Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Firil Speech of Bildad, JOB VIII. more Severe than that of ElipkaL
It the first und chief anxiety (Psalm "8.34; Hosea 5.15," Isaiah 26. 9; Proverbs 8. 17; 13. 24). 6. " He would awake for thee," i.e., arise to thy help. God seemed to be asleep towards the sufferer (Psalm 35. 2.3; 7. 6; Isaiah 51. 9). make . . . prosperous—Restore to prosperity thy (their) righteous habitation. Bildad assumes it to have been heretofore the habitation of guilt. 9. thy beginning The beginning of thy new happiness after restoration, latter end—(ch. 42. 12 ; Proverbs 23. 18). 8, 9. The sages of the olden time reached an age beyond those of Job's time (Note 42. 16); and therefore could give the testimony of a fuller experience, of yesterday— /. c, a recent race. We know nothing as compared with them, from the brevity of our lives. .So even Jacob (Genesis 47.9). Knowledge consisted then in the results of observation, embodied in poetical proverbs, and handed down by tradition. Longevity gave the opportunity of wider ol)servation. a shadow-(Psalm 144. 4; 1 Chronicles 29. 15). 10. teach thee—(ch. 6. 24), had said, " Teach me." Bildad, therefore, says, Since you want teacliing. Inquire of the fathers. They will teach thee, utter words—more than mere speaki ug needest thus to watch and curb mcf The Egyptians "wiitolied" the crocodile most carefully to prevent its doing iniscliiel'. 14. The frightful dreams resulting from elephantiasis he attributes to God; the common belief assigned ail night visions to God. 15. Umbkkit translates, "So that I could wish to strangle mj'self—ilead by my own liands." He softens this idea of Job's harboin-ing the thought of suicide, by representing it as entertained only in agonizing dreams, and immediately repudiated with horror next verse, "Yet that (self-strangling) I loathe." This is forcible and graphic. Perhaps tlie meaning is simply, " Wy soul chooses (even) strangling (or any violent death) rather than my life" (lit., mij bones) (Psalm
35. lOj; r. p., rather than the wasted and diseased skeleton, left to him. In this view, "I loathe it" (v. l(i) refers to his life. 16. "Let me alone;" i. e., cease to af Hict me for the few and vain days still left to me. 17. (Psalm 8. J ; Itt. 3.) Job means, " What is man that thou shouldest makelnm of so much importance, und that thou shouldst expend such attention (heart-thought) upon him" as to make him the subject of so severe trials? Job ought rather to have reasoned from God's condescending so far to notice man as to try him, that there must be a wise and loving purpose In trial. David uses the same words in their right application, to express wonder that God should do so much as He does for insignificant man. Christians who know God manifest In the man Christ .Tesus still more may use them. 1^. With each new day (Psalm 73. It). It is rather God's m' rcies, not our trials, that are " new every morning" (Lamentations 3. 23). The idea is that of a shepherd taking count of his flock every morning, tosee if all are there. [CoccEius.] 19. "How long (like a jealous keeper) wilt thou never take thine eyes off (so the Ileb. for depart from) me? T'^or let me alone for a brief respite" (lit., so long as I take t • stvallow my spittle). An Arabic proverb, like our,
" put forth well-considered words." out of their heart From observation and reflection. Not merely, from their mouth: such as Bildad insinuates, were Job's words. Verses 11,12,13 embody in poetic and sententious form (probably the fragment of an old poem) the observation of the elders. The double point of comparison between tlie ungodly and the paper-reed is, 1. The luxuriant prosperity at first; and, 2. The sudden destruction. 11. rush Rather papcr-reed : the papyrus of Egypt, which was used to make garments, shoes, baskets, boats, and paper (a word derived fi om it). It and the flag or bulrush grow only in marshy places (such as are along the Nile). So the godless thrive only in external prosperity ; there is in the hypocrite no inward stability; his prosperity is like the rapid growth of water plants. 12. notcutdown —Ere It has ripened for the scythe, it withers more suddenly than any herb, having no self-sustaining power, once that the moisture is gone, which other herljs do not need in the same degree. So ruin seizes on the godless in the zenith of prosperity, more suddenly than on others who appear less firmly sp.ated in their possessions. fUMniu'.fr.] (Psalm ir2. in.) 13. paths—So ways (Proverbs 1.
till I draw my breath. 80. "I have sinned (I grant); yet what sin can I do against (to: ch. 3'>. 6) thee (of such a nature that thou shouldst jealously watch and deprive me of all strength, as if thou didst fear me)? (Yet thou art one who hast men ever in view, ever ivatchest them)— thou Watcher (v. 12; Daniel 9. 14), not as English Version, Preserver [Gese'Sivs] of men." Job had borne with patience his trials, as sent by God (ch. 1.21; ch.2. lOi; only his reason cannot reconcile the ceaseless continuance of his mental and bodily pains with his ideas of the Divine nature, set roe ns a mark—Wherefore dost thou make me thy point (f attack? i.e., ever assail me with m-w pains. [Umbreit.] (Lamentations 3. 12.) 21. for now— very soon, in the morning—Not the resnrreetion ; for then Job will be found. It is a figure, from one seeking a sick man in the morning, and finding he has died in the night. So Job implies that, if God does not help him at once, it will be too late, for he will be gone. Tlie reason why God does not give an immediate sense of pardon to awakened sinners is, they think they have a claim on God for it.
19). all that forget God—The distinguishing trait of the godless (Psalm 9.17; 50.22). 14. cut oft—So Gesknius. Or, to accord with the metaphor of the spider's liouse, "The confidence (on which he builds) shall be laid in ruins" (Isaiah 59. 5, 6). 15. he shall hold If fast—Implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes. As the spider "holds f;ist" by its web; but with this difl'crence, the light spider Is sustained by that on which it rests, the godless Is not by the thin web on which he rests. The exi)ression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is Ilne-si)un, flimsy, and woven out of its own inventions, as the spider's web out of its own bowels. An Arab proverb says, "Time destroys the well-built house, as well as4he spider's web."
CHAPTER VIII. FIKST SERIES.—FIUST SPEECH OF nH.»An, MORE SEVERE
ITi. before the sun— i. e.. He (the godless) Is green only
AND COARSE THAN EI. "HAZ. Ver. 1-22. The Address of Bildad. 3. like n . . . •wind—Disregarding restraints, and daring against God. a. The repetition of pei-vert gives an emphasis galling to Job (ch. 31. 12). "Wouldest thon have God (as thy words imply) pervert Judgment," by letting thy sins go unpunished? He assumes Job's guilt from his sufferings. 4. If— Rather, "since thy children have sinni'd against Him, and (.vi'nce) He has cast thetii away for (//cbreiv, by lite hand of) their transgressions, (Yet) if thou wouldest seek unto God, &c.. If thou wert pure, &e., surely (even) now He would awake for thee." UiMiiHEiT makes Iheapodosls to, "since thy chllilrcn," Ac., begin at " He has east them away." Also, Instead of/or " H(> gave them up to < lit., into the hand of) their own guilt." liildad expresses the Justice of God, which Job had arralirned. Thy children hav<; sinned, God leaves them lo the consequence of their sin. Most cutting to the heart of the bereftved father. 5. »cck unto God bctlnieH—Kai-ly. Maive 31G tiefnre the sun rises; but he cannot bear Its heat, and withers. So succulent plants like the gourd (Jomih 4. 7, S). But the wldespreadlng In the garden does not quite accord with this. Better, "in sunshine;" tlie sun repre-* Renting the smiling fortune of the hypocrite, during wlilch he wondrously progresses. [tTMnRi''.iT.] The image
Is that of n'feds growing In rank luxuriance, and spreading over even heaps of stcnii'sand walls, and then being speedily torn away. 17. seeth the i>l»<-t' of utonrs—lfebreir, " the house of stomas ;" i.e., the wall surrounding the garden. The parasite i)lant, in ereejiing towards and over the wall—tlie utmost hound of the gardenis said figuratively to "see" or regard It. 18. If He (God) tear him away {Kngli.sh Version, destroy; \iro\^vv\y ,totear away rapidly and violently) fi'om his place, " then it (tluplace personified) shall d(Miy him " (Psalm 103. 16). The very soil t« ashamed of the weeds lying withered on Its surface, as though It nr-ver had been connected with tlicMU. .So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends dls-