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I started reading a Bible plan that claims to be chronological. However, after the last chapter of Genesis, it started Job. After the end of Job, it continued into Exodus. All of my attempts at researching this come up short.
Does the story of Job happen between Genesis and Exodus? If not, where would be a reasonable place on a timeline to put the book of Job?
Note: I'm specifically looking for the timeline of the story/events as opposed to when the text was written.
The Septuagint version of Job contains a conclusion that is missing from the Masoretic Text:
This man is described in the Syriac book as living in the land of Ausis, on the borders of Idumea and Arabia: and his name before was Jobab; and having taken an Arabian wife, he begot a son whose name was Ennon. And he himself was the son of his father Zare, one of the sons of Esau, and of his mother Bosorrha, so that he was the fifth from Abraam. And these were the kings who reigned in Edom, which country he also ruled over: first, Balac, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dennaba: but after Balac, Jobab, who is called Job: and after him Asom, who was governor out of the country of Thæman: and after him Adad, the son of Barad, who destroyed Madiam in the plain of Moab; and the name of his city was Gethaim. And his friends who came to him were Eliphaz, of the children of Esau, king of the Thæmanites, Baldad sovereign of the Sauchæans, Sophar king of the Minæans*
Regardless of whether the compilers of your chronology used this particular piece of information, it would support placing Job (who was fifth from Abraam) between Genesis (ending with the 3rd generation from Abraham) and Exodus (beginning with Moses, who belonged to the 6th generation from Abraham - see Exodus 6:16-20).
* Brenton translation
Apart from the fact that the dating of Job is notoriously difficult, I would be suspicious towards a bible plan that claims to be chronological and places one book after the other (which I guess from your post). For example, Ex. 15, the song of Myriam, is generally considered to be much older than the surrounding text.
Another example: the book of Isaiah was written by at least three different authors over several centuries, and later on different parts have been assembled into one book. Some scholars even want to divide Proto-Isaiah, the first part (ch. 1-39), in six. Also, the four songs of the servants may have been a separate book before. [1]
The Pentateuch is considered to have been composed from different sources, from as early as 1000 BCE till around the Babylonian exile, c. 500 years later. Several passages seem heavily fragmented to the point that even if all different sources could be dated precisely, a chronological bible plan would mean having to skip from verse to verse.
Having said that, in the Talmud it is claimed that Moses wrote Job (recall that traditionally, Moses is considered to be the writer of the Pentateuch). See for example [2]:
It is the opinion of many of the ancients that this history was written by Moses himself in Midian, and delivered to his suffering brethren in Egypt, for their support and comfort under their burdens, and the encouragement of their hope that God would in due time deliver and enrich them, as he did this patient sufferer.
As far as I know, this is not considered a viable option in current-day exegesis, but it may explain why your bible plan is organised this way.
[1]: Debel, Eén naam, een veelzijdig boek: Jesaja te midden van de profetische literatuur. Ezra 2014 (Dutch).
[2]: Matthew Henry, An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of The Book of Job.
According to the Talmud (Sotah 11a) Job was actually someone whom Pharaoh consulted with on how to deal with the Israelite problem:
Come, let us deal wisely with him — it should have been with them! — R. Hama b. Hanina said: [Pharaoh meant,] Come and let us outwit the Saviour of Israel. With what shall we afflict them? If we afflict them with fire, it is written: For, behold the Lord will come with fire, and it continues, For by fire will the Lord plead etc. [If we afflict them] with the sword, it is written: And by His sword with all flesh. But come and let us afflict them with water, because the Holy One, blessed be He, has already sworn that he will not bring a flood upon the world; as it is said: For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me, etc. They were unaware, however, that He would not bring a flood upon the whole world but upon one people He would bring it; or alternatively, He would not bring [the flood] but they would go and fall into it. Thus it says: And the Egyptians fled towards it. This is what R. Eleazar said: What means that which is written: Yea, in the thing wherein they zadu [dealt proudly] against them? In the pot in which they cooked were they cooked. Whence is it learnt that ‘zadu’ means cooking? — Because it is written: And Jacob sod [wa-yazed] pottage.
R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Simai: There were three in that plan, viz. Balaam, Job and Jethro. Balaam who devised it was slain; Job who silently acquiesced was afflicted with sufferings; Jethro, who fled, merited that his descendants should sit in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, as it is said: And the families of scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab; and it is written: And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law etc. (Soncino Translation)
I can't say whether your Bible plan was following this tradition, but this would place the events of Job squarely at around the time of Exodus in which case the location of his book between Genesis and Exodus would not be surprising.
Additionally, it would make more sense to place Job between Genesis and Exodus than between any of the other books of the Pentateuch because Exodus is the start of a new story. Genesis dealt with the Patriarchs and their children; Exodus begins the story of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt and in the Wilderness which continues straight through (with interruptions for legal and ritual passages, of course) to the end of Deuteronomy. It would be more awkward to break up this story by placing Job somewhere in the middle than to simply place Job before the story altogether.
The problem with this "chronological" reading plan like this is that it must completely reject Documentary Hypothesis. According to a great deal of scholars with many solid examples to support their ideas, much of the Old Testament is made up of a series of redactions, mashups and remixes by multiple authors.
For example, Panbabylonist present the case that Genesis, (especially Chapter 1) is a polemic influenced by both Babylonian and Egyptian myth.
This brings about a very real possibility that it may be reasonable to place Job on the timeline between Genesis and... well... Genesis. Which is to say that it seems this timeline has oversimplified things and has not recognized the complex realities of dating the Old testament and Documentary Hypothesis. Many books may not be of one specific date, but a range of multiple dates with contributions by multiple divinely inspired authors, redactors and contributors.
I have my own reading plan where I break the Bible into ten sections, and I read a bit in each section every day. The first section I read covers Genesis - Joshua. When I finish Genesis 10, I then read Job. After finishing Job, I go on to Genesis 11. Is it chronological? No. But it is a really good place, in my opinion, to have a break from Genesis and read Job.
