Job’s Second Lament (Job 29-31)

            As noted in the introduction, Job 29:1-42:6 marks a second cycle oflamentation-discourse-revelation that recapitulates the first. For example, in Job 29, Job’s recollection of the good old days brings us back to his idyllic scene in chapter one. In Job 30, Job’s distress that many now reject him reminds us of his wife’s distancing herself in chapter 2. Job’s lament in chapters 30 and 31 are prolonged versions of his lament in chapter 3. However, each phase in the second cycle brings a new emphasis.