King James Version
Job 18
21 verses with commentary
Bildad's Second Speech: The Fate of the Wicked
Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said</strong>—This formal introduction marks Bildad's second speech (his first was Job 8). His name possibly means 'Bel has loved' (from Babylonian god Bel), suggesting eastern origin. 'Shuhite' identifies him as descendant of Shuah, Abraham's son by Keturah (Genesis 25:2), establishing ancient lineage and wisdom credentials. The narrative formula 'ans...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**XVIII.**
(1) **How long?**—Bildad begins very much as Job himself had done (Job 16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 18
Chapter Outline
Bildad reproves Job.(1-4)
Ruin attends the wicked.(5-10)
The ruin of the wicked.(11-21)
**Verses 1-4**
Bildad had before given Job good advice and encouragement; here he used nothing but rebukes, and declared his ruin. And he concluded that Job shut out the providence of God from the management of human affairs, because he would not admit himself to...
Read full commentary →How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad's impatient question: 'How long will it be ere ye make an end of words?' dismisses Job's defense as endless verbosity. This reflects the friends' increasing frustration that Job won't accept their theology. True comfort requires patience; impatience reveals self-interest.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Es 8:7-14. Ahasuerus Grants to the Jews to Defend Themselves.
**8. Write ... in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring--**Hence it is evident that the royal ring had a seal in it, which, being affixed to any document, authenticated it with the stamp of royal authority.
**which ... may no man reverse--**This is added as the reason why he could not comply with the queen's request for a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 18
Chapter Outline
Bildad reproves Job.(1-4)
Ruin attends the wicked.(5-10)
The ruin of the wicked.(11-21)
**Verses 1-4**
Bildad had before given Job good advice and encouragement; here he used nothing but rebukes, and declared his ruin. And he concluded that Job shut out the providence of God from the management of human affairs, because he would not admit himself to...
Read full commentary →Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore are we counted as beasts</strong> (maddûa' neḥšaḇnû kaḇěhēmāh, מַדּוּעַ נֶחְשַׁבְנוּ כַבְּהֵמָה)—Bildad protests Job's alleged contempt for the friends' counsel. The verb <em>ḥāšaḇ</em> (to count, reckon, regard) combined with <em>běhēmāh</em> (beast, animal, cattle) accuses Job of treating them as intellectually inferior, lacking rational capacity. This charge references Job 12:...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Wherefore are we counted as beasts.**—Referring to Job’s words (Job 13:4, &c., Job 16:2, &c.). In this chapter there is a marked increase in his harshness and violence. It has, however, a certain resemblance to Job 8, inasmuch as Bildad works out a simile here, as he did there; and in Job 18:16 the two similes touch. In Job 18:2, which resembles Job 8:2, we must supply, as the Authorised Ver...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 18
Chapter Outline
Bildad reproves Job.(1-4)
Ruin attends the wicked.(5-10)
The ruin of the wicked.(11-21)
**Verses 1-4**
Bildad had before given Job good advice and encouragement; here he used nothing but rebukes, and declared his ruin. And he concluded that Job shut out the providence of God from the management of human affairs, because he would not admit himself to...
Read full commentary →He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place? himself: Heb. his soul
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad challenges Job: 'He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?' This accuses Job of demanding the universe revolve around his suffering. Yet Job's questions actually grapple with universal theodicy, not personal exception.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **He teareth himself in his anger.**—As Eliphaz had charged Job (Job 15:4) with the evil tendencies of his speeches, so Bildad here compares him to a maniac, and assumes that the effect of his teaching will be to banish God from the earth, and remove the strength and hope of man. The last clause is a direct quotation from Job in Job 14:18; it looks, therefore, very much like a wilful perversio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. sent ... by posts ... and riders on ... camels, and young dromedaries--**The business being very urgent, the swiftest kind of camel would be employed, and so the word in the original denotes the wind-camel. Young dromedaries also are used to carry expresses, being remarkable for the nimbleness and ease of their movements. Animals of this description could convey the new rescript of Ahasuerus...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 18
Chapter Outline
Bildad reproves Job.(1-4)
Ruin attends the wicked.(5-10)
The ruin of the wicked.(11-21)
**Verses 1-4**
Bildad had before given Job good advice and encouragement; here he used nothing but rebukes, and declared his ruin. And he concluded that Job shut out the providence of God from the management of human affairs, because he would not admit himself to...
Read full commentary →Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.' Bildad returns to retribution theology: the wicked's 'light' (אוֹר, or) will be 'put out' (יִדְעָךְ, yida'akh—extinguished), and 'spark' (שְׁבִיב, sheviv) won't 'shine' (יִגַּהּ, yigah). Light represents life, prosperity, and hope; darkness means death and disaster. Bildad's theology is orthodox—Proverbs 13...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-13. the king granted the Jews ... to stand for their life ... to slay ... all ... that would assault them--**The fixed and unalterable character claimed for Persian edicts often placed the king in a very awkward dilemma; for, however bitterly he might regret things done in a moment of haste and thoughtlessness, it was beyond even his power to prevent the consequences. This was the reason on a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10**
Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies,...
Read full commentary →The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him. candle: or, lamp
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him</strong>—Bildad's second speech continues with vivid imagery of the wicked's destruction. The Hebrew <em>'or</em> (אוֹר, 'light') becoming <em>chashak</em> (חָשַׁךְ, 'dark') reverses creation itself (Genesis 1:3). The <em>ner</em> (נֵר, 'lamp/candle') extinguished symbolizes both life ending (Proverbs 20:27...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-13. the king granted the Jews ... to stand for their life ... to slay ... all ... that would assault them--**The fixed and unalterable character claimed for Persian edicts often placed the king in a very awkward dilemma; for, however bitterly he might regret things done in a moment of haste and thoughtlessness, it was beyond even his power to prevent the consequences. This was the reason on a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10**
Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies,...
Read full commentary →The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down</strong>—Bildad describes the wicked's self-destruction using legal and martial language. <em>Tsa'adei</em> (צַעֲדֵי, 'steps') suggests both military march and life journey; <em>ono</em> (אוֹנוֹ, 'his strength') implies vigor and capability. The verb <em>yetsar</em> (יֵצַר, 'shall be straitened/confined'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **The steps of his strength.**—*i.e.*, his giant strides. He shall be the victim of his own devices, and when they seem to hold out the hope of prosperity shall lead him to destruction. (Comp. Ps. 141:11.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-13. the king granted the Jews ... to stand for their life ... to slay ... all ... that would assault them--**The fixed and unalterable character claimed for Persian edicts often placed the king in a very awkward dilemma; for, however bitterly he might regret things done in a moment of haste and thoughtlessness, it was beyond even his power to prevent the consequences. This was the reason on a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10**
Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies,...
Read full commentary →For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
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KJV Study Commentary
'For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.' Bildad describes the wicked's self-destruction: 'cast into a net' (בְּרֶשֶׁת, bereshet) by his 'own feet' (בְּרַגְלָיו, beragleyv), walking into 'snare' (שְׂבָכָה, sevakhah). The imagery: the wicked trap themselves. This reflects Proverbs 5:22, 11:5—sin's consequences are self-inflicted. The theology is sound: sin has natura...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **He is cast into a net.**—Job had compared himself to one hunted by the Almighty (Job 10:16), and Bildad here describes the evil man as snared in a net, but it is one for which he has no one to thank but himself. It is his own pit he falls into; the insinuation being that Job is likewise responsible for his calamities, which are the punishment of his sin. It is to be observed that in this and...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10**
Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies,...
Read full commentary →The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
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KJV Study Commentary
Multiple traps await: 'The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.' The gin (trap) catches the heel while robbers attack—multiple dangers converging. Bildad multiplies traps to emphasize the wicked's inescapability. While true that persistent sin creates compounding consequences, this doesn't explain all suffering. Bildad's mechanical application ignores divine pu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Es 8:15-17. Mordecai's Honors, and the Jews' Joy.
**15. Mordecai went out ... in royal apparel--**He was invested with the khelaat of official honor. A dress of blue and white was held in great estimation among the Persians; so that Mordecai, whom the king delighted to honor, was in fact arrayed in the royal dress and insignia. The variety and the kind of insignia worn by a favorite at once makes...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10**
Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies,...
Read full commentary →The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way. laid: Heb. hidden
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KJV Study Commentary
Hidden traps surround the wicked: 'The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.' Bildad emphasizes hidden dangers—traps both in ground (concealed) and in the way (visible path). The wicked face danger in every direction. While sin does create such vulnerability, Bildad ignores that the righteous also face trials (John 16:33). His theology can't account for suffering that...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-10**
Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies,...
Read full commentary →Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet. drive: Heb. scatter
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KJV Study Commentary
Terrors pursue the wicked: 'Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.' Fear becomes the wicked's constant companion—terrors on every side, no rest or safety. Being driven suggests forced movement without control. While guilty conscience does produce such fear (Proverbs 28:1), righteous sufferers also experience terror. Job's fears arose from suffering, not guilt...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Shall drive him to his feet.**—Comp. Job 15:21. One feels very much tempted to understand this, as the English undoubtedly suggests, *shall startle him to his feet, *but the true meaning is, more probably, *shall chase him at his heels.*
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked's strength fails: 'His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.' Hunger-bitten strength suggests weakening from deprivation—vigor sapped by lack. Destruction stands ready, waiting to strike. Bildad describes comprehensive weakness and imminent danger. While applicable to some wicked, this doesn't explain Job's situation. Job's losses came suddenly thro...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **His strength.**—By “strength” some understand his firstborn son, as Genesis 49:3, but it is not necessary to take it otherwise than literally.
**Destruction shall be ready at his side.**—Or, according to some, *for his halting; *shall lie in wait for his tripping in order to overthrow him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength. strength: Heb. bars
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KJV Study Commentary
Disease consumes the wicked: 'It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.' The 'firstborn of death'—a vivid personification—suggests death's most powerful agent, perhaps disease. This describes Job's actual condition (skin disease). Bildad cruelly uses Job's symptoms as evidence for his theology. Yet disease afflicts righteous and wicked alike (...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **The strength of his skin.**—This verse should probably be rendered, “It shall devour the members of his body, even the firstborn of death shall devour his members;” and by the “firstborn of death” is probably to be understood some wasting disease such as Job’s, the phrase being so used as a euphemism.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 9 Es 9:1-19. The Jews Slay Their Enemies with the Ten Sons of Haman.
**1. in the twelfth month, ... on the thirteenth day of the same--**This was the day which Haman's superstitious advisers had led him to select as the most fortunate for the execution of his exterminating scheme against the Jews [Es 3:7].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.</strong> Bildad the Shuhite, one of Job's three friends, speaks these words describing the fate of the wicked. The Hebrew word for "confidence" (<em>mibtach</em>, מִבְטָח) denotes security, trust, or that in which one places confidence. "Rooted out" (<em>nataq</em>, נָתַק) suggests violent ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **His confidence shall be rooted out.**—Rather, *he shall be rooted out of his tent which he trusted was his own.*
**The king of terrors.**—Perhaps the most remarkable personification of unseen forces to be found in the Bible.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. The Jews gathered themselves ... no man could withstand them--**The tables were now turned in their favor; and though their enemies made their long meditated attack, the Jews were not only at liberty to act on the defensive, but through the powerful influence enlisted on their side at court together with the blessing of God, they were everywhere victorious.
**the fear of them fell upon all ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
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KJV Study Commentary
'It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.' Bildad describes destruction of the wicked's dwelling: something will 'dwell' (תִּשְׁכּוֹן, tishkon) in his 'tabernacle' (בְּאָהֳלוֹ, be'oholo) 'because it is none of his' (מִבְּלִי־לוֹ, mibli-lo), and 'brimstone' (גָּפְרִית, gafrit) scattered on his 'habitation' (נָוֵהוּ, navehu). This...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **It shall dwell in his tabernacle.**—Or, “There shall dwell in his tent they that are none of his,” or “which is no longer his”: *i.e., *terrors shall dwell, or, “which is none of his” may hint that it had been violently taken from some one else. “Brimstone shall be scattered on his dwelling” is probably an allusion to the cities of the plain (Genesis 19).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked wither completely: 'His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.' Both root and branch dying suggests total destruction—no life remains to regenerate. This agricultural imagery depicts complete judgment. While Scripture teaches such comprehensive judgment awaits the finally impenitent, Bildad wrongly applies it to Job. Job's story demonstrates that apparen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **His roots shall be dried up.**—With tacit allusion to what he had said in Job 8:12, and also to the destruction of Job’s own offspring, which had already been accomplished.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street .
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KJV Study Commentary
Memory of the wicked perishes: 'His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.' Loss of reputation and memory represented ultimate curse in ancient world—being forgotten meant complete obliteration. No legacy, no honor, no continuation. While the finally impenitent do lose such memory, Bildad wrongly assumes Job faces this fate. God ensures Job's name endures...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **His remembrance shall perish.**—This is the doom which above all others is dreaded by the modern roamers of the desert. (Comp. also Jeremiah 35:19.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5-16. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies--**The effect of the two antagonistic decrees was, in the meantime, to raise a fierce and bloody war between the Jews and their enemies throughout the Persian empire; but through the dread of Esther and Mordecai, the provincial governors universally favored their cause, so that their enemies fell in great numbers.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. He: Heb. They shall drive him
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked are driven to exile: 'He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.' Exile from light (God's presence, life, goodness) into darkness (separation, death, judgment) describes damnation. Being chased from the world suggests violent expulsion. Bildad's language approaches New Testament descriptions of final judgment. Yet he applies it to Job's temporal suffering,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5-16. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies--**The effect of the two antagonistic decrees was, in the meantime, to raise a fierce and bloody war between the Jews and their enemies throughout the Persian empire; but through the dread of Esther and Mordecai, the provincial governors universally favored their cause, so that their enemies fell in great numbers.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked lose posterity: 'He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.' Loss of descendants represented ultimate curse—no future, no continuation, no inheritance. For ancient Near Eastern mindset, this fate was worse than death. Bildad cruelly refers to Job's actual loss of children, using it as evidence of Job's supposed wickedness. This pastoral fa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **He shall have neither son nor nephew.**—“He shall have neither his own son’s son among his people, nor any remaining, where he sojourned.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5-16. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies--**The effect of the two antagonistic decrees was, in the meantime, to raise a fierce and bloody war between the Jews and their enemies throughout the Persian empire; but through the dread of Esther and Mordecai, the provincial governors universally favored their cause, so that their enemies fell in great numbers.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted . went: or, lived with him were: Heb. laid hold on horror
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KJV Study Commentary
The wicked become objects of horror: 'They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.' Future and past generations alike react with horror to the wicked's fate. The Hebrew 'shamem' (astonished/appalled) suggests stunned horror. Bildad predicts Job will become cautionary tale—exactly what his friends have attempted to make him. Ironically, Job does b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Shall be astonied at his day.**—That is, his doom, or destiny. He shall stand forth as a warning and monument to all.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5-16. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies--**The effect of the two antagonistic decrees was, in the meantime, to raise a fierce and bloody war between the Jews and their enemies throughout the Persian empire; but through the dread of Esther and Mordecai, the provincial governors universally favored their cause, so that their enemies fell in great numbers.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
Read full commentary →Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.' Bildad concludes: 'such are dwellings' (אֵלֶּה מִשְׁכְּנוֹת, eleh mishkenot) of 'the wicked' (עַוָּל, avval), 'the place' (מְקוֹם, meqom) of him 'that knoweth not God' (לֹא־יָדַע אֵל, lo-yada El). 'Knowing God' (יָדַע, yada) implies relational intimacy, not mere intellectual awareness. Bildad equates ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Dwellings of the wicked.**—That is to say, of the wicked man. As Bildad designedly uses the singular here, there can be little doubt that he as designedly intended this terrible and cruel picture to represent Job himself.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5-16. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies--**The effect of the two antagonistic decrees was, in the meantime, to raise a fierce and bloody war between the Jews and their enemies throughout the Persian empire; but through the dread of Esther and Mordecai, the provincial governors universally favored their cause, so that their enemies fell in great numbers.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 11-21**
Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man's death, how secure soever his life was. See h...
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