Job the Horite Hebrew

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1)

Alice C. Linsley 

The land of Uz is named for the Horite Hebrew clan of Uz. Uz was a son of Dishan, a son of Seir the Horite Hebrew ruler who is mentioned in the Genesis 36 list of Edomite rulers. The relationship of the Uz clan to Seir the Horite is shown on the diagram above.

Seir was a ruler in ancient Edom long before there was a king in Israel (Gen. 36:31) The Edom-Horite Hebrew connection is evident in Lamentations 4:21 - "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwells in the land of Uz…”  

In the book of Job, the last of Job's kinsmen to speak is Elihu, whose name means "word of God". El – is an ancient word for God, and Hu refers to the authoritative word in ancient Egyptian. (Pyramid Texts Utterance 251, and Utterance 697). Here we find a concept of the Divine Word that is similar to the Logos of John's Prologue.

Elihu was of the clan of Buz. Buz, Huz and Uz represent a three-clan Hebrew confederation. 1 Chronicles 5:14 says that the son of Buz was Jahdo (Yahdo), and Jahdo's son was Yeshishai, the Aramaic form of Yeshua/Jesus.

Most Old Testament scholars believe the book of  Job was written between the 7th and 4th centuries BC long after the time that Job would have lived. However, the book reflects more ancient Horite Hebrew customs and beliefs. Job is portrayed as a righteous ruler-priest who offers sacrifices daily to cover the sins of his family members. His connection to Seir the Horite ruler of Edom also connects him to the royal house of David whose hometown of Bethlehem was a Horite Hebrew settlement. That is why the Ark of the Covenant rested for 3 months on the property of Obed-Edom in Bethlehem. Obed was the first-born son of Boaz and Ruth. He is the grandfather of David. 

In 1 Chronicles 26:4 some of the Temple doorkeepers are designated "sons of Obed-Edom". Salmon, who married Rahab, is called the "father" (elder/chief) of Bethlehem in 1 Chronicles 2:54, and Hur (Hor) is named a "father" of Bethlehem in I Chronicles 4:4.

Edom is described in the Bible as one of the ancient seats of wisdom. The wisdom of the Horite Hebrew extended to medicine, astronomy, metal work, stone masonry, mining, animal husbandry, writing, commerce, navigation, agriculture, and architecture.

Related reading: Who Were the Horite Hebrew?; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem; Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers; The Horite Hebrew Wisdom of Elihu; Righteous Job and His Kin; Job's Friends and Their Contribution to the Message of Job

The Horite Hebrew Wisdom of Elihu

Alice C. Linsley

"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job..." (Job 1:1)

Job was a Horite Hebrew of the clan of Uz. Uz was a grandson of Seir the Horite ruler of Edom (Genesis 36). Edom was where Abraham the Hebrew settled. Jeremiah speaks of Edom as one of the ancient seats of wisdom.

The divine name YHWH was known among the Horite Hebrew of Edom before the time of Moses. According to Jewish tradition, Moses was born around 1393 BC. However, the name YHWH appears in connection to the Seirites of Edom as early as 1500 BC. Lists of place names in the Nubian temples of Soleb and Amara West record six toponyms associated with the Horites of Edom, “the land of Shasu.” A monument of Ramesses II claims that he “has plundered the Shasu-land, captured the mountain of Seir; a 19th Dynasty letter mentions “the Shasu-tribes of Edom,” and Ramesses III declares that he has “destroyed the Seirites among the tribes of the Shasu.”

The description of Job fits that of the Horite Hebrew ruler-priests. Though accused of being a sinner by his friends, Job was a righteous man who "feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). He rose early to offer prayers and burnt offerings for his children, one by one. He comes to be afflicted by a "ha-satan," the Accuser. Satan's power is limited as he is a creation. He must ask God's permission to afflict God's servant and God puts limits on what Satan may do to Job. The Hebrew did not regard God and Satan as equals. The faith of Abraham was not dualistic.

The trial of Job in which Satan acts as the accuser parallels Zechariah 3:2-6 where Satan accuses the High Priest Joshua (Yeshua/Jesus). In that trial God acquits Joshua and commands that he be clothed in pure garments and crowned with two crowns (ataroth). This points to Jesus who, as the Son of God, would wear a double crown according to Horite Hebrew expectation. The double crown represents how Messiah unites two peoples: the faithful of Israel (Old Covenant) and the faithful of the Church (New Covenant).

Elihu is the last of Job's kin to speak. In Strong's Concordance Elihu is said to mean "He is my God". However, it is more likely that the name relates to God's Word since El refers to God and hu was a Horite word for the divine Word that overcomes chaos. Hu refers to the authoritative word in ancient Egyptian belief and is mentioned in the Old Kingdom Pyramid texts (PT 251, PT 697). There is a close resemblance to the Logos of John's Prologue in that Hu is depicted as the falcon of the Son of God, or the ram, the totem of the Son that overcomes death. (A ram was provided for sacrifice on Mt. Moriah).

Elihu is of the clan of Buz. Buz, Huz and Uz were a three-clan Hebrew confederation. I Chronicles 5:14 tells us that the son of Buz was Jahdo (Hebrew Yahdo), and Jahdo's son was Yeshishai, the Aramaic form of Yeshua/Jesus. With the names Yahdo and Yeshishai we see the initial Canaanite Y that indicates a divinely appointed ruler.

Assuming that Elihu is an historical person, he likely was the brother-in-law of Tamar's son Hezron. (See dark triangle below.) Tamar was the daughter of a shrine priest. This suggests that Elihu lived with his father Barachel in the territory of Buz, but belonged to the household of Elihu, his maternal grandfather, also a priest. Elihu's mother would have been the daughter of Elihu the Elder. In other words, we have further evidence of intermarriage between two Horite Hebrew lines: the ruler-priest lines of Judah and Elihu the Elder.


Evidence of endogamy among the Hebrew Lines of Judah and Elihu (2019)

   Judah                                                    Elihu the Elder

      ∆    =   O Tamar                                                                       ∆

                       Hezron  ∆  =  O Elihu the Younger’s sister                                 O Elihu’s mother

                                                                                                                              ▲Elihu the Younger

Both Elihu the Elder and Elihu the Younger were of the ruler-priest caste and ancestors of King David. Elihu the Younger takes us beyond the wisdom of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. He moves us from the retributive justice espoused by Job's three friends to the reality that "God is greater than any human being. Why then quarrel with Him for not replying to you word for word? God speaks first one way and then in another, although we do not realize it." (Job 33:12-14 NJB)

Related reading: The Substance of Abraham's Faith; Three-Clan Hebrew Confederations; The Double Crown of Horus; What Abraham Discovered on Mount Moriah; The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative

The Giving God

Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Naomi holds her grandson Obed, the grandfather of King David

Alice C. Linsley

There is an aspect to the story of Job that is often overlooked: his experience of God as a giver. It is not readily apparent since the sufferings of Job speak of one loss after the other. However, the end of Job's story tells the truth about God: Job's God gives and takes away, and gives again, and again, and again. 

Job is the male counterpart of Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, who had a similar experience of God. She lost her husband and then both her sons. In her old age she was without anyone to provide for her. Yet God had given her a worthy daughter-in-law and through Ruth, Naomi's sorrow and bitterness ("call me Mara") was turned to joy as she held her grandson Obed.

Likewise, Job's latter days were better than the former days because the Lord "restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold." (Job 42:10)

The Giving God or the "Good God"

From long before Abraham's time, the God who gives was associated with the Sun. He was sometimes portrayed as riding the sun as a chariot, or as sailing in a solar boat.  He was sometimes portrayed as a bull calf with the sun cradled between his horns.

This Giving God was also associated with the constellation of Leo. The bull was often shown in ancient European images between two lions, just as the Sun was shown between two lions among the ancient Nilotes (as seen on the masthead of this blog). The Giving God was called Horus among the Saharo-Nilotes and the Kushite Saka called him Hromi Daba, the "Giving God."

Hromi Daba was also known by the names Crom Dubh and Grom Div. His association with the Sun is seen on the Triglav Stone (below) from Istria which shows the Giving God haloed by the Sun. This Giving God was also understood to be a Trinity. Triglav refers to trinity or triune. My friend Goran Pavlovic has written about this stone at his blog Old European Culture.

The Immutability of the Giving God

Just as the Sun does not change its course, so the Giving God does not change. This is what is expressed in James 1:17 - "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

There is no other giver like this Good God who gives and takes away and gives again and again; who restores what has been lost and shines His light on all equally.

This understanding of God as the Good Giver who does not change represents a radical critique of the nature religion associated with false gods. He is not associated with rain and thunder or with fire or ice. I Kings 19:11-16 expresses this distinction.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Then the Lord told Elijah what he was to do in preparation for the day when the whirlwind would catch him up to the Lord in heaven. (II Kings 2:1)

There is a great hymn that speaks of this theme:

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Where Christ displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.

Related reading:  The Solar Symbolism of the Proto-Gospel; The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative; Sun Symbolism and Blood Guilt; A Tent for the Sun; The Fatted Calf; Stone Work of the Ancient World; The High Places; Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers