`Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy

elders, and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated

the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel' (Deut.

It is evident both by the teaching of Moses and of Job that it was possible in those days to `inquire' and get an

answer. This reservoir of truth may never have been put into writing, but nevertheless would have been passed on

faithfully from father to son and constituted an ever growing fund of wisdom and information; on the other hand, the

fact that there was a `Book' of the generations of Adam (Gen. 5:1) suggests that writing was practised in earliest

If Moses was born in the year 1571 B.C. and if Job was a generation or two earlier, `the former generations'

would reach back to the time of the flood. When we observe that Noah was born less than 130 years after the death

of Adam, we can well understand how easily the records of earliest times were passed on. The A.V. of Job 8:8,

reads `prepare thyself to the search of their fathers' but as we have seen the R.V. reads `apply thyself to that which

their fathers have searched out'. In the former translation, it is at least clear that Job had some records into which he

could conduct a search, while in the latter translation the material available was the accumulated research of the

fathers. In either case a definite body of teaching seems to be implied. The word search, Hebrew cheqer occurs

seven times in the book of Job:

`I would seek unto God ... Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number' (Job

To this Job seems to have made a reply when answering Bildad:

`Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number' (Job 9:10),

and to which Zophar adds this question:

`Canst thou by searching find out God?' (Job 11:7).

It is evident from these references that the word employed indicates a very thorough search.

Eliphaz the Temanite asks Job:

`Art thou the first man that was born? ... What knowest thou, that we know not? ... I will shew thee, hear me;

and that which I have seen I will declare; which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: unto

whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them' (Job 15:7-19).

This seems to refer to early days when the patriarchs dwelt alone in the lands given them, uncorrupted by the

false teaching of surrounding peoples. Eliphaz evidently had access to the wisdom of earlier days, wisdom that had

been told by the fathers, and which the wise men had not kept hid.

Carey's translation of Job 8:10 reads:

`Shall not they teach thee and speak to thee And out of their heart bring forth verse?'

and puts verses 11-19 in Gothic type to indicate that Bildad is quoting from an ancient document. Another such

quotation is exhibited in Job 15:20-35. Carey further remarks that the Hebrew word millah translated `words' in Job

8:10, is only used in poetry and in reference to poetry, and adopts the word `verse' in 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalms 19:4;

106:2; 139:4; and Proverbs 23:9, where the A.V. uses `word' or `utter'. Although Barnes, in his commentary on Job

does not appear to have considered this translation, nevertheless he looks upon the following verse as `a fragment of

a poem handed down from ancient times'. Samuel Lee, D.D., also considered verses 11-13 to be `proverbial, and to

contain matter extracted, perhaps, from a former revelation'.

Apart from the outstanding teaching of Job on the question of creation, and the nature and being of the great

Creator, three related doctrines are given such prominence, and stated with such clearness as to make any book that

contained them a wonder and a joy, even though issued late in the canon. What shall we say then, when we find in

so ancient a book the doctrines of Justification, of Redemption and the hope of Resurrection so clearly enunciated?