TIP of the day: Biblical person Zare

MJ. Smith

Yes, Zare is a trivia buff's dream ... and the behavior of Zare is a useful example of (a) Biblical canons and (b) Logos inner workings (tagging). If I read the genealogy correctly, he is the father the Job.

1. So I open Factbook and enter Zare. Or more precisely, I try to but find no matching entry.

2. So knowing that Zare is in the Bible I am reading, I assume that there is an alternative name or spelling of the name and try an Everything Search to find it I get results but quickly realize I need to cull the list by removing the "match all forms" option because the River Zared is not a useful result for the person Zare - the stemming routine got me.

3. This looks promising - Zare is Latin which would explain the missing Factbook entry except there Zare is in English in Job. And Job is what I was reading when I ran into Zare and began my search.

4. So what does Zare have to do with canon? Look at the following translations of the final verse of Job:

AV | ‎Job 42:17 °So Job died, being old and full of days.

CEV | ‎Job 42:17 and °when he finally died, he was very old.°

D-R | ‎Job 42:16 And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children’s children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, and full of days.

The Old Covenant, Commonly Called the Old Testament: Translated from the Septuagint | ‎Job 42:17 and °died an old man and full of days. And it is written that he will rise again with them whom the Lord raiseth up. This is translated out of a book in the Syrian language: For he dwelt in the land of Ausitis, on the confines of Idumea and Arabia. His first name was Jobab, and having married an Arabian woman, he had by her a son whose name was Ennon. Now he himself was a son of father Zare, one of the sons of Esau, and his mother’s name was Bosorra: so that he was the fifth in descent from Abraham. Now these were the kings who reigned in Edom, over which country he also bore rule. The first was Balak, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dannaba. And after Balak, Jobab, who is called Job; and after him, Asom, who was general from the region of Thaimanitis; and after him, Adad, son of Barad, who smote Madiam in the plain of Moab; and the name of his city was Gethaim. And the friends who came to Job were Eliphaz, of the sons of Esau, the king of the Thaimanites; Baldad, the sovereign of the Saucheans, and Sophar, the king of the Minaians.

Brenton LXX En | ‎Job 42:17 And Job died, an old man and full of days: and it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up. 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.

‎JPS | ‎Job 42:17 °So Job died old and °contented.

What is going on? In the LXX the book of Job has a colophon which is considered canonical in some canons. But not in the canons for which Logos built Biblical People and Factbook. Until we get NETS (New English Translation of the Septuagint) or an Eastern Orthodox Old Testament translation used to update LCV and Factbook, Zare will remain a piece of trivia.