1Then answeredH6030 BildadH1085 the ShuhiteH7747, and saidH559, 2HowH575 longH5704 wilt thou speakH4448 these things? and how long shall the wordsH561 of thy mouthH6310 be like a strongH3524 windH7307? 3Doth GodH410 pervertH5791 judgmentH4941? or doth the AlmightyH7706 pervertH5791 justiceH6664? 4If thy childrenH1121 have sinnedH2398 against him, and he have cast them awayH7971 forH3027 their transgressionH6588; 5If thou wouldest seekH7836 unto GodH410 betimesH7836, and make thy supplicationH2603 to the AlmightyH7706; 6If thou wert pureH2134 and uprightH3477; surely now he would awakeH5782 for thee, and make the habitationH5116 of thy righteousnessH6664 prosperousH7999 . 7Though thy beginningH7225 was smallH4705, yet thy latter endH319 should greatlyH3966 increaseH7685 . 8For enquireH7592, I pray thee, of the formerH7223 H7223 ageH1755, and prepareH3559 thyself to the searchH2714 of their fathersH1: 9 For we are but of yesterdayH8543, and knowH3045 nothing, because our daysH3117 upon earthH776 are a shadowH6738: 10Shall not they teachH3384 thee, and tellH559 thee, and utterH3318 wordsH4405 out of their heartH3820? 11Can the rushH1573 grow upH1342 without mireH1207? canH7685 the flagH260 growH7685 withoutH1097 waterH4325? 12Whilst it is yet in his greennessH3, and not cut downH6998, it witherethH3001 beforeH6440 any other herbH2682. 13So are the pathsH734 of all that forgetH7911 GodH410; and the hypocrite'sH2611 hopeH8615 shall perishH6 : 14Whose hopeH3689 shall be cut offH6990, and whose trustH4009 shall be a spider'sH5908 webH1004. 15He shall leanH8172 upon his houseH1004, but it shall not standH5975 : he shall holdH2388 it fast, but it shall not endureH6965 . 16He is greenH7373 beforeH6440 the sunH8121, and his branchH3127 shooteth forthH3318 in his gardenH1593. 17His rootsH8328 are wrapped aboutH5440 the heapH1530, and seethH2372 the placeH1004 of stonesH68. 18If he destroyH1104 him from his placeH4725, then it shall denyH3584 him, saying, I have not seenH7200 thee. 19Behold, this is the joyH4885 of his wayH1870, and out of the earthH6083 shall othersH312 growH6779 . 20Behold, GodH410 will not cast awayH3988 a perfectH8535 man, neither will he helpH2388 H3027 the evil doersH7489 : 21Till he fillH4390 thy mouthH6310 with laughingH7814, and thy lipsH8193 with rejoicingH8643. 22They that hateH8130 thee shall be clothedH3847 with shameH1322; and the dwellingH168 place of the wickedH7563 shall come to noughtH369.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE ADDRESS OF BILDAD. (Job 8:1-22)
like a . . . wind?--disregarding restraints, and daring against God.
3 The repetition of "pervert" gives an emphasis galling to Job (
Job 34:12). "Wouldst thou have God," as thy words imply, "pervert judgment," by letting thy sins go unpunished? He assumes Job's guilt from his sufferings.
4 If--Rather, "Since thy children have sinned against Him, and (since) He has cast them away (Hebrew, by the hand of) for their transgressions, (yet) if thou wouldst seek unto God, &c., if thou wert pure, &c., surely [even] now He would awake for thee." UMBREIT makes the apodosis to, "since thy children," &c., begin at "He has cast them away." Also, instead of "for," "He gave them up to (literally, into the hand of) their own guilt." Bildad expresses the justice of God, which Job had arraigned. Thy children have sinned; God leaves them to the consequence of their sin; most cutting to the heart of the bereaved father.
5 seek unto God betimes--early. Make it the first and chief anxiety (
Ps 78:34;
Hos 5:15;
Isa 26:9;
Pro 8:17;
Pro 13:24).
6 He would awake for thee--that is, arise to thy help. God seemed to be asleep toward the sufferer (
Ps 35:23;
Ps 7:6;
Isa 51:9).
make . . . prosperous--restore to prosperity thy (their) righteous habitation. Bildad assumes it to have been heretofore the habitation of guilt.
7 thy beginning--the beginning of thy new happiness after restoration.
latter end-- (
Job 42:12;
Pro 23:18).
8 The sages of the olden time reached an age beyond those of Job's time (see on
Job 42:16), and therefore could give the testimony of a fuller experience.
9 of yesterday--that is, a recent race. We know nothing as compared with them because of the brevity of our lives; so even Jacob (
Gen 47:9). Knowledge consisted then in the results of observation, embodied in poetical proverbs, and handed down by tradition. Longevity gave the opportunity of wider observation.
a shadow-- (
Ps 144:4;
1Chr 29:15).
10 teach thee--
Job 6:24 had said, "Teach me." Bildad, therefore, says, "Since you want teaching, inquire of the fathers. They will teach thee."
utter words--more than mere speaking; "put forth well-considered words."
out of their heart--from observation and reflection; not merely, from their mouth: such, as Bildad insinuates, were Job's words.
Job 8:11-
Job 8:13 embody in poetic and sententious form (probably the fragment of an old poem) the observation of the elders. The double point of comparison between the ungodly and the paper-reed is: 1. the luxuriant prosperity at first; and, 2. the sudden destruction.
11 rush--rather, "paper-reed": The papyrus of Egypt, which was used to make garments, shoes, baskets, boats, and paper (a word derived from it). It and the flag, or bulrush, grow only in marshy places (such as are along the Nile). So the godless thrives only in external prosperity; there is in the hypocrite no inward stability; his prosperity is like the rapid growth of water plants.
12 not cut down--Before it has ripened for the scythe, it withers more suddenly than any herb, having no self-sustaining power, once that the moisture is gone, which other herbs do not need in the same degree. So ruin seizes on the godless in the zenith of prosperity, more suddenly than on others who appear less firmly seated in their possessions [UMBREIT] (
Ps 112:10).
13 paths--so "ways" (
Pro 1:19).
all that forget God--the distinguishing trait of the godless (
Ps 9:17;
Ps 50:22).
14 cut off--so GESENIUS; or, to accord with the metaphor of the spider's "house," "The confidence (on which he builds) shall be laid in ruins" (
Isa 59:5-
Isa 59:6).
15 he shall hold it fast--implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is fine-spun, flimsy, and woven out of its own inventions, as the spider's web out of its own bowels. An Arab proverb says, "Time destroys the well-built house, as well as the spider's web."
16 before the sun--that is, he (the godless) is green only before the sun rises; but he cannot bear its heat, and withers. So succulent plants like the gourd (
Jonah 4:7-
Jonah 4:8). But the widespreading in the garden does not quite accord with this. Better, "in sunshine"; the sun representing the smiling fortune of the hypocrite, during which he wondrously progresses [UMBREIT]. The image is that of weeds growing in rank luxuriance and spreading over even heaps of stones and walls, and then being speedily torn away.
17 seeth the place of stones--Hebrew, "the house of stones"; that is, the wall surrounding the garden. The parasite plant, in creeping towards and over the wall--the utmost bound of the garden--is said figuratively to "see" or regard it.
18 If He (God) tear him away (properly, "to tear away rapidly and violently") from his place, "then it [the place personified] shall deny him" (
Ps 103:16). The very soil is ashamed of the weeds lying withered on its surface, as though it never had been connected with them. So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends disown him.
19 Bitter irony. The hypocrite boasts of joy. This then is his "joy" at the last.
and out of the earth--others immediately, who take the place of the man thus punished; not godly men (
Matt 3:9). For the place of the weeds is among stones, where the gardener wishes no plants. But, ungodly; a fresh crop of weeds always springs up in the place of those torn up: there is no end of hypocrites on earth [UMBREIT].
20 Bildad regards Job as a righteous man, who has fallen into sin.
God will not cast away a perfect man--(or godly man, such as Job was), if he will only repent. Those alone who persevere in sin God will not help (Hebrew, "take by the hand,"
Ps 73:23;
Isa 41:13;
Isa 42:6) when fallen.
21 Till--literally, "to the point that"; God's blessing on thee, when repentant, will go on increasing to the point that, or until, &c.
22 The haters of Job are the wicked. They shall be clothed with shame (
Jer 3:25;
Ps 35:26;
Ps 109:29), at the failure of their hope that Job would utterly perish, and because they, instead of him, come to naught.