Bildad Speaks
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words b are a blast of wind. c
3 Does God pervert justice? d
Does the Almighty pervert what is right? e
4 Since your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek f God
and ask the Almighty for mercy, g
6 if you are pure and upright,
then he will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells. h
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity. i
8 For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered, j
9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow. k
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?
11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?
12 While still uncut shoots,
they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless l will perish.
14 His source of confidence is fragile;
what he trusts in is a spider’s web. m
15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.
17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.
18 If he is uprooted from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.” n
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.
20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and he will not support evildoers. o
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy. p
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame; q
the tent r of the wicked will no longer exist.
8:1–7. Unlike Eliphaz, who at least began by affirming Job (4:3–4), Bildad is caustic from the start, dismissing Job’s words as a “blast of wind” (8:2). In 8:3–7, Bildad uses logic to support his argument. Bildad’s rhetorical questions in 8:3 clearly expect a negative answer. Distorting Job’s complaint against God (7:7–21), Bildad implies that Job has maligned God’s righteous character and his rule (cf. Pss 89:14–15; 99:4). If God cannot do what is unjust, then Job must be sinful. That alone could account for the divine punishment Job has suffered. Toward the end of the book, God asks Job the same question (40:8), but the divine assessment of Job is different from what Bildad alleges. Bildad asks the right question but gives an incomplete answer.
8:8–10. Bildad next argues from tradition (8:8–10). Taking the condescending tone of a teacher scolding a recalcitrant pupil, Bildad instructs Job to review the lessons of past wisdom that he should have mastered (8:8). Because individual humans are limited in what they can observe directly, they need to make use of the accumulated observations of those who came before them (Dt 32:7; Pr 4:1–9). The singular “previous generation,” rather than the plural, might refer to the original wisdom possessed by God from the beginning (Dt 4:32; Is 40:21).
8:11–19. Bildad then uses analogies from nature (8:11–19) to argue his point. The papyrus plant (8:11–12), used for a variety of products (e.g., baskets, boats, and writing materials; cf. 9:26), requires a constant and ample source of water in order to thrive; without abundant moisture, the plant quickly withers and dies. Bildad compares this to forgetting God (8:13), which means more here than merely a lapse of memory. Instead, it has the sense of conscious opposition to God that causes one to exclude him. For that reason, it is parallel to “the godless.” Bildad then compares the trust of the godless in their possessions to the fragile web of a spider (8:14–15). By using this image, Bildad states that human resources are incapable of providing reliable confidence. He likely uses this language to allude to Job’s loss of his vast possessions, with the implication that Job placed his trust in what he owned rather than in God.
8:20–22. At the end of his first speech, Bildad summarizes his argument and appeals directly to Job. He correctly predicts Job’s restoration to God’s blessing (42:7–17) but completely misses how this restoration will come about. He has no place in his rigid retribution theology for exceptions such as a blameless person like Job who experiences adversity (8:20). Bildad leaves the door open for hope for Job, but only if Job will repent of his sin (cf. 8:5–7). Suggesting that Job’s situation can be redeemed, Bildad paints a hopeful picture of what Job’s life restored to God’s blessing would look like (8:21–22).