Jacob (Gen. 33:19; cf. Josh. 24:32), point to a temporal setting at least as early as the patriarchs. The book of Job does not explicitly state its purpose, but the purpose may be discerned by considering clues embedded in the text. One recognizable purpose for the book is to challenge the mistaken assumption that personal sin is always the cause of suffering. Job’s friends, holding to a rigid theology of retribution, reason from the fundamental premise of practical wisdom that if wisdom