Abstract
Job 13.17-14.12 begins Job's legal case against God, but avoids any direct accusation of God or denial of His traditional virtues. A rhetorical analysis of the passage reveals the techniques used by the author to portray God's virtues as vices and at the same time retain a nominally deferential attitude. The negative portrayal of divine attributes serves to justify Job's complaint, while the token deference of the passage allows the author to escape the suggestion of an open confrontation with God, in which Job's claims could more easily be denied.
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