Job 8:1-22
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away fora their transgression;
5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
8 For 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 daysb upon earth are a shadow:)
10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
12 Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.c
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.
18 If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he helpd the evil doers:
21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.e
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
Job 8:7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should be great. Many great patriarchs, like Jacob, had once but a small beginning.
Job 8:11. Can the rush grow. The LXX read, “the papyrus,” the leaf of which was used as paper among the Egyptians; and the tallipot leaf is used in a similar manner in India.
Job 8:15. He shall lean upon his house. The LXX, “Though he moat his house; i.e. with a ditch or drain, and parapet; yet it shall not stand.” This reading relieves the text of the idea of leaning on his house. Schultens vaguely quotes here an Arabian proverb, that those who trust to any thing but God, build their house like that of a spider, and the spider's house is a weak one.
REFLECTIONS.
Bildad having entered into all the views of Eliphaz, in Job's case, here rises to give the counterpart of his friend's speech. He seems almost impatient with Job, that in all his bitter complaints, he had made but a slight and common mention of sin. Therefore conceiving the spotless tribunal of divine justice to be tacitly arraigned for so severely afflicting the innocent, he stands forward to advocate the cause of heaven, and to silence the bitter complaints of a man under the righteous strokes of God. Lest Job should reject his pleas on the ground of inexperience, he owns he was of yesterday, that he might appeal to antiquity with irresistible force. Doth God, he asks as Abraham when pleading for Sodom, pervert judgment? Genesis 18:25. Enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and search the records of the fathers.
The advocate for the equity of providence is emboldened to plead against Job, because, if he were pure and upright, God would surely now awake, being roused by piercing complaints, and make his habitation prosperous. He would follow his ancient rule; be his friend, and not his foe. Bildad by saying if thou wert pure, first takes it for granted that Job was impure; and secondly, that if he were pure, God would now arise to deliver him. Here he doubly erred. God will indeed deliver the righteous, but he will do it in his own time. The appeal to antiquity farther emboldened him to plead against Job, because it was clear from all their wise sayings, that the wicked can no more prosper than an aquatic plant can flourish in a dry soil; it droops and withers before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God; so the hypocrite's hope shall perish. He weaves himself a fine cobweb, but it tears with a touch. He builds himself an inviting house, but it falls by a slight pressure; he adorns his gardens, but they wither as the wilderness. Here is the termination of all his joys: and he being rooted out, others shall grow up in his place.
From this highly figurative speech of Bildad, we may farther perceive how grossly, wise men may err in their views of providence and grace. They wade through every branch of literature: they dig in the mines of history, and store their minds with heaps of knowledge: but for want of experience and deep attention, they often wretchedly fail in drawing forth from their mental store, just conclusions concerning providence, and sound maxims for life and conduct. Bildad, in a general view, was perfectly right in his conclusions when he appealed to the fathers. The vast line of worthy patriarchs were certainly flourishing and happy in their lives: and Shaddai was to them an alsufficient defence. But did no temporary clouds obscure the lustre of their meridian sun? What befel Abel; what did Noah suffer at the deluge; and what did Abraham feel when Sarah was detained? Therefore we should be diffident in judging of providence, and sober in all our conclusions. Providence is a grand theatre of knowledge where God presides, and sheds rays of wisdom on a world of pupils, just as fast as they are able to imbibe their lustre.