Testament of Job

A Jewish retelling of the Book of Job as the dying patriarch's farewell to his children; author unknown, composed in Greek, probably in Egypt, between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. Job (here also called Jobab, king of the land of Ausitis) destroys the idol of Satan on an angel's warning, endures the loss of his wealth, children and health, and outlasts Satan, who is finally forced to admit defeat; his wife Sitis sells her hair for bread; Eliphaz, Baldad, Sophar and Elihu arrive as kings, and only Elihu, inspired by Satan, is not forgiven. Job then gives his three daughters magic girdles that lift them into the speech of angels, and at his death a chariot carries his soul to heaven. This is Kaufmann Kohler's English of 1897, made from the Greek and read by him as an Essene midrash (a scholarly theory few now hold); his Introduction, Greek text and footnotes are not reproduced, and the chapter and verse numbers are his. Not part of any canon.