Jobab ben Zerah

Jobab ben Zerah (Hebrew: יובב בן־זרח‎ Yōḇāḇ ben-Zerah) was a king of ancient Edom, according to Genesis 36. He succeeded Bela ben Beor in the apparently elective kingship of the Edomites. He ruled from Bozrah. He was succeeded by Husham.

Although Adam Clarke maintains a different position, many notable Bible scholars identify Jobab with the biblical figure Job. A book by David J. Gibson entitled Whence Came the Hyksos, Kings of Egypt offers a detailed defense of the theory based on numerous Scriptures from the Book of Job, personal names, geography, occupation, and contemporaries. The same identification is present in Russian Orthodox Church's tradition: Church Slavonic versions of Book of Job and Russian Synodal Bible include a postscript in which Jobab is identified with Job, the anonymous author of the postscript refers to a "Syriac book"[1]

The date of his reign are unknown, and there is much dispute concerning whether the supposed connection with Job is even valid.