 camels  (1:17)
   50. D. Servants, sons, daughters, and ranch house  (1:18-19)
   13. Job's sevenfold integrity (Job 2:9-10; 10:4; 13:14; 16:15; 23:10; 27:3; 31:1)  (1:20-22)
2. God and Satan  (2:1-13)
   1. Angelic worship in heaven (Job 1:6, refs.)  (2:1)
   2. God's twofold inquiry of Satan (Job 1:7-8)  (2:2-3)
   100. Satan's twofold theory of Job (Job 1:9-11)  (2:4-5)
   4. God's limited permission for Satan to test Job (Job 1:12)  (2:6)
   5. Satan and Job: boils or ulcers (Job 7:5, 13, 15; 16:8; 19:17; 30:17)  (2:7-8)
   6. Job's wife (Job 19:17): Job maintains his integrity (Job 1:20)  (2:9-10)
   7. Job and three friends: arrival and seven days' watch  (2:11-13)
3. Job and his three friends: discourses (Job 3-31)  (3:1-26)
   1. Job's first of eight discourses in twenty of the forty-two chapters of the book  (3:1-10)
      1. Birth lamented: seventeen curses on his birthday-two reasons  (3:1-10)
   2. Infancy lamented: thirteen reasons  (3:11-19)
   100. Manhood lamented: seven reasons  (3:20-26)
4. Eliphaz's first of three discourses in four chapters  (4:1-21)
   1. His apology and desire to speak  (4:1-2)
   2. Fourfold commendation of Job's past goodness  (4:3-4)
   100. Eightfold condemnation: Job is reaping what he sowed-past goodness merely a cover for real self  (4:5-6)
   4. Sevenfold observation of the wicked reaping proves Job is reaping what he has sown  (4:7-11)
   5. Tenfold vision of a spirit proves God is just in punishing Job for his wickedness  (4:12-21)
5. Fourfold reproach-if Job were not reaping God would hear his prayers  (5:1-27)
   1. Eightfold reaping of the wicked-Job is suffering these calamities so must be wicked  (5:3-5)
   2. Trouble is inevitable  (5:6-7)
   100. Job advised to seek God: tenfold greatness of God  (5:8-16)
   4. Job is being chastened by God for his good: twentyfold result of chastening  (5:17-27)
6. Job's reply to Eliphaz  (6:1-30)
   1. His unbearable grief-accuses God of being his enemy  (6:1-7)
   2. Job prays for God to destroy him in his misery  (6:8-13)
   100. Job reproves his friends for their deception and lack of understanding of his case  (6:14-21)
   4. Job maintains his independence  (6:22-23)
   5. Job reproves his friends for their bitter words  (6:24-27)
   6. Job appeals to his friends to have faith in him  (6:28-30)
7. Job longs to die: twelvefold grief  (7:1-21)
   1. Job bitterly accuses God of ill-treatment and injustice: twentyfold complaint of God  (7:11-21)
8. Bildad's first of three discourses in three chapters  (8:1-22)
   1. Job is reproved for his words  (8:1-2)
   2. Job and children accused of being wicked or they would not be suffering  (8:3-7)
   100. Appeal for Job to learn from tradition and nature  (8:8-12)
   4. Twentyfold application to Job the hypocrite  (8:13-22)
9. Job's reply to Bildad  (9:1-35)
   1. Job unable to answer how a man can be just with God  (9:1-4)
   2. God's twelvefold power  (9:5-12)
   100. Job unable to answer God but will yet pray to Him  (9:13-15)
   4. Job is confused and doubtful of answered prayer  (9:16)
   5. Job accuses God for his miserable plight  (9:17-18)
   6. Job's sixfold complaint of injustice and helplessness  (9:19-21)
   7. Job accuses God of being unmerciful and in league with the wicked  (9:22-24)
   8. Job's twelvefold complaint and accusation of God  (9:25-31)
   1. Job unable to answer God because there is no mediator  (9:32-33)
   10. Job again accuses God of terrifying him  (9:34-35)
10. Job in bitterness accuses God of injustice, oppression, and being in league with the wicked  (10:1-22)
    1. Job maintains his integrity to God and declares that God is seeking his destruction  (10:4-8)
    2. Job prays to God for help yet accuses God of increasing His wrath upon him  (10:9-17)
    100. Job laments his birth and dreads his death  (10:18-22)
11. Zophar's first of two discourses in two chapters  (11:1-20)
    1. He accuses Job of five sins  (11:1-4)
    2. Zophar claims that Job is not reaping enough  (11:5-6)
    100. God's twelvefold omniscience and omnipotence  (11:7-12)
    4. Zophar assures Job of a twelvefold blessing if he would only pray and quit sinning  (11:13-19)
    5. Zophar declares Job must be wicked or he would not be suffering like the wicked  (11:20)
12. Job's reply to Zophar  (12:1-25)
    1. Job's irony: his inferiority denied  (12:1-3)
    2. Job states the attitude of others when a man is down  (12:4-5)
    100. Job again accuses God of being in league with the wicked  (12:6)
    4. Thirtyfold greatness of God (cp. Job 38-41)  (12:7-25)
13. Job's inferiority again denied: accuses his friends of lying and being quack doctors  (13:1-28)
    1. Job's twentyfold appeal to his friends to let him alone and let God deal with him  (13:5-13)
    2. Job's declaration to trust God even to death: maintains his integrity and confidence in his God and innocence  (13:14-18)
    100. Job's twentyfold appeal to God for fair play  (13:19-28)
14. Job's philosophy of man: here and hereafter  (14:1-22)
15. Eliphaz's second discourse  (15:1-35)
    1. Accuses Job of fifteen sins  (15:1-16)
    2. Eliphaz appeals to tradition: 20 judgments on the wicked-Job must be wicked for he is suffering the judgments of the wicked  (15:17-35)
16. Job's reply to Eliphaz  (16:1-22)
    1. Reproves his miserable comforters  (16:1-6)
    2. Job's twentyfold accusation against God and man  (16:7-14)
    100. Job maintains that his suffering is not because of any injustice on his part  (16:15-22)
17. Job's twentyfold grief and complaint to God  (17:1-16)
18. Bildad's second discourse  (18:1-21)
    1. Sevenfold reproof of Job  (18:1-4)
    2. Thirtyfold doom of the wicked: Job's doom therefore is foretold  (18:5-21)
19. Job's reply to Bildad  (19:1-29)
    1. Eightfold reproof of his friends  (19:1-5)
    2. Twentyfold accusation of God as the cause of his sufferings  (19:6-13)
    100. Fifteenfold complaint against his kinfolk, friends, servants and his own wife  (19:14-20)
    4. Job appeals to his friends to have pity on him  (19:21-22)
    5. Job's request to have his experiences written in a book  (19:23-24)
    6. Job still maintains faith in spite of accusations of God as the cause of his sufferings  (19:25-27)
    7. Job takes responsibility for his own life  (19:28-29)
20. Zophar's second discourse: 30 judgments on the wicked and hypocrites: Job must be both or he would not be suffering their judgments  (20:1-21:34)
    1. Job's reply to Zophar  (21:1-6)
       1. Appeals to his friends to hear and be reasonable, then mock on  (21:1-6)
    2. Fifteenfold prosperity of the wicked proves he is not wicked as they believe he is  (21:7-15)
    100. Both the wicked and good perish so their arguments of only the wicked suffering judgment prove nothing in his case  (21:16-26)
    4. Job appeals to his friends to consider what they say  (21:27-34)
21. Eliphaz's third discourse  (22:1-30)
    1. Still maintains that Job is a hypocrite  (22:1-4)
    2. Accuses Job of eight sins  (22:5-9)
    100. Job's fourfold reaping  (22:10-11)
    4. Job accused of covering up his sins  (22:12-14)
    5. Job is classed as wicked  (22:15-20)
    6. Job assured of blessing if he would only repent  (22:21-30)
22. Job's reply to Eliphaz  (23:1-24:25)
    1. Wishes for a fair trial from God  (23:1-5)
    2. Job is confident of the outcome of a fair trial  (23:6-7)
    100. Job searches for God  (23:8-9)
    4. Job again maintains his integrity (Job 1:20, refs.)  (23:10-12)
    5. God's ways are inscrutable  (23:13-24:1)
    6. Thirty more sins of the wicked: Job maintains he is not guilty of these sins so should not be classed as wicked  (24:2-25)
23. Bildad's third discourse: man cannot be just before God  (25:1-6)
24. Job's reply to Bildad  (26:1-14)
    1. Mockery and ironic questions to his friends  (26:1-4)
    2. Fifteen works of God  (26:5-14)
25. Job accuses God of causing his sufferings  (27:1-23)
    1. Job maintains his integrity (Job 1:20, refs.)  (27:3-12)
    2. Job's philosophy  (27:13-23)
       1. A. Fourteenfold end of the wicked  (27:13-23)
26. B. Twenty-five natural and supernatural things which show the knowledge of mining and other industries of man in Job's time  (28:1-28)
    1. C. The price, source, and definition of wisdom  (28:12-28)
27. Lamentation-Job's past  (29:1-25)
    1. A. His tenfold prosperity  (29:1-6)
    2. B. Job's eightfold honor  (29:7-11)
    100. C. Job's twelvefold character  (29:12-17)
    4. D. Job's sixfold security  (29:18-20)
    5. E. Job's twelvefold honor  (29:21-25)
28. Lamentation-Job's present  (30:1-31)
    1. A. Character of his persecutors  (30:1-8)
    2. B. Conduct of his persecutors  (30:9-14)
    100. C. Job's sufferings: body and soul (Job 30:25-31)  (30:15-18)
    4. D. Job's twelvefold accusation of God causing his suffering  (30:19-24)
    5. E. Job's sufferings: body and soul (Job 30:15-18)  (30:25-31)
29. Job's twelvefold innocence declared (Job 1:20, refs.)  (31:1-40)
    1. A. Not guilty of lust after women  (31:1-4)
    2. B. Not guilty of deceit  (31:5-6)
    100. C. Not guilty of dishonesty  (31:7-8)
    4. D. Not guilty of adultery  (31:9-12)
    5. E. Not guilty of injustice  (31:13-15)
    6. F. Not guilty of inhumanity  (31:16-23)
    7. G. Not guilty of covetousness  (31:24-25)
    8. H. Not guilty of idolatry  (31:26-28)
    1. Not guilty of malignity  (31:29-31)
    10. J. Not guilty of inhospitality  (31:32)
    11. K. Not guilty of hypocrisy  (31:33-37)
    50. L. Not guilty of fraud  (31:38-40)
30. Job and Elihu-Elihu's discourse to Job and his three friends  (32:1-33:33)
    1. The connecting narrative  (32:1-5)
    2. Elihu's reason for keeping quiet so long  (32:6-7)
    100. The source of his wisdom  (32:8-9)
    4. Fifteenfold reason of Elihu for speaking  (32:10-22)
    5. Elihu's first reply to Job  (33:1-7)
       1. His fitness to answer  (33:1-7)
    6. Job's eight errors  (33:8-13)
    7. God's dealings with men  (33:14-18)
       1. A. Reveals His will and purpose  (33:14-18)
    8. B. When God is rejected affliction is His next means of awakening man to his duty  (33:19-22)
    1. C. When man is brought low and turns to God, an interpreter of God is sent with His message  (33:23)
    10. D. If the chastened one accepts God he is both saved and healed  (33:24-28)
    11. E. Reason for God's dealings  (33:29-30)
    50. Elihu's challenge to Job  (33:31-33)
31. Ellihu's reply to Job's three friends  (34:1-37)
    1. A. Appeals for their favor  (34:1-4)
    2. B. Elihu accuses Job of eight sins against God and man  (34:5-9)
    100. C. First call to hear: twelvefold vindication of God  (34:10-15)
    4. D. Second call to hear: thirtyfold vindication of God  (34:16-33)
    5. E. Elihu reproves Job: desires that he be punished more  (34:34-37)
32. Elihu's second reply to Job  (35:1-16)
    1. A. His three great errors  (35:1-3)
    2. B. Elihu reproves Job and vindicates God  (35:4-14)
    100. C. Elihu claims that Job is being punished by God and cannot take it without fighting back  (35:15-16)
33. Elihu's further defense of God  (36:1-37:24)
    1. A. Claims to speak for God  (36:1-4)
    2. B. God's eighteen dealings with men  (36:5-15)
    100. C. Elihu applies God's dealings with man to Job  (36:16-25)
    4. D. Thirty-four great works of God  (36:26-37:13)
    5. E. Job advised to consider the power and works of God and not presume to be wiser than God  (37:14-24)
34. Jehovah and Job  (38:1-40:24)
    1. Jehovah's first discourse  (38:1-3)
       1. Jehovah's demands  (38:1-3)
    2. Thirty-six questions about the inanimate creation  (38:4-38)
    100. Twenty-three questions about the animate creation  (38:39-40:2)
    4. Job's reply to Jehovah  (40:3-5)
    5. Jehovah's second discourse  (40:6-9)
       1. Four questions about Job  (40:6-9)
    6. Eightfold challenge to Job  (40:10-14)
    7. Sixteenfold description of the behemoth  (40:15-24)
35. Twenty questions about leviathan   (41:1-34)
    1. (serpent or dragon, Job 41:34; Isa. 27:1; Rev. 12:1-17; 13:1-4; 16:13; 20:2)  (41:1-14)
    2. Fifty-sixfold description of leviathan  (41:15-34)
36. Job's reply to Jehovah  (42:1-17)
    1. Jehovah and Job's three friends  (42:7-9)
    2. Jehovah, Satan, and Job (cp. Job 1:6-22; 2:1-8): "the end of the Lord" (Jas. 5:10-11)  (42:10-13)
    100. The conclusion of Job  (42:14-17)