The question is not an easy one and requires some study to understand. There are several reasons we believe that Job lived after the flood.
First, the flood generally destroyed most landmarks because of all the volcanic ash that we see in layers all over the world.
Thus, the rivers that are called the Euphrates, Tigris, etc. are no doubt in the same area, but not necessarily the same route or places they flowed to before.
For example:
“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates” (Genesis 2:10-14).
The first river had to be supplied by something and it had to be from the mist (dew?) the Lord caused to water the earth before the flood. “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:5-6).
Today there is no way that any river could go all the way from Babylon to Africa because the terrain is not the same as it was before the flood. The only river we have today with even the same name is the Euphrates.
- Some claim no nations existed before the flood, but we can’t really prove either way, for nothing specific is said about nations, either for or against. However, it would seem that because Eliphaz was a Temanite, a descendent of Esau, who lived after the flood, that proves Job’s friend was after the flood.
Thus, it would be best to say that “the only reference to the name “Temanite” besides what is recorded in Job is Eliphaz’ son Teman (Gen 36:11; 1 Chron 1:36). Esau gave birth to an ‘Eliphaz,’ whose son was Teman (Gen 36:4). This would be a strange coincidence if this is not the same Eliphaz, Esau’s son. Bildad was a Shuhite which was the name of one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah (Gen 25:2; 1 Chr 1:32).
Thus, it would appear that Job and his friends lived after Abraham and either with or after Esau.
OT:8487 Teyman (tay-mawn’); or Teman (tay-mawn’); the same as OT:8486; Teman, the name of two Edomites, and of the region and descendant of one of them:
OT:8486 teyman (tay-mawn’); or teman (tay-mawn’); denominative from OT:3225; the south (as being on the right hand of a person facing the east):
- Job was the richest man in the East, but when we see his wealth (camels, cattle, asses, etc), his wealth would not have added up to much more than a few hundred thousand dollars, which is nothing compared to Solomon. Therefore Job must have lived shortly after the flood.
- Job’s friends refer to the great ages of their ancestors. “I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; 18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: 19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them” (Job 15:17-19).
The highlighted text indicates that there were no strangers, which only would have been true with Noah and his sons soon after they left the ark.
- Job’s age indicates that he lived a total of 140 years after his first 10 children died. “After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations” (Job 42:16 16).
When Job had the first 10 children, he had to be at least 30 years old, which would mean he lived a total of at least 175 years. This is the age of those in Abraham’s time or before, so he must have lived long before Moses declared man’s days would be 70 or 80 years (Gen. 6:3; Psa. 90:10).
–Beth Johnson