Job 9:1–10:22 Job's Response to Bildad

 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know it is so,

But how can a man be righteous before God?

³If one wished to contend with Him,

He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.

Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

⁵He removes the mountains, and they do not know

When He overturns them in His anger;

⁶He shakes the earth out of its place,

And its pillars tremble;

⁷He commands the sun, and it does not rise;

He seals off the stars;

⁸He alone spreads out the heavens,

And treads on the waves of the sea;

⁹He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

¹⁰He does great things past finding out,

Yes, wonders without number.

¹¹If He goes by me, I do not see Him;

If He moves past,

I do not perceive Him;

¹²If He takes away, who can hinder Him?

Who can say to Him,

‘What are You doing?’

¹³God will not withdraw His anger,

The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

¹⁴“How then can I answer Him,

And choose my words to reason with Him?

¹⁵For though I were righteous,

I could not answer Him;

I would beg mercy of my Judge.

¹⁶If I called and He answered me,

I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He crushes me with a tempest,

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath,

But fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;

And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?

²⁰Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;

Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.

²²It is all one thing;

Therefore I say,

‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’

²³If the scourge slays suddenly,

He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.

He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, who else could it be?

²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner;

They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They pass by like swift ships,

Like an eagle swooping on its prey.

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’

²⁸I am afraid of all my sufferings;

I know that You will not hold me innocent.

²⁹If I am condemned,

Why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow water,

And cleanse my hands with soap,

³¹Yet You will plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes will abhor me.

³²“For He is not a man, as I am,

That I may answer Him,

And that we should go to court together.

³³Nor is there any mediator between us,

Who may lay his hand on us both.

³⁴Let Him take His rod away from me,

And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him,

But it is not so with me.

¹“My soul loathes my life;

I will give free course to my complaint,

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;

Show me why You contend with me.

³Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,

That You should despise the work of Your hands,

And smile on the counsel of the wicked?

⁴Do You have eyes of flesh?

Or do You see as man sees?

⁵Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?

Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,

⁶That You should seek for my iniquity

And search out my sin,

⁷Although You know that I am not wicked, A

nd there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

⁸‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me,

An intricate unity;

Yet You would destroy me.

⁹Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.

And will You turn me into dust again?

¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk,

And curdle me like cheese,

¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹²You have granted me life and favor,

And Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;

I know that this was with You:

¹⁴If I sin, then You mark me,

And will not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me;

Even if I am righteous,

I cannot lift up my head.

I am full of disgrace;

See my misery!

¹⁶If my head is exalted,

You hunt me like a fierce lion,

And again You show Yourself awesome against me.

¹⁷You renew Your witnesses against me,

And increase Your indignation toward me;

Changes and war are ever with me.

¹⁸‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?

Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹I would have been as though I had not been.

I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are not my days few?

Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,

²¹Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,

To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,

²²A land as dark as darkness itself,

As the shadow of death, without any order,

Where even the light is like darkness.’”

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know it is so,

But how can a man be righteous before God?

³If one wished to contend with Him,

He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

Job now challenges Bildad's assumption that one can be righteous before God, that by doing so one will be spared from troubles, for he himself was blameless and look what has befallen him. And so though Job fundamentally agrees with Bildad on his point that, “God will not cast away the blameless, nor will He uphold evil doers.” ^8:20 He again in searching for answers now asks him, “But how can a man be righteous before God?” For even the best of men on their very best day can only be sinful in the sight of God, for no one, not even the blameless Job has ever or can attain too God’s Righteousness. For God has never known sin, has He never desired sin, for sin is only found in man, not God. And so, if finding peace with God is based upon mans own righteousness then that is hopeless, because no man can be (in of himself) righteous, i.e. completely innocent of sin in the sight of God. Thus, Bildad’s statement though true, does not afford Job any relief from his plight. For as Job says in verse three, even if one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him, not even one time out of a thousand. For God alone is Perfect, He alone has all Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding. 

Vs. 4 “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.

Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?”

Job now brings forth one of his theological gem’s, declaring God alone to be wise in heart and mighty in strength, (no man then, neither himself nor Bildad should presume upon being that), Job then warns that those who harden themselves against God assure themselves of nothing but failure. And so, Job has not taken (nor will he take) that well trodden path of pride of hardening oneself toward God (especially during difficulties and trials) that only leads to one owns ruin.

Vs. 5-10 ⁵He removes the mountains, and they do not know

When He overturns them in His anger;

⁶He shakes the earth out of its place,

And its pillars tremble;

⁷He commands the sun, and it does not rise;

He seals off the stars;

⁸He alone spreads out the heavens,

And treads on the waves of the sea;

⁹He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

¹⁰He does great things past finding out,

Yes, wonders without number.

The Sovereign Power of Almighty God is now declared by Job to validate what he has just said, and maybe to offer a defense for his own tragic loses. For it is God who removes mountains and they do not know when He over turns them in His anger, now if mountains cannot resist Him how much less men? For even the earth has no foundation which is strong enough to withstand God. As for the sun and the stars the are completely subordinate to His Will, for He commands all their movements, and when He wishes He seals them off, for He alone brings them to their end. As for the heavens on earth, the sky and all that takes place there, all of its clouds and their formations, He directs it all, the sun rise and sun sets, clear skies and cloudy and stormy days, all of it is His doing. As for the waves of the sea that all men fear, He fearlessly treads on them, think Jesus here, for commands them all. Even the constellations in the heavens God created, placing those stars in their groupings to make the Bear, Orion, and Pleiades (i.e., the seven-star cluster) that is recognized and used by cultures around the world, i.e., the ancient Greeks used it in their navigation of the Mediterranean Sea. While many other cultures around the world use/d its appearance and position in the heavens for their Calendar years and months (Wikipedia). These things then were given us all by God in heaven who does great things past finding out, yes wonders without number. 

 Vs. 11-12 ¹¹If He goes by me, I do not see Him;

If He moves past,

I do not perceive Him;

¹²If He takes away, who can hinder Him?

Who can say to Him,

‘What are You doing?’

¹³God will not withdraw His anger,

The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

And though God is so immense in Person and Power, yet He also is completely invisible to us by natural sight. His Person (apart from His revealing Himself to us) then is unperceivable. Now the importance of this Job will elaborate more on later. And once again God’s Sovereignty; but now more on a human level; is declared by Job, as he says of Him, if He takes away who can hinder Him? Or say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’ For no one, no matter how mighty, can stand against Him to bring about His relenting from what He is doing. How then could Job dare question Him? For as he says,

“God will not withdraw His anger,

The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.”

Now this verse, though a very true general statement about God vanquishing those who rise against Him, truly harkens to end of days when united humanity being led by the antichrist will to their everlasting and eternal ruin seek to make war with the Lamb God and His people. Therefore, remember it now, because for us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ it is a comfort, but for those who don’t it is an ominous warning.

Vs. 14-15 ¹⁴“How then can I answer Him,

And choose my words to reason with Him?

¹⁵For though I were righteous,

I could not answer Him;

I would beg mercy of my Judge.

Job in wisely fearing the Lord God now asks Bildad how can he answer Him if God does all these things? How then can he reason with God whereby he could justify himself before Him? For even if he got his life right as Bildad and Eliphaz have counselled him to do, (and thus Job could have the confidence that they themselves seemingly have before Him) he could still not answer God, for God is Holy and Perfect, he is not. Indeed, Job says, he would beg mercy of his Judge. Job then refuses to be like his friends in their self confidence before God. 

Vs. 16-18 ¹⁶If I called and He answered me,

I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He crushes me with a tempest,

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath,

But fills me with bitterness.

In seeking God as his friends have counselled him, Job says that even if he called out to God and God answered him, he would not believe that God was listening to him, because of how he is so terribly afflicted (vs. 16). But again Job does not know who is doing all of this to him, that it is Satan not God, indeed he and his friends seem to have no knowledge of Satan, and so all that happens in this world they can only attribute to God. Thus, Job goes onto described God as crushing him with a tempest and that He multiplies his wounds without cause (vs. 17),  which is the very cruel work of Satan not God. Indeed, Job says that he will not even let up long enough for him to catch his breath, but rather fills his life with bitterness, all which again is the work of Satan, who only steals, kills, and destroys, for that is his calling card not God's.

Vs. 19-22 ¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;

And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?

²⁰Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;

Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.

²²It is all one thing;

Therefore I say,

‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’

Job now decries that if it is a matter of strength, of God proving Himself strong to Job, then Job does want to fight with Him. Or if it is a matter of justice, that God is angry with Job for some reason, then Job asks who will appoint him his day in court? Since God rules everything. And even if Job were  granted a day in His court, Job feels that he has already been judged, that no amount of righteousness or blamelessness on his part will make things any better for him (vs. 19-20). And so, Job says though he is blameless, yet his person and life is in shambles, therefore he now despises his life, wrongly saying, “It is all one thing.” That God indiscriminately destroys both the blameless and the wicked (vs. 22). And so, it is here that we begin to see the once blameless Job take on a very unjustifiable tone against God, of accusing Him of being cruel and unjust, of indiscriminately inflicting harm and taking life. Again, Job’s very wrong perspective is being born out of his affliction laid on him by Satan, not God.

Vs. 23-24 ²³If the scourge slays suddenly,

He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.

He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, who else could it be?

Having opened the flood gates of his mouth, Job now goes on and says some truly indefensible things about God, saying that if the scourge slays suddenly, that God only laughs at the plight of the innocent (vs. 23). Job words here then are born out of his own hurt and frustration. Job then says that God has given the earth into the hand of the wicked and that He covers the face of its judges so that they cannot see the evil done. Job then pauses (likely feels very unsure about what he has just said), and asks, if it is not He, who else could it be? Which is Satan who has the whole world under his influence and sway. Who alone encourages sin and evil down here and perpetuates injustices in the earth.

Vs. 25-28 ²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner;

They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They pass by like swift ships,

Like an eagle swooping on its prey.

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’

²⁸I am afraid of all my sufferings;

I know that You will not hold me innocent.

Job now turns away from His dark counsels on God, to mourning his own life. Saying once again that his days are all swiftly passing away (remember Job 7:6), that his life is like a runner who race is soon over, or that it is like the swift ships on the sea that soon disappear on the horizon, or that his life (maybe even all that he once had and held dear) has suddenly been taken from him, like when the eagle swoops down on its prey without warning and then flies of with it.

Vs. 29-31 “If I am condemned,

Why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow water,

And cleanse my hands with soap,

³¹Yet You will plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes will abhor me.”

Therefore, Job asks, if he is condemned, why carry on it his struggle? For he believes that even if he washes himself in snow water and cleanses himself with the purest of soaps, (that is purifies his life as his friends have counseled) yet Job feels that God will still only plunge him into the pit (i.e. grave) where even his own clothes will abhor him.

Vs. 32-35 ³²“For He is not a man, as I am,

That I may answer Him,

And that we should go to court together.

³³Nor is there any mediator between us,

Who may lay his hand on us both.

³⁴Let Him take His rod away from me,

And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him,

But it is not so with me.

Job now decries the impossibility of meeting with God and answering him, for Job believes in of himself he could never answer God, therefore there must be a mediator, someone who is fully God in everyway, and yet fully man in every way, (someone who could understand both sides) for only then Job believes could he find some resolution with God. Job’s reasonings here than help lay the groundwork for the Lord Jesus Christ becoming a Man and acting as our Mediator before God (1 Tim. 2:5). For then Job says he would speak to God and not fear Him (vs. 35) but such is not (yet) the case; and so, Job reverts back to his deep sorrow and wrongly assuming that God is the source of his affliction’s, that He is the one who is terrifying him and filling him with dread,

10:1-2 ¹“My soul loathes my life;

I will give free course to my complaint,

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;

Show me why You contend with me.

Job having reasoned that there is no mediator to come between them both, now feels compelled to give free vent to God about his bitter life, saying that he now loathes it, and that he will speak to Him in the bitterness of his soul, saying to God not to condemn him as his friends assume He is doing, but rather show him why He contends with him.

10:3 ³Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,

That You should despise the work of Your hands,

And smile on the counsel of the wicked?

Job now accuses God of oppressing him, of despising him, of doing this while smiling on the counsel of the wicked; All WHICH GOD HAS NOT DONE NOR Will HE EVER DO!

10:4-7 ⁴Do You have eyes of flesh?

Or do You see as man sees?

⁵Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?

Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,

⁶That You should seek for my iniquity

And search out my sin,

⁷Although You know that I am not wicked,

And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

Job now asks God several poignant questions, asking Him if He has eyes of flesh? or does He see as man sees? That is can He even know what it is like to go through what Job is going through? For Job asks Him, are Your days like the days of a mortal man, or are Your years like the days of a mighty man, where everything that happens or does not happen to us is largely beyond our control, for even the mighty mans strength has an end. And so, Job asks God should He seek out His sin? Implying that God was seeking out Job's transgressions only to punish him for it; even though God knows Job is not wicked, and that Job’s life is but a span, (like the smallest measurement taken from the human hand), for Job say's he cannot resist Him, and that there is no one who can deliver from His Hand. Thus Job is only expressing his feeling helpless in his plight, and yet his reasoning’s about God's dealings with him don’t hold up for God was not treating him as he was assuming, and today we all now can have deliverance from God’s everlasting Judgement by believing in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, something that only a God of love does. And even before Calvary, in Job’s time, God never acted how Job asserts He was with him.

10:8-12 ⁸‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me,

An intricate unity;

Yet You would destroy me.

⁹Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.

And will You turn me into dust again?

¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk,

And curdle me like cheese,

¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹²You have granted me life and favor,

And Your care has preserved my spirit.

Job now asks God to remember how His hands fashioned him in the womb, that He made him as an intricate work of His hands, and yet would He destroy him? For God has made Job (and us all) like delicate clay and yet will He return him to dust again? (vs. 8-9). To describe God's skill in forming us Job now draws upon the analogy of the cheese maker making his cheese as descriptive of how God so skillfully and thoughtfully formed him (vs. 10), Job then branches out from his metaphors into the literal, reminding God how He clothed him with skin and flesh and knit all his body parts together with bones and sinews. Indeed, Job says in doing so God granted him favor and life, and by His care He has preserved Job’s spirit. Job then is appealing to God on this basis, that he is the work of His hands.

 10:13-15 ¹³‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;

I know that this was with You:

¹⁴If I sin, then You mark me,

And will not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me;

Even if I am righteous,

I cannot lift up my head.

I am full of disgrace;

See my misery!

However God’s care for Job he now sees as only being hidden in His heart (vs. 13). For Job believes that if he sins the Lord immediately marks him for punishment, and even when he is punished Job feels that God will not acquit him of his iniquity (vs. 14). Therefore, Job says, If I am wicked, woe to me, but even if I am righteous, I still cannot lift my head, I am full of disgrace, see my misery! ^{Vs. 15} Again Job feels like God has turned Himself against him, but nothing could be further from the truth.

10:16-17 ¹⁶If my head is exalted,

You hunt me like a fierce lion,

And again You show Yourself awesome against me.

¹⁷You renew Your witnesses against me,

And increase Your indignation toward me;

Changes and war are ever with me.

In describing his plight here, Job unknowingly is describing the cruelty with which Satan is watching him and renewing his attacks against him the moment Job finds some relief with God's dealings with him. That Job says that changes and war are ever with him is Job decrying the lack of stability and security in his life. 

10:18-22 ¹⁸‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?

Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹I would have been as though I had not been.

I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Job now asks God why did He ever bring him out of the womb? If this will now be his life and existence? For Job once again says it would’ve been better to have perished there then to have come to these days. For then he would’ve been as though he had never been, no one could then stand as his accuser, indeed he would’ve just been carried from the womb to the grave without ever having to come to this. Again these are words of one in distress, and yet if Job could see his end he would fully regret them all. 

10:20-22 ²⁰Are not my days few?

Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,

²¹Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,

To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,

²²A land as dark as darkness itself,

As the shadow of death, without any order,

Where even the light is like darkness.’”

In ending his prayer and "talk" here with God, Job once again asks God to remember that his days are few, that He cease and leave him alone so he may find a little comfort (vs. 20) before he goes to the land of darkness, that is, Sheol, the grave, the place of the dead where there is no form and light, where everything is utter darkness (vs. 21-22).

 Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.