

This was the swan song of Samuel Driver, the greatest Bible scholar of his generation. His commentaries on Samuel and Deuteronomy are still well worth reading; indeed, they are still unsurpassed in some aspects. Why is this book different? Firstly, Driver died before finishing it; most of the general commentary, and much of the "philological notes" (which occupy half the book), were by G B Gray. While he was a fine scholar, he was not quite in Driver's league. Secondly, Job is probably by far the most difficult book in the Bible to deal with. It is written in complex, allusive poetry which even Driver could not understand. In the last 80 years, a flood of new light has been cast on the Old Testament by archaeology, comparative linguistics and other disciplines. This has improved the understanding of every book, but Job has benefited far more than Deuteronomy and Samuel. Thus, while this book is by no means worthless, it has been superseded by more recent commentaries (notably "The Book of Job" and "The Book of God and Man" by Robert Gordis).
This was the swan song of Samuel Driver, the greatest Bible scholar of his generation. His commentaries on Samuel and Deuteronomy are still well worth reading; indeed, they are still unsurpassed in some aspects. Why is this book different? Firstly, Driver died before finishing it; most of the general commentary, and much of the "philological notes" (which occupy half the book), were by G B Gray. While he was a fine scholar, he was not quite in Driver's league. Secondly, Job is probably by far the most difficult book in the Bible to deal with. It is written in complex, allusive poetry which even Driver could not understand. In the last 80 years, a flood of new light has been cast on the Old Testament by archaeology, comparative linguistics and other disciplines. This has improved the understanding of every book, but Job has benefited far more than Deuteronomy and Samuel. Thus, while this book is by no means worthless, it has been superseded by more recent commentaries (notably "The Book of Job" and "The Book of God and Man" by Robert Gordis).