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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Job 8

Job 8: Bildad asks whether God perverts justice

General context

Bildad the Shuhite answers Job. He asks how long Job will speak such things and how long his words will be like a strong wind. He asks whether God perverts judgment or the Almighty perverts justice. If Job's children sinned, he says, God cast them away for their transgression; if Job would seek God early and were pure and upright, God would awake for him and make his habitation prosperous, so that a small beginning would greatly increase. He tells Job to inquire of the former age and search out the fathers, since the present generation is of yesterday and its days are a shadow, and the fathers will teach him. He asks whether the rush grows without mire or the flag without water; it withers while still green, and so are the paths of all who forget God. The hypocrite's hope perishes; his trust is a spider's web, and the house he leans on will not stand. He pictures a green plant whose roots wrap about a heap of stones, destroyed from its place and denied by it, and says others will grow out of the earth. He concludes that God will not cast away a perfect man nor help evildoers, until he fills Job's mouth with laughing; those who hate Job will be clothed with shame, and the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nought.

Cited passages: Job 8:1, Job 8:2, Job 8:3, Job 8:4, Job 8:5, Job 8:6, Job 8:7, Job 8:8, Job 8:9, Job 8:10, Job 8:11, Job 8:12, Job 8:13, Job 8:14, Job 8:15, Job 8:16, Job 8:17, Job 8:18, Job 8:19, Job 8:20, Job 8:21, Job 8:22

Job 8 (KJV)

1Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

2How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?

3Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?

4If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;

5If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;

6If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

7Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

8For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:

9(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

10Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?

11Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?

12Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

13So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:

14Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.

15He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

16He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.

17His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.

18If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

19Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

20Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:

21Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.

22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

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Historical context

Bildad the Shuhite, named in 2.11, is the second friend to speak; the narrator gives only Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said. His claims are his own. The sentence about Job's children, If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away, is conditional in form, but it applies his principle to the deaths reported in 1.19; the prologue gave no verdict on the children, and Job's offerings in 1.5 rested on It may be. Bildad's if thou wert pure and upright leaves open whether Job is, whereas the narrator in 1.1 and the Lord in 1.8 have already called Job perfect and upright. Bildad appeals to the former age and their fathers, an appeal to tradition rather than to a vision like Eliphaz's in 4.12 to 16. The plant images are proverbial; the text does not identify the rush and the flag beyond their need for mire and water. Bildad's closing promise that God will not cast away a perfect man is a general rule, not a judgment on Job's present case.

Cited passages: Job 8:1, Job 2:11, Job 8:4, Job 1:19, Job 1:5, Job 8:6, Job 1:1, Job 1:8, Job 8:8, Job 4:12, Job 8:11, Job 8:20

Literary context

Bildad opens by attacking Job's speech itself, a strong wind, before offering any argument, so the first thing he answers is Job's tone in chapter 7. His central question, Doth God pervert judgment, sets the principle from which everything else follows, and the string of If clauses in verses 4 to 6 applies it: children, seeking, purity. Where Eliphaz cited what he had seen and heard, Bildad points to the fathers and admits we are but of yesterday. The plant images run in sequence: rush and flag drying, a spider's web, a house that will not stand, a green plant torn from its place and denied by it. Each is a picture of hope that fails, and the sequence ends in out of the earth shall others grow, a replacement rather than a restoration. The final verses turn to promise, Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and to Job's enemies clothed with shame; the shape resembles Eliphaz's ending in 5.17 to 27, a warning followed by a reassurance conditional on Job's response. Job answers at 9.1.

Cited passages: Job 8:2, Job 8:3, Job 8:4, Job 8:5, Job 8:6, Job 8:8, Job 8:9, Job 8:11, Job 8:14, Job 8:15, Job 8:18, Job 8:19, Job 8:21, Job 8:22, Job 5:27, Job 9:1

Key moments

  1. Bildad speaks (Job 8:1). Bildad the Shuhite answers Job.
  2. Words like a strong wind (Job 8:2). Bildad asks how long Job's words will be like a strong wind.
  3. Does God pervert justice? (Job 8:3). Bildad asks whether the Almighty perverts justice.
  4. If thy children have sinned (Job 8:4). Bildad says God cast Job's children away if they sinned against him.
  5. Ask the former age (Job 8:8). Bildad tells Job to inquire of the fathers.
  6. A spider's web (Job 8:14). Bildad says the hypocrite's trust is a spider's web.
  7. The perfect not cast away (Job 8:20). Bildad says God will not cast away a perfect man.

For reflection

Bildad states that if Job's children sinned God cast them away, a sentence the text leaves conditional. What does it cost to say that to a father, and does Bildad's if soften it or sharpen it?

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