But I know my living Redeemer (v. 25a)
Of
even more importance to our interpretation is the identification of gō’ēl,
“Redeemer.” The term gō’ēl can refer to one who marries a childless
widow to raise and preserve the family name of the deceased (Gn 30:1; Ru 4:5-6);
an avenger of blood (Jos 20:3-9); or one who buys back a property of a relative
(Lv 25:25; Ru 4:2-4). In Job’s case his defender needed to vindicate him in a
court of law. (Smick, “Job,” 942) Some scholars hold that the identification is
either a living person, (Matthew Suriano, “Death, Disinheritance, and Job’s
Kinsman Redeemer,” Journal of Biblical Literature 129, no. 1 [Spring
2010]:60) a divine being other than God, or God. Neither Job’s family nor his
friends proved to be redeemers or mediators, yet Job’s faith in God held true.
In a surge of faith, he declared, “I know my living Redeemer.” The expression “I
know,” in “forensic contexts,” means, “I have a strong conviction” or “I firmly
believe” (Job 9:2, 28; 10:13; 13:18). (Habel, Job, 304) Job described
his Redeemer as one who would stand on the earth sometime in the future (Job
19:25), and that he would see Him after his death. The near referent is clearly
stated to be God (v. 26). (Anderson, Job, 194)
While admitting that the passage does not provide explicit Christological
meaning to the word “Redeemer,” or give a full description of the doctrines of
immortality and personal bodily resurrection, there is sufficient reason to see
in Job’s words hope of a positive meeting with God after death. Andersen gives
three reasons for this position.
First,
there is no need for Job to deposit a written testimony, if he expects to be
vindicated before he dies. Secondly, the word translated earth, as used in Job,
is constantly connected with Sheol, and the statement that the Redeemer lives
is a direct answer to the fact that a man dies (14:10). The repetition of the
word after (-wards) in the prominent position at the beginning of verses 25b
and 26a suggests an interval, or even, with the meaning at last, something
eschatological. Finally, the argument that Job does not expect personal
reconstitution as a man, because this idea entered Judaism only towards the
very end of the biblical period, can be dismissed in the light of much recent
research that shows interest in the afterlife as an ancient concern for
Israelite faith…. Job 14:13ff…. shows that the hope of resurrection lies at the
very heart of Job’s faith. (Ibid.)
Boorer
states, “His [Job’s] hope in relation to death and his hope in relation to
vindication are distinct aspects of his hope and yet they interact and become
intertwined in the ongoing movement of the text.” (Suzanne Booer, “Job’s Hope:
A Reading of the Book of Job from the Perspective of Hope,” Colloquium 30,
no. 2 [Nov 1998]:103)
The
Redeemer is more than just an angelic or human arbiter, one other than God, who
will defend Job before God. The “title redeemer had a special place in
Israel’s confessional theology.” (Hartley, Job, 292-93) Numerous
passages in both the Old and New Testament distinctly point to the Lord (Yahweh)
and Christ as the Redeemer or One who redeems.( Cf. Ex 6:6; 15:13; Dt 7:8; 9:26; 13:5; 15:15; 21:8;
24:18; 2Sm 4:9; 7:23; 1Kg 1:29; 1Chr 17:21; Neh 1:10; Pss 19:14; 31:5; 34:22;
44:26; 49:15; 74:2; 77:15; 78:35; 103:4; 107:2; 119:134, 154; Prv 23:11; Isa
29:22; 35:9-10; 41:14; 43:1, 14; 44:6, 23-24; 47:4; 48:17, 20; 49:7, 26; 51:3;
54:5, 8; 59:20; 60:16; 62:12; 63:16; Jer 50:34; Lam 3:58; Mic 6:4; Zch 10:8; Lk
24:21; Gal 3:13; 4:5; Ti 2:14; 1Pt 1:18; Rev 5:9; 14:3-4.) In Isaiah, gō’ēl appears
as a title of God nine times. Certainly, if the “author did not want to make
this identification, he would have chosen another term that would have clearly meant
an intermediary between God and man, for he has already used many: angel or
holy one (5:1), umpire or
arbiter
(9:33-34), witness (16:19), and friend (16:20).” (Ibid., 293) The writer of Job
also chose to refer to the Redeemer as “living” or “alive.” (Hywel R. Jones, A
Study Commentary on Job [Webster, NY: Evangelical Press, 2007], 159) If Job
dies, his Redeemer lives, surviving him and coming to his aid. In contrast to
the “stone inscription,” a living Redeemer is a much better witness, “vindicating
Job’s integrity and avenging Job’s death, as Job implied in [19:]28-29.” (Smick,
Job, 942) Kaiser confidently affirms, “This ‘Redeemer’ will be a living
person whom God will raise up ‘in the end,’ i.e., who will appear on the earth
at the end of all things. At that time … as the final vindicator of the
beaten-down Job and vindicate him.” (Walter Kaiser, Jr., The Messiah in the
Old Testament [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995], 63) (Larry J. Waters, “Job
19:23-27: A Living Redeemer,” in Michael Rydelnik and Edwin eds., The Moody
Handbook of Messianic Prophecy: Studies and Expositions of the Messiah in the
Old Testament [Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2019], 441-43)