Book Review: Job: Introduction & commentary (Francis Anderson)

The book of Job is a difficult book of the Bible. Its questions are brutally honest, the suffering portrayed in it can feel overwhelming, and its resolution can feel mysterious and unsettling. Francis Andersen’s commentary on Job, part of the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series, dives into this book in detail. It does not rush to tame Job’s anguish or smooth over its theological tensions. Instead, it patiently guides readers through one of Scripture’s most challenging books.

This commentary is written to pastors, teachers, or general believers who want to dive deeper into the text. It strikes a difficult balance between scholarly care and pastoral gentleness. Andersen takes the poetry of Job seriously, attending closely to its structure, imagery, and language, while never losing sight of the spiritual struggle at the heart of the story. His goal is not merely to explain what Job says, but to help readers hear the weight of those words as they were meant to be heard. One of the commentary’s great strengths is its refusal to oversimplify suffering. Andersen shows how Job’s friends, though often theologically articulate, ultimately fail because they cling to simple explanations about God and justice. In contrast, Job’s cries, raw, confused, and even defiant, are treated with dignity. Readers are reminded that Scripture gives us permission to speak honestly to God, even when faith feels strained or weakened by suffering.

At the same time, Andersen does not portray Job as the hero of the story. God remains central, sovereign, and beyond human control or explanation. The commentary handles God’s speeches near the end of the book with particular care, emphasizing not answers to suffering but a revelation of God’s wisdom and majesty. The result is a vision of faith rooted not in explanation, but in awe and trust.

While this is a commentary, it is not dry or detached. Pastors will find it especially helpful for sermon preparation, offering insight into difficult passages without overwhelming the reader with technical detail. Lay readers willing to move slowly will also benefit, especially those who want to wrestle deeply with Scripture. This commentary does not resolve the mystery of suffering. Instead, it teaches readers how to live faithfully within that mystery. Andersen’s commentary offers something faithful to Scripture: a reverent, honest engagement with a God whose ways are higher than ours, and whose presence is enough even when all explanations fail.