"Job begins his speech by disavowing lust, specifically of a young woman. The OT does condemn lust through the tenth commandment (Exod. 20:17; Deut. 5:21), which includes the provision not to covet a neighbor’s wife. However, the OT does not specifically say that a man, even a married man, cannot desire an unmarried woman. After all, he could marry her. This observation leads some to suggest that Job is not disavowing leering at a human virgin, but at the divine virgin, Asherah.[684] I find this view unlikely, however. Idolatry is not seen as an issue in Job. He is never accused of idolatry. Besides, if we are right that Job is an Edomite (and not a Canaanite or Israelite), then Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, would not be a temptation. The best explanation is that Job is being extremely careful in his morality."
See Longman III, Job, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012, page 336.
ISBN: 978-1-4412-3865-8
EGF: Compare Matthew 5:28. See Job 31:9-10. I do not accept the idea that Job was an Edomite, but a thorough discussion of the issue can be found in David J.A. Clines. See https://books.google.com/books?id=Rl8qDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT213&lpg=PT213&dq=job+not+an+edomite&source=bl&ots=q2_VmH78Bg&sig=ACfU3U2mbEkgobcTadMCobjid9OhhSzEeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9reWT3tjhAhXCmeAKHRQ8BqU4FBDoATAFegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=job%20not%20an%20edomite&f=false
1 Ample evidence supports the claim that the setting of Job is patriarchal. See Roy B. Zuck,
ReplyDelete“Job,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B.
Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985), 717, for nine reasons the Book of Job points to a patriarchal
period. Archer and others see the Book of Job as the oldest book in the Bible (Gleason L. Archer,
The Book of Job: God’s Answer to the Problem of Undeserved Suffering [Grand Rapids: Baker,
1982], 16). Alternate views are given in Édouard Dhorme, A Commentary on the Book of Job
(Nashville: Nelson, 1984); F. Delitzsch, The Book of Job, trans. F. Bolton, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1949); M. Jastrow, The Book of Job (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1920); and Robert
Gordis, The Book of God and Man (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965).
footnote page 1
https://www.dts.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/08/BibSac-Waters-ReflectionsOnSufferingFromTheBookOfJob.pdf