Job 8:1
THEN ANSWERED BILDAD THE SHUHITE - ; see the notes at Job 2:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANSWERED BILDAD THE SHUHITE - ; see the notes at Job 2:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW LONG WILT THOU SPEAK THESE THINGS? - The flyings of murmuring and complaint, such as he had uttered in the previous chapters. THE WORDS OF THY MOUTH BE LIKE A STRONG WIND? - The Syriac and Arabic (according to Walton) render this, “the spirit of pride fill thy mouth.” The Septuagint renders it,... [ Continue Reading ]
DOTH GOD PERVERT JUDGMENT? - That is, Does God afflict people unjustly? Does he show favor to the evil, and punish the good? Bildad here undoubtedly refers to Job, and supposes that he had brought this charge against God. But he had not done it in so many words. He had complained of the severity of... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THY CHILDREN HAVE SINNED AGAINST HIM - Bildad here assumes that the children of Job had been wicked, and had been cut off in their sins. This must have cut him to the quick, for there was nothing which a bereaved father would feel more acutely than this. The meaning here is somewhat weakened by t... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU WOULDEST SEEK UNTO GOD BETIMES - If thou wouldest do it now. If even on the supposition that your sons have thus perished, and that God has come out in judgment against your family, you would look to God, you might be restored to favor. The word rendered “seek betimes” (שׁחר _shâchar_) mean... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU WERT PURE AND UPRIGHT - There is something especially severe and caustic in this whole speech of Bildad. He first assumes that the children of Job were cut off for impiety, and then takes it for granted that Job himself was not a pure and upright man. This inference he seems to have derived... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH THY BEGINNING WAS SMALL - On the supposition that the children of Job had been cut off, his family now was small. Yet Bildad says, that if he were to begin life again, even with so small a family, and in such depressed and trying circumstances, if he were a righteous man he might hope for ret... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR INQUIRE THEE OF THE FORMER AGE - That is, attend to the results of observation. Ask the generations which have passed, and who in their poems and proverbs have left the records of their experience. The sentiment which Bildad proposes to confirm by this appeal is, that though the wicked should fo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE ARE BUT OF YESTERDAY - That is, we are of short life. We have had but few opportunities of observation compared with those who have gone before us. There can be no doubt that Bildad here refers to the longevity of the antecedent ages compared with the age of man at the time when he lived; and... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL NOT THEY TEACH THEE - The results of human conduct, and the great principles on which God governs the world. AND UTTER WORDS OUT OF THEIR HEART - Dr. Good renders this, “And well forth the sayings of their wisdom,” And supposes it means that the words of wisdom would proceed from them as wat... [ Continue Reading ]
CAN THE RUSH - This passage has all the appearance of being a fragment of a poem handed down from ancient times. It is adduced by Bildad as an example of the views of the ancients, and, as the connection would seem to imply, as a specimen of the sentiments of those who lived before the life of man h... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILST IT IS YET IN HIS GREENNESS - That is, while it seems to be in its vigor. AND IS NOT CUT DOWN - Even when it is not cut down. If suffered to stand by itself, and if undisturbed, it will wither away. The application of this is obvious and beautiful. Such plants have no self sustaining power. T... [ Continue Reading ]
SO ARE THE PATHS OF ALL THAT FORGET GOD - This is clearly a part of the quotation from the sayings of the ancients. The word “paths” here means ways, acts, doings. They who forget God are like the paper-reed. They seem to flourish, but they have nothing that is firm and substantial. As the paper-ree... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSE HOPE SHALL BE CUT OFF - Schultens supposes that the quotation from the ancients closes with Job 8:13, and that these are the comments of Bildad on the passage to which he had referred. Rosenmuller and Noyes continue the quotation to the close of Job 8:19; Dr. Good closes it at Job 8:13. It see... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL LEAN UPON HIS HOUSE - This is an allusion to the web or house of the spider. The hope of the hypocrite is called the house which he has built for himself; his home, his refuge, his support. But it shall fail him. In times of trial he will trust to it for support, and it will be found to be... [ Continue Reading ]
HE IS GREEN BEFORE THE SUN - Vulgate, _“antequam veniat sol - before the sun comes.”_ So the Chaldee, “before the rising of the sun.” So Eichhorn renders it. According to this, which is probably the true interpretation, the passage means that he is green and flourishing before the sun rises, but tha... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS ROOTS ARE WRAPPED ABOUT THE HEAP - There has been great diversity of opinion in the interpretation of this passage. Jerome renders it, “over the heap of stones his roots are condensed.” Walton, “_super fontem_ - over a fountain.” The Septuagint, “he lies down (or sleeps, κοιμᾶται _koimatai_) on... [ Continue Reading ]
IF HE DESTROY HIM FROM HIS PLACE - The particle here which is rendered “if (אם _'ı̂m_) is often used to denote emphasis, and means here “certainly” - “he shall be certainly destroyed.” The word rendered destroy, from בלע _bela‛_, means literally to swallow Job 7:19, to swallow up, to absorb; and hen... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THIS IS THE JOY OF HIS WAY - This is evidently sarcastic. “Lo! such is the joy of his course! He boasts of joy, as all hypocrites do, but his joy endures only for a little time. This is the end of it. He is cut down and removed, and the earth and the heavens disown him!” AND OUT OF THE EARTH... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, GOD WILL NOT CAST AWAY A PERFECT MAN - On the meaning of the word perfect, see the note at Job 1:1. The sentiment of Bildad, or the inference which he draws from the whole argument is, that God will be the friend of the pious, but that he will not aid the wicked. This accords with the genera... [ Continue Reading ]
TILL HE FILL THY MOUTH WITH LAUGHING - Until he make thee completely happy. The word rendered “till” (עד _‛__ad_), is rendered by Dr. Good, “even yet.” Noyes, following Houbigant, DeWette, and Michaelis, proposes to change the pointing, and to read עד _‛__ôd_, instead of עד _‛__ad_ - meaning, “whil... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT HATE THEE SHALL BE CLOTHED WITH SHAME - When they see your returning prosperity, and the evidences of the divine favor. They will then be ashamed that they regarded you as a hypocrite, and that they reproached you in your trials. AND THE DWELLING-PLACE OF THE WICKED ... - The wicked shall... [ Continue Reading ]