Apocrypha
Testament of Job
Pseudepigraphon
12 chapters · read and listen
Reading note
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.
Chapters
Dossier
The story of Job told by himself, on his deathbed, to his children — and here he knows from the start who is behind it all, because he was warned before anything began.
Where this text comes from
Greek, estimated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, possibly from Egyptian Jewish circles. Transmitted in Greek, Slavonic and Coptic.
Why it is not in the Bible
Outside every canon. It is a devotional rewriting of a canonical book, a genre that was never a candidate for Scripture.
What you will find
- Job destroys a temple of idols on an angel's instruction, knowing in advance the price he will pay — and accepts it.
- Job's wife, who in the biblical book says one line and disappears, here has a name, a history and a long scene in which she sells her hair for bread.
- The three daughters receive, instead of an inheritance, sashes that give them the language of angels, and the book ends with them singing.
- Satan appears in person, disguised as a beggar and as a baker, and admits defeat at the end.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Testament of Job the book of Job?
- No. It is a later retelling in which Job narrates his own story to his children. The canonical book is poetic and ambiguous; this one is narrative and explains everything, including who caused what.