THE BOOK OF JOB
by
William Blake
The following is the complete set of 21 plates designed by the 18th century British poet and artist, William Blake for the book of Job. by
William Blake
Each plate included quotes from the book of Job and other biblical books, though I include only verses from Job.
Blake had an interpretation of the Bible based on a personal encounter with God. Compare the first and final plates:
In the first plate (1), Job and his family seem dead, holding a book (the Bible), with their musical instruments on a tree (as in the Psalm of Exile, 137, "there we hung up our harps"), suggesting Job and his family are in spiritual exile before Job's suffering.
But in the final plate (21), after Job's suffering and his personal experience with God ("now I see"), there is no book (no Bible); while the family now play their musical instruments and "make a joyful noise unto the Lord," as the psalm demands.
This fulfills the time God speaks of, "When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7; plate 14). So Job has become a "son of God," and religion becomes a living experience and not a dead form of worship.
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