Harding J. A Spirit of Deception in Job 4:15? Interpretive Indeterminacy and Eliphaz’s Vision

Biblical Interpretation 13, 137-166, 2005.The text of Eliphaz’s vision in Job 4:12-21 is written in highly ambiguous Hebrew whose meaning(s) must be constructed by the reading subject, in conversation with intertexts whose relevance to Job 4:12-21 is determined by the reading subject. This suggests that a single meaning for Job 4:12-21 is impossible, and the search for such a meaning is futile: meaning(s) can only be created by the reading subject. Consequently, this article attempts to read Job 4:12-21 creatively in both inner- and extra-Joban contexts, teasing out the possibilities permitted by the ambiguities of the text.