Job 8

CHAPTER 8

Bildad (8:1–22)

1–7 Bildad proves to be more unkind and impatient than Eliphaz was. He shows no sympathy for Job at all. His main point is that Job has deserved his punishment because God does not pervert justice (verse 3); Job must have sinned. Bildad cruelly assumes that Job's children had also sinned and that was the reason for their deaths (verse 4). Since Job has sinned, his only recourse is to plead with the Almighty (verse 5); Eliphaz had given this advice earlier (Job 5:8). If Job is indeed pure and upright as he claims, then God will restore him (verses 6–7). But, of course, Job must admit his sin and ask for mercy.

8–10 Here Bildad appeals to tradition in order to justify his position.²⁷ He says that former generations will back up what he says.

11–19 In these verses, Bildad presents three images from nature that reveal the destiny of all who forget God (verse 13). First, godless people will wither like pa pyrus and reeds suddenly deprived of water²⁸ (verses 11–12). Second, what a godless person trusts in is no more reliable than a spider's web; he leans on it, but it gives way (verses 14–15). Third, a godless person is like a once-thriving plant torn from its spot . . . its life withers away (verses 16–19).

20–22 But, says Bildad, the blameless man will not suffer such a fate (verse 20). If Job will only appeal to God and confess his sin, God will once more fill [Job's] mouth with laughter (verse 21). Bildad's final words are theologically correct as far as they go, but they do not apply to Job's situation because Job's suffering is not the result of sin.