Wisdom/Hokhmah/Sophia:
Feminine Images of the Divine in Second Temple Judaism

JOB'S PLACE IN JEWISH HISTORY:
DEBATING THE ETHNICITY OF JOB

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.

LXX (Greek) Job 42:17b-e
This man (i.e. Job) is interpreted in an Aramaic book as dwelling in the land of Uz, on the boundaries of Idumea and Arabia, and he previously bore for himself the name Jobab (i.e. the Edomite king in Gen 36:33). After taking for himself an Arabian wife, he begot a son, whose name was Ennon. He himself was the son of his father Zare, from among the sons of Esau, and of his mother Bosorra, so that he was fifth from Abraham. And these were the kings who reigned in Edom, the country over which he also reigned: First was Balak, son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dennaba. After Balak was Jobab, who is called Job.

Exodus Rabbah XXI:8
R. Hama b. Hanina said: When Israel departed from Egypt, the angel Samael arose to accuse them. R. Hama added the following explanation in the name of his father: "It can be compared to a shepherd who was leading his sheep across a river when a wolf came to attack the sheep. What did the shepherd, who knew well how to deal with such emergencies, do? He took a large he-goat and threw it to the wolf, saying to himself, "Let him struggle with this till we cross the river, and then I will return to bring it back.'" In the same way, when Israel departed from Egypt, the Angel Samael arose to accuse them, pleading before God: "Lord of the Universe! Till now they have been worshipping idols, and now You divide the sea for them?" What did God do? He delivered into his hands Job, one of the counselors of Pharaoh, of whom it is written: "And that man was wholehearted and upright" (Job 1:1), and God said: "Behold, he is in your hands (Job 2:6). God reckoned: "While he is busily occupied with Job, Israel will go through the sea! Afterwards, I will deliver Job."

b. Baba Batra 15a-b
Moses wrote his book and the section of Balaam and Job. This supports the opinion of R. Joshua b. Levi b. Lahma who said that Job was contemporary with Moses... A certain Rabbi was sitting before R. Samuel b. Nahmani and in the course of his expositions remarked, "Job never was and never existed, but is only a typical figure".... R. Johanan and R. Eleazar both stated that Job was among those who returned from the Exile, and that his house of study was in Tiberias.

An objection was raised from the following: "The span of Job's life was from the time that Israel entered Egypt till they left it"... An objection was further raised: "Seven prophets prophesied to the gentiles, namely, Balaam and his father, Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite."... An objection was raised: "There was a certain pious man among the gentiles named Job, but he [thought that he had] come into this world only to receive [here] his reward, and when the Holy One, blessed be He, brought chastisements upon him, he began to curse and blaspheme, so the Holy One, blessed be He, doubled his reward in this world so as to expel him from the world to come."

There is a difference on this point between Tannaim... All these Tannaim agree that Job was from Israel, except those who say [that he lived in the days of Jacob]. [This must be so,] for if you suppose that [they regarded him as] a gentile, [the question would arise:] after the death of Moses how could the Divine Presence rest upon a gentile, seeing that a Master has said: "Moses prayed that the Divine Presence should not rest on gentiles, and God granted his request."