Job 18:1-6

1 Then Bildad (the) Shuhite answered, and said,
2 Unto what end shalt thou boast with words? Understand thou us first, and so speak we together. (Unto what end shalt thou continue to boast with your words? First listen to us, and then we shall speak together.)
3 Why be we areckoned as beasts, and why have we been (judged) foul before thee?
4 What, or why, losest thou thy soul in thy strong vengeance? Whether the earth shall be forsaken for thee, and hard stones shall be borne over from their place, (just for thee)?
5 Whether the light of a wicked man shall not be quenched; and the flame of his fire shall not shine? (The light of the wicked shall be quenched; and the flame of his fire shall not shine!)
6 Light shall wax dark in his tabernacle; and the lantern, which is on him, shall be quenched. (The light shall grow dark in his tent; and the lantern, which shineth on him, shall be quenched.)

Job 18:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 18

In this chapter is Bildad's second reply to Job, in which he falls with great fury upon him, very sharply inveighs against him, and very highly charges him; the charges he brings against him are talkativeness and inattention to what was said to him, Job 18:1,2; contempt of his friends, impatience under his affliction, and pride and arrogance, as if the whole world, the course of nature and providence, and God himself all must give way to him, Job 18:3,4; nevertheless, he is assured of the miserable state of a wicked man, sooner or later, which is described by the extinction of his light of prosperity, Job 18:5,6; by the defeat of his counsels, being ensnared in a net laid for him, Job 18:7-10; by the terrible judgments of the sword, famine, and pestilence, by one or the other of which he is brought to death, the king of terrors, Job 18:11-14; by the destruction of his habitation and of his posterity, so that he has none to hear his name, or perpetuate his memory, Job 18:15-17; by his being driven out of the world, leaving no issue behind him, to the astonishment of all that knew him, Job 18:18-20; and the chapter is closed with this observation, that this is the common case of wicked and irreligious persons, Job 18:21.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.