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.

 

 

Job 8:1–22 Bildad's First Rebuke of Job

 ¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you speak these things,

And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

³Does God subvert judgment?

Or does the Almighty pervert justice?

⁴If your sons have sinned against Him,

He has cast them away for their transgression.

⁵If you would earnestly seek God

And make your supplication to the Almighty,

⁶If you were pure and upright,

Surely now He would awake for you,

And prosper your rightful dwelling place.

⁷Though your beginning was small,

Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

⁸“For inquire, please, of the former age,

And consider the things discovered by their fathers;

⁹For we were born yesterday, and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you,

And utter words from their heart?

¹¹“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the reeds flourish without water?

¹²While it is yet green and not cut down,

It withers before any other plant.

¹³So are the paths of all who forget God;

And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,

¹⁴Whose confidence shall be cut off,

And whose trust is a spider’s web.

¹⁵He leans on his house, but it does not stand.

He holds it fast, but it does not endure.

¹⁶He grows green in the sun,

And his branches spread out in his garden.

¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap,

And look for a place in the stones.

¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹“Behold, this is the joy of His way,

And out of the earth others will grow.

²⁰Behold, God will not cast away the blameless,

Nor will He uphold the evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,

And your lips with rejoicing.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

Preamble: Bildad, Job’s second friend will now speak, he will show even less tact and grace then Eliphaz, his impatience (even contempt) with Job, will be immediately and most abundantly made clear.

Commentary

Vs. 1-7 ¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you speak these things,

And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

³Does God subvert judgment?

Or does the Almighty pervert justice?

⁴If your sons have sinned against Him,

He has cast them away for their transgression.

⁵If you would earnestly seek God

And make your supplication to the Almighty,

⁶If you were pure and upright,

Surely now He would awake for you,

And prosper your rightful dwelling place.

⁷Though your beginning was small,

Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

Bildad the second eldest now speaks, and he shows nothing but a cold contempt for Job's cries and mourning like that, saying to Job, “How long will you speak these things,  And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?” Bildad then has absolutely no patience for Job and his words, words which he equates with being like a blustery wind (NIV). For in Bildad's eyes Job has no grounds for speaking like that, for he only sees Job's loses as God's judgment on him, and so he says to Job that God does not subvert judgment nor does He pervert justice (vs. 3). Now obviously this is true, but Job is not under the justice, nor the judgment of God, rather he is under an extremely vicious attack by Satan. Bildad then in an extremely cold tone goes on to relegate Jobs children’s deaths at Satan’s hand as their being cast away by God for some undetermined sin that they must have committed against Him (vs.4). Now even if Job’s children had sinned, which they hadn't, Bildad’s extreme callousness and indifference towards Job losing his children so tragically is utterly heartless and completely unjustifiable. Thus Bildad the cold intellect has no time nor patience for those who do not accept whatever tragedies befalls them, for He believes that these come from the hand of God as judgment upon one. 

Having then completely relegated Job’s mourning all his loses, Bildad now tells Job to earnestly seek God and make his supplications to the Almighty (vs. 5). Which is something Job always did, and not just for his own wellbeing, but also for the well being of others. Bildad’s counsel here then adds nothing to Job. Bildad then goes on and tells Job that if he were pure and upright God would awake for him and prosper him in his rightful dwelling place, that though his beginning were small yet his latter end would increase abundantly (vs. 5-7). Thus, Bildad like Eliphaz most wrongly and self righteously assumes that Job and his household have been sinning, that their demise came at the hand of God, and that if Job would only repent and get right with God, God would once again prosper him. Now there are truths in repenting and getting right with God and His prospering one, but Bildad fails miserably in his employment of these truths by so wrongly assuming Job’s downfall was something that he brought on himself.

Vs. 8-10 ⁸“For inquire, please, of the former age,

And consider the things discovered by their fathers;

⁹For we were born yesterday, and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you,

And utter words from their heart?

Bildad now lays out his justification for his understanding of Job’s plight, by saying that what he is saying to him their ancestral fathers first came to understand long ago, that they unlike Job and his ideas did not just arrive on the scene, but they have a longstanding history behind them. Therefore, Bildad counsels Job to listen to them, to their doctrine, for it has been long established (vs. 7-10).

Vs. 11-14 ¹¹“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the reeds flourish without water?

¹²While it is yet green and not cut down,

It withers before any other plant.

¹³So are the paths of all who forget God;

And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,

¹⁴Whose confidence shall be cut off,

And whose trust is a spider’s web.

Bildad now uses an analogy from nature to describe the downfall of those who forget God, of the hypocrite whom he says soon perishes at the hand of God. Thus by saying these things to Job he is assuming that is what Job has done, been living like a hypocrite before Him. Saying that their confidence shall perish and that their trust is but a spiders web. Job though was not living like a hypocrite; that is pretending to believe and obey God but only living indifferently to Him. No Job was a true and faithful man of God, a blameless man before God. And so though Job's faiths light maybe dim at this point, he still has hope in the Lord. And as we will see the wicked don’t always perish when they sin, and the hypocrite is not always brought down and removed from his place, at least not immediately as Bildad so wrongly assumes has happened to Job.

Vs. 15-19 ¹⁵He leans on his house, but it does not stand.

He holds it fast, but it does not endure.    

¹⁶He grows green in the sun,

And his branches spread out in his garden.

¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap,

And look for a place in the stones.

¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹“Behold, this is the joy of His way,

And out of the earth others will grow.

Bildad now goes on to describe the hypocrite as leaning on his house; implying then that Job’s confidence was not in God, but in his household (i.e. his abundant possessions); using metaphoric language to describe such people as trees that grow green in the sun, who spread their branches out in the garden, and who wrap their roots around a rock heap as their anchoring point. But in the end they are destroyed from their place, all that they have acquired and hoped in will only deny them, saying: … ‘I have not seen you.’ ^{Vs. 18} Bildad then concludes that this is God’s doing to them, that God has joy in destroying such people, and that in their place, He will plant others. These things then that Bildad is saying, he is directing towards Job if you can believe it! However we know that God has no delight when people perish in their sins, rather that all come to repentance (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 2 Peter 3:9). And that God does indeed remove the wicked and hypocrite from their place, and places others there can be true of Him, but in Job’s case this simply does not apply to him. Therefore Bildad’s view of God’s Works in Job’s life based on his elders’ teachings is wrong, and should not be applied to him. 

Vs. 20-22 ²⁰Behold, God will not cast away the blameless,

Nor will He uphold the evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,

And your lips with rejoicing.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

In encouraging Job to repent, Bildad now touches upon some great truths, first is that God does not cast away the blameless (even though Job is going through such things), nor does God uphold evil doers, for though they may prosper for a season, sin always has consequences that are experienced in this life, as well sin must always be punished fully, either at the Cross by the Lord Jesus Christ for us, or suffered fully by the guilty party at the Judgment seat of Christ. For sin never goes unpunished. Bildad then goes on assuring Job that there is a future for him, that God Himself will yet fill his mouth with laughing and his lips with rejoicing, that all those who hate him will be clothed with same and that dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing. Amen. These then should be the only words that Job takes to heart from him, for they will turn out to be true of him. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

 

Job 6:1–7:21 Job’s First Reply to Eliphaz

 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,

And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea—

Therefore my words have been rash.

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;

My spirit drinks in their poison;

The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass,

Or does the ox low over its fodder?

⁶Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷My soul refuses to touch them;

They are as loathsome food to me.

⁸“Oh, that I might have my request,

That God would grant me the thing that I long for!

⁹That it would please God to crush me,

That He would loose His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰Then I would still have comfort;

Though in anguish I would exult, He will not spare;

For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

¹¹“What strength do I have, that I should hope?

And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?

¹²Is my strength the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³Is my help not within me?

And is success driven from me?

¹⁴“To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend,

Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook,

Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,

¹⁶Which are dark because of the ice,

And into which the snow vanishes.

¹⁷When it is warm, they cease to flow;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸The paths of their way turn aside,

They go nowhere and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema look,

The travelers of Sheba hope for them.

²⁰They are disappointed because they were confident;

They come there and are confused.

²¹For now you are nothing,

You see terror and are afraid.

²²Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’?

Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?

²³Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’?

²⁴“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue;

Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

²⁵How forceful are right words!

But what does your arguing prove?

²⁶Do you intend to rebuke my words,

And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind?

²⁷Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless,

And you undermine your friend.

²⁸Now therefore, be pleased to look at me;

For I would never lie to your face.

²⁹Yield now, let there be no injustice!

Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands!

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern the unsavory?

¹“Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth?

Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?

²Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade,

And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,

³So I have been allotted months of futility,

And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.

⁴When I lie down, I say,

‘When shall I arise, And the night be ended?’

For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.

⁵My flesh is caked with worms and dust,

My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.

⁶“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And are spent without hope.

⁷Oh, remember that my life is a breath!

My eye will never again see good.

⁸The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;

While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.

⁹As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,

So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.

¹⁰He shall never return to his house,

Nor shall his place know him anymore.

¹¹“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,

That You set a guard over me?

¹³When I say,

‘My bed will comfort me,

My couch will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴Then You scare me with dreams

And terrify me with visions,

¹⁵So that my soul chooses strangling

And death rather than my body.

¹⁶I loathe my life; I would not live forever.

Let me alone,

For my days are but a breath.

¹⁷“What is man, that You should exalt him,

That You should set Your heart on him,

¹⁸That You should visit him every morning,

And test him every moment?

¹⁹How long? Will You not look away from me,

And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?

²⁰Have I sinned?

What have I done to You, O watcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target,

So that I am a burden to myself?

²¹Why then do You not pardon my transgression,

And take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust,

And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.”

Commentary

6:1-4 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,

And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea—

Therefore my words have been rash.

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;

My spirit drinks in their poison;

The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Job now replies to Eliphaz after his less than gracious words to him, by asking him and his friends to consider the depths of his grief and calamity, how heavily it is weighing down upon him, which he now says is the source of his rash words, which they found so offensive. Job then continues seeking their compassion by saying that the Almighty has struck him with His arrows of poison, that God is the One who is filling his life with terrors. Obviously neither Job nor his friends really know the source of Job’s troubles is from Satan, indeed Satan is never mentioned in this Book by any of them, he might then have been an unknown entity to them at that time.

6:5 ⁵Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass,

Or does the ox low over its fodder?

Job now points to the wild donkey, saying to them it does bray when it has grass, nor does the ox low over its fodder, to explain his own very natural response for his grieving all his great looses so deeply. For one does mourn when one has no reason to mourn, but Job has plenty.

6:6-7 ⁶Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷My soul refuses to touch them;

They are as loathsome food to me.

And so just as unseasoned food is unpalatable, and there is no flavor in the white of an egg, so is Eliphaz’s words to Job, for suffering and mourning go hand in hand. Therefore, Job says his soul refuses them, that is Eliphaz's less then comforting words, indeed Job considers them as only loathsome food to him, for Job will not be hard hearted and indifferent to his loses like his friends, he will express his grief.

6:8-10 ⁸“Oh, that I might have my request,

That God would grant me the thing that I long for!

⁹That it would please God to crush me,

That He would loose His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰Then I would still have comfort;

Though in anguish I would exult, He will not spare;

For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

Job’s grief and pain is so great that he now wishes death upon himself, that God Himself would crush him and end it all, that He would cut him off from the land of the living. For then Job believes that he would have comfort, that he would even exult in God then. Now with Job saying that he has not concealed the words of the Holy One, is his saying that he has always lived by His Word, thus even though he believes himself greatly and unjustly afflicted, Job has not turned himself against God and His Word.

6:11 ¹¹“What strength do I have, that I should hope?

And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?

 Job’s mournful plea continues, for in losing all his strength (his health) he feels all hope is gone, why then should God prolong his life, for what end has he now?

6:12-13 ¹²Is my strength the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³Is my help not within me?

And is success driven from me?

Job with some questions to God now declares his frailty to Him in these verses, declaring that he has no help from within himself, that all his success has already been driven from him.

6:14 “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend,

Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

This is one of the most memorable verses in this Book, and should be remembered by all who study God’s Word. For by it Job makes an appeal for kindness from his friends, even though they believe he has forsaken the fear of the Almighty with some of his less than stately words. Therefore, giving people grace, even when they ungracefully mourn their loses and affliction is the calling card of every Christian; or at least it should be. For sharing kindness to the broken is being exactly like our King.

6:15-23 ¹⁵My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook,

Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,

¹⁶Which are dark because of the ice,

And into which the snow vanishes.

¹⁷When it is warm, they cease to flow;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸The paths of their way turn aside,

They go nowhere and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema look,

The travelers of Sheba hope for them.

²⁰They are disappointed because they were confident;

They come there and are confused.

²¹For now you are nothing,

You see terror and are afraid.

²²Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’?

Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?

²³Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’?

Jon now likens his friends, i.e. brothers, to that of a deceitful brook, whose hearts are like its icy frozen waters into which snow vanishes, whose river beds in the heat and trials of of summer become nothing more than a dry stream bed from which no refreshing water can be drawn. Thus those who go seeking refreshing waters from them are only left disappointed. Indeed Job says they go no where and perish. So too then have Job’s friends, (he calls them brothers here), have been towards him. For he looked to them with great anticipation of finding some comfort and solace and relief in his mourning, but instead all they did was leave him dry and thirsty and wanting (vs. 15-20). Thus, Job’s once mighty and noble friends he hoped in, are now nothing to him, for they see him in his terribly afflicted state, and they are afraid to help him, and none of them dare say anything in his defense (vs. 21). And yet Job never asked them for anything, he never asked them to bring him something, or to give him a bribe from their wealth, or to deliver him from the enemy’s hand, or redeem him from the hand of oppressors (vs. 22-23). And yet now in his great time of need they find occasion to condemn him, all because he is suffering such things.

6:24 “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue;

Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.”

And so, Job now asks his friends to teach what he has done wrong to deserve all of this and he will hold his tongue, that by their counsel and reasoning’s cause him to understand how in errored in his conduct so gravely that all of these things should have befallen him. In other words, before you go on with your condemnation of me, lay out my sin and error before me.

6:25 “How forceful are right words!

But what does your arguing prove?”

Job now mocks the strong speech Eliphaz has used against him, as if his strongly worded accusations give any validity to his false assumptions about him. Again, Job asks him what does your arguing prove? Does contending with the broken Job explain why any of this is happening to him.

6:26 “Do you intend to rebuke my words,

And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind?”

Job knows his friends all to well, that they are already preparing their rebuke of him, that they will soon be setting their words against him, even though he is truly a desperate one, a man whose words while in such state should only be regarded like wind, and not be seized upon to be used as judgment against him.

6:27 “Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless,

And you undermine your friend.”

Job goes on venting his feelings most strongly, saying of Eliphaz that all he has thus far accomplished is to overwhelm the fatherless, (for that is how he now feels, like a defenseless fatherless child), and yet he hoped that Eliphaz would support him in his time of need, not undermine him.

6:28-30 ²⁸Now therefore, be pleased to look at me;

For I would never lie to your face.

²⁹Yield now, let there be no injustice!

Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands!

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern the unsavory?

Job now asks his friends to look at him, which may mean that he wants them to see how horrible afflicted he is and pleased with that, rather than be pleased with condemning him, to remember his long-standing integrity which they have all known, before they so quickly and easily condemn him, for as he says he would never lie to their faces (vs. 28). Job then goes on and demands that there be no injustice, that they concede that his righteousness still stands (vs. 29), that Job did not sin in any of this, Job 1:22; 2:10 (more on this later). Then in verse thirty Job tells them that there is no injustice on his tongue, that what he is saying is not his trying to be deceitful or devious, unlike their words towards him which job discerns only bear the flavor of the unsavory, for their words are not being given with pure motives.

 7:1-11 ¹“Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth?

Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?

²Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade,

And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,

³So I have been allotted months of futility,

And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.

⁴When I lie down, I say,

‘When shall I arise, And the night be ended?’

For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.

⁵My flesh is caked with worms and dust,

My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.

⁶“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And are spent without hope.

⁷Oh, remember that my life is a breath!

My eye will never again see good.

⁸The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;

While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.

⁹As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,

So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.

¹⁰He shall never return to his house,

Nor shall his place know him anymore.

¹¹“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Job now sees his life as only being akin to that of the hard service of a man. Comparing it now to that of a hired servant who desires the shade, or the hired man who looks eagerly for his wages, thus Job is longing for some relief, something to lift his spirit and relieve his pain. That his life cease being a dreary and meaningless existence. For months have passed since the initial tragedy, and yet even in the night Job finds no relief, for when he lies down, he only wishes for the night to be ended, for all he does is toss and turn all night on his bed, it offers him no relief. Indeed, he looks at his flesh in the morning and it is covered in dust and caked with worms (i.e. maggots) eating his rotting flesh, and soon enough as it begins to heal it only cracks once again and breaks out in fresh boils.

Job goes onto to described his days though seemingly long in misery on the one hand, as now swiftly passing away, moving with the speed of weaver’s shuttle, all without hope. Job then pleads with God to remember that is life is but a breath, that he is here only for a moment and then he is gone, for he believes that he will never see good again (7:6-7). Job then goes onto say that the eye that now sees him will see him no more, that even while his friends’ eyes are upon him, he shall soon enough perish. And so, just as the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so is he who goes down to the grave, he does not come back again to return to his house, nor to his place anymore (7:8-10). Because of this sense of complete hopelessness Job now says that he will not restrain his mouth, (as Eliphaz wishes), but rather he will speak in the anguish of his spirit and complain in the bitterness of his soul (7:11). Thus, Job wants to give free vent to his feelings, (for he feels there is nothing more to lose now), and so it will be in his doing so that Job will say some very indefensible things (but that will all be addressed much later). For now, Job is at the beginning of his search for answers.

7:12-21 ¹²Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,

That You set a guard over me?

¹³When I say,

‘My bed will comfort me,

My couch will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴Then You scare me with dreams

And terrify me with visions,

¹⁵So that my soul chooses strangling

And death rather than my body.

¹⁶I loathe my life; I would not live forever.

Let me alone,

For my days are but a breath.

¹⁷“What is man, that You should exalt him,

That You should set Your heart on him,

¹⁸That You should visit him every morning,

And test him every moment?

¹⁹How long? Will You not look away from me,

And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?

²⁰Have I sinned?

What have I done to You, O watcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target,

So that I am a burden to myself?

²¹Why then do You not pardon my transgression,

And take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust,

And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.”

Job's  now asks God is he a sea, or a sea serpent that He sets a guard over him, basically, am I a threat to anyone or anything that I need to be afflicted and kept in a state like this. Obviously, we know this is not God’s doing, but Satan’s, who very likely sees Job as a threat to his works and ways on earth (7:12). Job then in appealing to God for some relief now describes his bed as not being a place of rest and refreshing for him, but only one of terror, for even there he is being visited with scary dreams and nightmarish visions (7:13-14), So much so that his soul would rather be strangled and his body given over to death rather than to continue going through those things (7:15). Job then decries his life, saying he loathes it, saying that he would rather not live on, Job then asks God to let him alone, for again he says his life is but a breath (7:16). Job then asks God why did He ever exalt him? Why does He set His heart upon him and visit him every morning and test him every moment? (7:17-18). Now these questions are not positive reaffirmations of God’s Work in Jobs life, but rather are Job’s misguided views of God, for he does not know that it has been Satan who is continually watching over him for harm. Job then asks, God, “how long?”; the most natural and yet most unanswerable question that everyone asks who is being afflicted; saying “Will You not look away from me, and let me alone till I swallow my saliva?” (7:19). That is will you never stop until I am dead? Job now poignantly asks God “have I sinned?”, that such things have befallen me. For what have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me up as Your target, so that Job is even a burden to himself. (7:20). Thus, Job reasons if I have sinned, “Why then do You not pardon my transgression, And take away my iniquity?” For now I will lie down in the dust, And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.” (7:21). In closing then Job sees himself as only destined for the grave, and yet he still feels that even there God will seek him, but he shall no longer be. It is a very sad state that Job is in, and yet as we will see, the worst is yet to come from Job’s friends.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.