Jobab ben Zerah (Hebrew:יובב בן־זרחYōḇāḇ ben-Zerah) was a king of ancientEdom, according toGenesis 36. He succeededBela ben Beor in the apparentlyelective kingship[1] of the Edomites. He ruled fromBozrah. He was succeeded byHusham.
Jobab has traditionally often been identified with the biblical figureJob.[2] Job was said to live in the "land of Uz", which was where Edom was located. Job was one of the wealthiest people in the world, and this wealth could easily be explained with his status as royalty. The book of Jasher stated that the Edomites had disallowed themselves from choosing a descendant of Esau for kingship. Jobab began to reign after Bela's 30-year rule.[3]
The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, theSeptuagint, identifies Job as Jobab.[4] Also, the oldest English-language Catholic Bible, theDouay-Rheims, identifies Job as Jobab. TheChalloner Revision of the Douay-Rheims speculates that Job could have written the book of Job,[5] but the original 1610 Douay-Rheims says that Job himself wrote the book in theArabic language, which was then translated intoHebrew byMoses.[6] This claim could be supported bySt. Jerome, who wrote that the book of Job was written in "Hebrew and Arabic and sometimesSyrian".[7]
Church Slavonic versions of Book of Job andRussian Synodal Bible include a postscript in which Jobab is identified with Job, the anonymous author of the postscript refers to a "Syriac book".[8] Many Bible scholars, such asDouglas Wilson,[9] agree with the identification, though Methodist theologianAdam Clarke maintained a different position.[10][11] David J. Gibson[12] in his bookWhence Came the Hyksos, Kings of Egypt defends the identification based on numerous passages from theBook of Job, personal names, geography, occupation, and contemporaries.
| Preceded by | King of Edom | Succeeded by |