In 1976 I bought the newly published Tyndale commentary on the book of Job, by Francis I Andersen. It set a new standard of scholarship for the series, and remains an important study of a book that is like a theological Matterhorn. Yesterday it was announced that Professor Andersen had died at the age of 94. In the intervening years his name became one of the most recognised in Old Testament and Judaic studies.
The range and depth of Andersen's scholarship was truly astounding, and his subsequent commentaries are amongst the definitive critical commentaries – on Hosea, Amos, Micah and Habakkuk. They are huge volumes, their usefulness arguably limited to those who require minutiae of Hebrew syntax, exhaustive alternative interpretations, and comprehensive coverage of Ancient Near Eastern history, culture and religious practices. Such volumes are to be consulted, used as reference works, repositories for research purposes.
The commentary on Job is different. Under 300 pages of exposition which is readable, careful, pastoral and rooted deep down in the biblical text. When I read of Professor Andersen's death I opened his small commentary, and remembered the times it has helped me navigate the ocean depths of one of the great classics of world literature. Of course there are more up to date and larger volumes on the book of Job; on my own shelves Sam Balentine holds pride of place, alongside several other standard commentaries. I never invested in the Behemoth of Job commentaries, David Clines' 3 volumes at pushing towards 2000 pages! Life is short and books are getting longer!
What strikes me about Andersen's commentary is the Preface. I always read the Preface of a book. It is a courtesy to the author to know what they are attempting to say, and why. Many a reviewer of books would have been far less unfair if they had taken the time to read what the book is, and what it is not. Andersen's Preface reads like a personal testimony of faith. It is a clue to the tone and approach of his commentary.
"It is presumptuous to comment on the book of Job. It is so full of the awesome reality of the living God. Like Job, one can only put one's hand over one's mouth."
Now there's a scholar who recognises his limitations, and the limits of the exegetical exercise! Near the end of the Preface Andersen refers to friends who "brought the love of God to us in a dark hour." His book was written out of personal sorrow and suffering, and he continued, "Everything is a gift, suffering the holiest of all…"
Throughout the commentary Andersen allows God to be the mysterious, majestic, awesome reality who gives existence and reality to everything else.
"But God has revealed himself, preserving at the same time the inaccessible mystery of His own being. So we must attempt the impossible thing which He makes possible (Mk 10.27). However forbidding, He fascinates us irresistibly until by 'kindness and severity' (Rom 11.22), He brings us in His own way to Job's final satisfaction and joy."
Recent experience of grief and suffering, living the questions about God that sorrow and loss inevitably provoke, and as a scholar excavating a biblical text, Andersen wrote this commentary for others who stand at the foot of the Matterhorn gazing up at the clouded summit. But all that said, this isn't a 'devotional' commentary. It is however exegesis of a text that helps the reader to better understand both the argument of the book, and the vaster argument between human beings in their suffering, and God as Creator.
I took time yesterday to be grateful once more for this volume. It is, as many of the best biblical commentaries, an exegesis that expounds the text, and in doing so expounds the experience of the exegete. The Preface is an important part of the whole, a kind of apologia pro vita sua.
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