A Psychological Exegesis of Job through Conceptualizations of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Moral Injury

This paper proposes that the results of a psychological exegesis of Job through a lens of current conceptualizations of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury (MI), and based on evidence of his behaviour, may be leveraged to: 1) enhance the scholarly understanding of the impact of trauma on Job; 2) inform pastoral care of people who live with the same psychological condition(s) as Job; and 3) contribute to discourse on the relevance, applicability and limitations of psychological exegesis. This paper will overview the historical and recent utilization of psychological exegesis, including its anticipated benefits and relevance, and how concerns about its methodology have been mitigated by modern scholars; provide conceptual definitions of PTSD and MI, as the ‘lens’ through which to conduct a psychological exegesis of Job; briefly describe an existing psychological exegetical framework, and how it was leveraged; and summarize psychological exegetical findings of Job and their implications