King James Version
Job 8
22 verses with commentary
Bildad's First Speech: God Is Just
Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad the Shuhite enters the dialogue as Job's second 'comforter.' The name Bildad may derive from Bel-adad ('Bel has loved') or bil-dad ('son of contention'). 'Shuhite' likely indicates descent from Shuah, Abraham's son by Keturah (Genesis 25:2), suggesting Bildad shares patriarchal heritage with Job. His response to Job's lament represents traditional retribution theology—suffering always indic...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 8
Chapter Outline
The reading and expounding the law.(1-8)
The people called upon to be joyful.(9-12)
The feast of tabernacles, The joy of the people.(13-18)
**Verses 1-8**
Sacrifices were to be offered only at the door of the temple; but praying and preaching were, and are, services of religion, as acceptably performed in one place as in another. Masters of families ...
Read full commentary →How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad begins with rhetorical aggression: 'How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?' He dismisses Job's lament as empty rhetoric, revealing impatience with suffering that doesn't conform to theological categories.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 11
Ne 11:1, 2. The Rulers, Voluntary Men, and Every Tenth Man Chosen by Lot, Dwell at Jerusalem.
**1. the rulers ... dwelt at Jerusalem--**That city being the metropolis of the country, it was right and proper that the seat of government should be there. But the exigency of the times required that special measures should be taken to insure the residence of an adequate population for th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 8
Chapter Outline
The reading and expounding the law.(1-8)
The people called upon to be joyful.(9-12)
The feast of tabernacles, The joy of the people.(13-18)
**Verses 1-8**
Sacrifices were to be offered only at the door of the temple; but praying and preaching were, and are, services of religion, as acceptably performed in one place as in another. Masters of families ...
Read full commentary →Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad asks rhetorically: 'Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?' The verb avat (עָוַת, pervert) means to twist, distort, or make crooked. Mishpat (מִשְׁפָּט, judgment) and tsedeq (צֶדֶק, justice) both relate to righteousness and right decisions. Bildad's questions demand negative answers: God cannot pervert justice. This theological truth is unassailable—God is perfectl...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 3-14**
It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no la...
Read full commentary →If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression; for: Heb. in the hand of their transgression
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad cruelly suggests Job's children deserved their deaths: 'If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression.' The conditional 'if' (im, אִם) is rhetorical—Bildad assumes their sin as fact. The phrase 'cast them away' (shalach be-yad, שָׁלַח בְּיַד, literally 'sent them into the hand') means to deliver them over to the power of their sin's consequences...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And he have cast them away.**—Literally, *then he sent them away. *By means of their transgression; it became their destruction.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 11:3-36. Their Names.
**3. the chief of the province--**that is, Judea. Nehemiah speaks of it, as it then was, a small appendix of the Persian empire.
**in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities--**The returned exiles, who had come from Babylon, repaired generally, and by a natural impulse, to the lands and cities throughout the country which had been anciently...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 3-14**
It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no la...
Read full commentary →If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad's counsel 'if thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty' assumes Job hasn't already done so. The conditional 'if' adds insult to injury, implying Job's prayerlessness caused his calamity. Well-meaning advice becomes cruelty when it misunderstands the situation.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah--**The discrepancy that is apparent between this [Ne 11:4-36] and the list formerly given in 1Ch 9:1-9, arose not only from the Jewish and Oriental practice of changing or modifying the names of persons from a change of circumstances, but from the alterations that must have been produced in the course of time. The catalogue in Chronicles con...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 3-14**
It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no la...
Read full commentary →If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad's promise 'If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee' reveals theology of immediate retribution. The conditional 'if' denies Job's actual innocence, while 'surely' expresses confidence in simplistic cause-and-effect. This theology cannot account for innocent suffering or delayed vindication.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **If thou wert pure and upright.**—Of course, then, there is but one inference: thou art not pure and upright. These are verily the wounds of a friend which are not faithful. Bildad brings to the maintenance of his point the experience of former generations. He wishes to be very orthodox in his assertions, and to base his statements upon authority, and he appeals to the experience of former ag...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 3-14**
It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no la...
Read full commentary →Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad promises restoration to Job if he seeks God properly: 'Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.' The Hebrew construct emphasizes contrast—reshit tsa'ir (רֵאשִׁית צָעִיר, 'beginning small') versus acharit saqad meod (אַחֲרִית שָׂגָד מְאֹד, 'latter end increase exceedingly'). This prediction proves ironically correct—Job's latter end does greatly increase (4...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 3-14**
It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no la...
Read full commentary →For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad appeals to antiquity: 'For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers.' The verb 'enquire' (sha'al, שָׁאַל) means to ask, inquire, or seek. 'Prepare thyself' (kun, כּוּן) means to establish, prepare, or make firm. Bildad commands Job to research ancestral wisdom as authoritative foundation for theology. This appeal to tradition represents con...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) nothing: Heb. not
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad argues human brevity requires dependence on ancestral wisdom: 'For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow.' The phrase 'of yesterday' (temol, תְּמוֹל) literally means 'yesterday'—humanity's brief individual lifespan provides insufficient time to discover truth independently. The admission 'we know nothing' is startlingly honest but serves Bildad'...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad claims ancestors 'shall teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart.' Three verbs intensify: 'teach' (yarah, יָרָה), 'tell' (amar, אָמַר), and 'utter' (yatsa, יָצָא, bring forth). The phrase 'out of their heart' (mil-libbam, מִלִּבָּם) suggests authenticity—these aren't mere repetitions but wisdom from deep understanding. Bildad presents tradition as living voice of author...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. overseer--**that is, "captain" or "chief."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad employs nature imagery to illustrate the ungodly's fate: 'Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?' The 'rush' (gome, גֹּמֶא) refers to papyrus reeds requiring wetland habitat. The 'flag' (achu, אָחוּ) is marsh grass or sedge. Both plants absolutely require their proper environment—remove the water, and they immediately wither. Bildad's analogy is clear: remove Go...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **The flag **is the plant of Genesis 41:2, which the cattle feed upon. This figure is enforced by a second, that, namely, of the spider’s web, the most fragile and transient of tenements.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad continues: 'Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.' The phrase 'in his greenness' (be-ibboh, בְּאִבּוֹ) refers to the plant's prime, still vigorous and apparently healthy. 'Not cut down' emphasizes that external destruction isn't required—the plant dies from internal deficiency despite outward appearance of health. It 'withereth' (yabesh, יָ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. the ruler of the house of God--**assistant of the high priest (Nu 3:32; 1Ch 9:11; 2Ch 19:11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad applies his imagery: 'So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish.' The verb 'forget' (shakach, שָׁכַח) doesn't merely mean memory lapse but willful neglect or abandonment. The 'hypocrite' (chaneph, חָנֵף) literally means 'profane' or 'godless'—one who appears religious but lacks genuine piety. Their 'hope' (tiqvah, תִּקְוָה) shall 'perish' (abad, אָבַד), ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. web: Heb. house
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad describes the hypocrite's false security: 'Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.' The verb 'cut off' (qut, קוּט) means to sever or loathe—the hypocrite's hope is both severed and contemptible. The comparison to 'spider's web' (bayit akkabish, בַּיִת עַכָּבִישׁ, literally 'spider's house') is vivid: intricate, impressive-looking, but utterly fragile and unable...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad continues: 'He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.' The verbs escalate: 'lean' (sha'an, שָׁעַן) suggests initial trust, 'hold fast' (chazaq, חָזַק) implies desperate clinging when the initial trust proves inadequate. The house symbolizes whatever security the hypocrite builds—reputation, wealth, family, religion. Despite attempt...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **It shall not endure.**—The description of the wicked man ends here.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad shifts imagery: 'He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.' This apparently describes a thriving plant, 'green' (ratab, רָטָב, moist, fresh) 'before the sun' (lipne shemesh, לִפְנֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ), with branches spreading luxuriantly in favorable conditions. The description seems positive, creating interpretive difficulty. Some scholars see this continuing the hypoc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **He is green.**—Here begins, as we understand it, another and an opposite picture, which fact is marked in the Hebrew by an emphatic pronoun. “Green is *he *(see Job 8:6) before the sun, &c., quite unlike the watery paper-plant. This man is verdant and luxuriant, not in the midst of moisture, but even before the sun.” There is not the same promise of verdure, but a greater realisation of it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.
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KJV Study Commentary
The description continues: 'His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.' The text is difficult, but likely describes either deep rooting (positive) or shallow rooting among stones (negative). 'Wrapped about' (sabab, סָבַב) means to surround or encompass. If this describes the hypocrite, the point is that despite apparent deep rooting, he's actually anchored to stones (gali...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **His roots are wrapped about.**—This is the cause of his continual luxuriance, that his roots receive moisture from below, where they are wrapped about the spring which fertilises them underneath; they are planted near to a perennial fountain, and therefore (see Job 8:6) “he is green before the sun.”
**And seeth the place of stones.**—Rather, *the house of stones*—*i.e., *the stone house. He...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. the oversight of the outward business of the house of God--**that is, those things which were done outside, or in the country, such as the collecting of the provisions (1Ch 26:29).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
Destruction comes suddenly: 'If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.' The verb 'destroy' (bala, בָּלַע) means to swallow, engulf, or consume completely. 'His place' (meqom, מָקוֹם) denotes the location where he grew—when removed, the place itself denies ever knowing him. This personification intensifies the imagery: not only is the hypocrite destroye...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer--**that is, the leader of the choir which chanted the public praise at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice. That service was always accompanied by some appropriate psalm, the sacred music being selected and guided by the person named.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad concludes his plant imagery: 'Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.' The word 'joy' (mesos, מְשׂוֹשׂ) is bitterly ironic—this is the hypocrite's 'joyful' end: complete destruction and replacement. The phrase 'out of the earth shall others grow' (achar, אַחַר, others/different ones) indicates that the hypocrite's removal allows others to take his place. ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-19**
Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush gr...
Read full commentary →Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: help: Heb. take the ungodly by the hand
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad concludes: 'Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers.' The verb ma'as (מָאַס, cast away) means to reject or despise. Tam (תָּם, perfect) is the same word describing Job in 1:1—complete or having integrity. Bildad's logic appears sound: God doesn't reject the righteous or aid the wicked. The problem is the implied accusation: since Job is suffering (a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-22**
Bildad here assures Job, that as he was so he should fare; therefore they concluded, that as he fared so he was. God will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue, that Job was an ungodly, wicked man, was unjust and uncharitable. The mistake in these reasonings ar...
Read full commentary →Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. rejoicing: Heb. shouting for joy
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad concludes with promise and warning: 'Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.' The word 'till' (ad, עַד, until) suggests time lag—Bildad promises eventual restoration if Job repents. The phrase 'fill thy mouth' (male peh, מָלֵא פֶה) with 'laughing' (sehoq, שְׂחוֹק) and 'lips' (saphah, שָׂפָה) with 'rejoicing' (terua, תְּרוּעָה, shouts of joy) paints vivid picture o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Till he fill thy mouth with laughing.**—Rather, *he will yet fill thy mouth with laughter*—*afflicted though thou hast been, thou shalt again rejoice. *The attitude of Bildad is one of unsympathetic selfishness. He wishes to think well of his friend because he is *his *friend, but he cannot reconcile his afflicted condition with any theory of righteous government, and therefore is driven to...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-22**
Bildad here assures Job, that as he was so he should fare; therefore they concluded, that as he fared so he was. God will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue, that Job was an ungodly, wicked man, was unjust and uncharitable. The mistake in these reasonings ar...
Read full commentary →They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought. shall come: Heb. shall not be
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KJV Study Commentary
Bildad's final verse contrasts destinies: 'They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.' The verb 'clothed' (labash, לָבָשׁ) uses garment imagery—shame becomes the haters' covering instead of honor. 'Shall come to nought' (ayin, אַיִן) means to become nothing, cease to exist. Bildad promises Job's enemies will face destruction while Jo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-22**
Bildad here assures Job, that as he was so he should fare; therefore they concluded, that as he fared so he was. God will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue, that Job was an ungodly, wicked man, was unjust and uncharitable. The mistake in these reasonings ar...
Read full commentary →