Job is confident that his redeemer “lives.”
Although Christians understandably apply this to the resurrection of Jesus,
none of the events of the gospel story had occurred at the time of Job, and he
is not strictly saying, “Christ is risen from the dead!” Here, to say that he “lives”
means, in effect, that he is a real, living being (thus, the “living God”) of
Josh 2:10 and similar texts is the real God as opposed to the gods of the nations).
Job’s proclamation is a way of saying, “I have a living redeemer!” Even so, a
triumph over death is implied. The redeemer will “rise over the dust.” To “rise
over” (using קום על), is to dominate, rule, oppose, or conquer its object (see
Exod 1:8; Num 30:9 [MT 30:10]; Deut 19:11; 22:26; 28:7; Judg 9:18; 20:5; etc)
Furthermore, the portrayal of the “redeemer”
(גֹּאֵל [gōʾēl]) in Ruth is illuminative. The term relates to property law
in Ruth 4:4 and especially 4:10, where Boaz says he has acquired Ruth “to raise
up the name of the deceased over his estate” (לְהָקִ֤ים שֵׁם־הַמֵּת֙ עַל־נַ֣חֲלָתֹ֔ו
[ləhāqîm šēm-hammēt ʿal-naḥălātōw]), meaning that he will sire a son to
possess and rule the property in Elimelech’s name. In Job, however, the
redeemer “rises over dust” (עַל־עָפָ֥ר יָקֽוּם [ʿal-ʿāpār yāqûm]). He is
not fathered by a surrogate for the deceased but simply “arises,” and he does
not achieve dominion over an “inheritance” but over “dust,” a term that relates
to human mortality and death (Job 4:19; 7:5, 21; 14:7-10, 19; 17:16; 20:11;
21:26; 34:15; 40:13; 42:6), not a real estate. Thus, dust represents the human
condition and particularly mortality, and this is what his eschatological
redeemer will overcome and rule.
But the idea of the redeemer is most
famously set out in Ruth 4:14, where the baby born to Ruth and Boaz is a “redeemer”
for Naomi. That is, as she grows old and feeble and can no longer take care of
herself, her (legal) grandson will care for her and protect her. That is, he will
rescue her from the ravages of time and mortality, insofar as one person can do
that for another in this life. Job, however, looks for a redeemer who will save
him from death itself. (Duane A. Garrett, Job [Evangelical Exegetical Commentary;
St. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Academic, 2024], 260)
