Job in the Timeline of Bible History

Job was a man from the land of Uz (Job 1:1), and the Bible calls him "the greatest of all the men of the east" (Job 1:3) in his time. Uz was the son of Aram (Gen 10:23), who was in turn the son of Shem (Gen 10:22). Aram was also the brother of Arphaxad by whom Abraham was descended from. Arphaxad had a son Salah, and from Salah came Eber. (Gen 10:24). Eber had two sons: Peleg and Joktan (Gen 10:25). Descendants of Peleg:

• Reu the son of Peleg (Gen 11:18)

• Serug the son of Reu (Gen 11:20)

• Nahor the son of Serug (Gen 11:22)

• Terah the son of Nahor (Gen 11:24)

• Abraham the son of Terah (Gen 11:26)

Genesis 10:26-29 "And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan."

Joktan was the younger brother of Peleg. He had 13 sons: Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. His 13th son was Jobab.

Genesis 10:30 "And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east."

According to this verse, the children of Joktan was spread out from Mesha unto Sephar a mount of the east. Recall: Job was the greatest of all the men of the east:

Job 1:3 "His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east."

Notice the pattern of the number 13 in Job 1:3. This is one clue that links Job to the line of Joktan. The 13th son of Joktan was named "Jobab". If you have been following my posts, you will know that the number 13 is a very special number in the Bible that references to the person of "mystery", for example: "love of God" found 13 times in the King James Bible; the verse about the king's daughter in Psalms 45:13 is given to us in 13 words.

Could the name of Job be the reduced form of "Jobab" the 13th son of Joktan? First and foremost, to the children of Shem were the oracles of God committed. Genesis 9:26 says "Blessed be the LORD God of Shem". God is the LORD God of Shem, and Shem is a people. That must also include the writer of the book of Job.

There was actually a fifth person who was with Job and his three friends, and his name was Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram. Recall:

• Aram (A-Ram) was the son of Shem;

• Uz was the son of Aram.

Job was a man in the land of Uz, and the land of Uz was in the east. The children of Joktan (incl. Jobab) was "from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. Based on these evidences, could Jobab the 13th son of Joktan be the Job of the book of Job? How long did Job lived on earth?

Job 1:3 "His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east."

Job 42:12 "So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses."

The LORD literally doubled everything that Job had before the trial of his faith. Then in:

Job 42:16-17 "After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days."

Job lived an additional 140 years after the trial of his faith was over. Moreover, if we look at:

Job 15:10 "With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father."

Of the few popular modern bible versions that I've looked up, all of them seem to use the word "older" instead of "elder" in Job 15:10:

NKJV "... Much OLDER than your father."

NIV "... even OLDER than your father."

NASB "... OLDER than your father."

NLT "... much OLDER than your father!"

There is a difference between "elder" and "older". The word "elder" is used to identify the older of two persons in terms of who is higher up in the family tree rather than to compare the ages between them. For example, you can have an uncle that is technically your ELDER, but could be younger in age. Whereas OLDER is used to identify the greater in age between two persons.

Only the King James Bible has correctly used and accurately preserved the word "elder" which speaks of a time when there were many very aged men that were not just older, but GENERATIONS OLDER than Job's father, and yet were still very much alive and living even at the time of Job. Therefore, this verse alone provide the proof that Job must have been among the few generations that lived right after the Great Flood that destroyed the earth. This is one clue which tells us that Job lived in a time where most people lived to hundreds of years of age. Job was already a very old man when his faith was tried:

Job 32:6 "And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion."

This verse is proof that Job was already a very old man at the time when his faith was tried. What is "very old" according to the Bible?

1 Kings 1:15 "¶ And Bath–sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king."

David was 70 years old when he died:

2 Samuel 5:4 "¶ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years."

According to 1 Kings 1:15, David was already "very old" at 70 years of age.

1 Chronicles 29:26-28 "¶ Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead."

1 Chronicles 29:26-28 further tells us that David died in a "good old age" and "full of days". In fact, this was also told to us in:

Psalms 90:10 "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

So, where Job used to have 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she asses before the trial of his faith, he now owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 she asses. The LORD literally doubled everything that Job had before the trial of his faith, and this apparently also includes his lifespan.

It was given to us that Job lived an additional 140 years after the trial of his faith. Apply the same logic whereby God doubled all that he had, including the years of his life, we will arrive at the answer that Job was 70 years old when his faith was tried.That means that Job lived to 210 years of age, because 210 = 70 + (2 x 70). Consider the following:

• Peleg the brother of Joktan lived to 239 years of age;

• Reu the son of Peleg also lived to 239 years of age;

• Serug the son of Reu lived to 230 years of age.

Jobab was the youngest son, the 13th son of Joktan, the younger brother of Peleg. This would put him in the same generation as Reu the son of Peleg, but Jobab was probably born around the time Serug since he was the 13th son of Joktan who was the younger brother of Peleg. Could Jobab and Job be the same person? Based on the above evidences, it seems very likely. To be very frank, I do believe Job and Jobab are one and the same person.

Article: 'Current Age of the Earth (AD 2021)'

Based on the above study, Peleg was born 101 years after the Great Flood which happened at 1,656 years after Creation. That puts his birth at 1,757 years after Creation, or approximately 4,430.5 years ago counting from AD 2020. Peleg was the elder uncle of Jobab. That means that Jobab was the same generation as Reu, the son of Peleg. Reu was born 131 years after the Great Flood, but Jobab, being the youngest son of Joktan (Peleg's younger brother) could have been much younger than Reu, and could have possibly been born in the generation of Serug who was born 163 years after the Great Flood. That would mean that Jobab was possibly born around 1,819 years after Creation or 4,368.5 years ago counting from AD 2020. Jobab lived to 210 years old according to my study above. So, he died at approximately 1,819 + 210 = 2,029 years after Creation. Abraham was born 2,008 years after Creation. That would make Abraham a contemporary of Jobab, the 13th son of Joktan.