15 He shall lean H8172 upon his house, H1004 but it shall not stand: H5975 he shall hold H2388 it fast, but it shall not endure. H6965
He buildeth H1129 his house H1004 as a moth, H6211 and as a booth H5521 that the keeper H5341 maketh. H6213
Therefore G3767 whosoever G3956 G3748 heareth G191 these G5128 sayings G3056 of mine, G3450 and G2532 doeth G4160 them, G846 I will liken G3666 him G846 unto a wise G5429 man, G435 which G3748 built G3618 his G846 house G3614 upon G1909 a rock: G4073 And G2532 the rain G1028 descended, G2597 and G2532 the floods G4215 came, G2064 and G2532 the winds G417 blew, G4154 and G2532 beat upon G4363 that G1565 house; G3614 and G2532 it fell G4098 not: G3756 for G1063 it was founded G2311 upon G1909 a rock. G4073 And G2532 every one G3956 that heareth G191 these G5128 sayings G3056 of mine, G3450 and G2532 doeth G4160 them G846 not, G3361 shall be likened G3666 unto a foolish G3474 man, G435 which G3748 built G3618 his G846 house G3614 upon G1909 the sand: G285 And G2532 the rain G1028 descended, G2597 and G2532 the floods G4215 came, G2064 and G2532 the winds G417 blew, G4154 and G2532 beat upon G4350 that G1565 house; G3614 and G2532 it fell: G4098 and G2532 great G3173 was G2258 the fall G4431 of it. G846
Whosoever G3956 cometh G2064 to G4314 me, G3165 and G2532 heareth G191 my G3450 sayings, G3056 and G2532 doeth G4160 them, G846 I will shew G5263 you G5213 to whom G5101 he is G2076 like: G3664 He is G2076 like G3664 a man G444 which G3739 built G3618 an house, G3614 and G2532 digged G4626 deep, G900 and G2532 laid G5087 the foundation G2310 on G1909 a rock: G4073 and G1161 when the flood G4132 arose, G1096 the stream G4215 beat vehemently G4366 upon that G1565 house, G3614 and G2532 could G2480 not G3756 shake G4531 it: G846 for G1063 it was founded G2311 upon G1909 a rock. G4073 But G1161 he that heareth, G191 and G2532 doeth G4160 not, G3361 is G2076 like G3664 a man G444 that without G5565 a foundation G2310 built G3618 an house G3614 upon G1909 the earth; G1093 against G4366 which G3739 the stream G4215 did beat vehemently, G4366 and G2532 immediately G2112 it fell; G4098 and G2532 the ruin G4485 of that G1565 house G3614 was G1096 great. G3173
His confidence H4009 shall be rooted out H5423 of his tabernacle, H168 and it shall bring H6805 him to the king H4428 of terrors. H1091
Their inward H7130 thought is, that their houses H1004 shall continue for ever, H5769 and their dwelling H4908 places to all H1755 generations; H1755 they call H7121 their lands H127 after their own names. H8034
God H410 shall likewise destroy H5422 thee for ever, H5331 he shall take thee away, H2846 and pluck thee out H5255 of thy dwelling place, H168 and root thee out H8327 of the land H776 of the living. H2416 Selah. H5542 The righteous H6662 also shall see, H7200 and fear, H3372 and shall laugh H7832 at him: Lo, this is the man H1397 that made H7760 not God H430 his strength; H4581 but trusted H982 in the abundance H7230 of his riches, H6239 and strengthened H5810 himself in his wickedness. H1942
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 8
Commentary on Job 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
FIRST SERIES—FIRST SPEECH OF BILDAD, MORE SEVERE
AND COARSE THAN THAT OF ELIPHAZ.
Job 8:1-22. The Address of Bildad.
2. like a … wind?—disregarding restraints, and daring against God.
3. The repetition of "pervert" gives an emphasis galling to Job (Job 34:12). "Wouldst thou 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 sinned against Him, and (since) He has cast them away (Hebrew, by the hand of) for their transgressions, (yet) if thou wouldst seek unto God, &c., if thou wert pure, &c., surely [even] now He would awake for thee." Umbreit makes the apodosis to, "since thy children," &c., begin at "He has cast them away." Also, instead of "for," "He gave them up to (literally, into the hand of) their own guilt." Bildad expresses the justice of God, which Job had arraigned. Thy children have sinned; God leaves them to the consequence of their sin; most cutting to the heart of the bereaved father.
5. seek unto God betimes—early. Make it the first and chief anxiety (Ps 78:34; Ho 5:15; Isa 26:9; Pr 8:17; 13:24).
6. He would awake for thee—that is, arise to thy help. God seemed to be asleep toward the sufferer (Ps 35:23; 7:6; Isa 51:9).
make … prosperous—restore to prosperity thy (their) righteous habitation. Bildad assumes it to have been heretofore the habitation of guilt.
7. thy beginning—the beginning of thy new happiness after restoration.
latter end—(Job 42:12; Pr 23:18).
8, 9. The sages of the olden time reached an age beyond those of Job's time (see on Job 42:16), and therefore could give the testimony of a fuller experience.
9. of yesterday—that is, a recent race. We know nothing as compared with them because of the brevity of our lives; so even Jacob (Ge 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 observation.
a shadow—(Ps 144:4; 1Ch 29:15).
10. teach thee—Job 6:24 had said, "Teach me." Bildad, therefore, says, "Since you want teaching, inquire of the fathers. They will teach thee."
utter words—more than mere speaking; "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. Job 8:11-13 embody in poetic and sententious form (probably the fragment of an old poem) the observation of the elders. The double point of comparison between the ungodly and the paper-reed is: 1. the luxuriant prosperity at first; and, 2. the sudden destruction.
11. rush—rather, "paper-reed": The papyrus of Egypt, which was used to make garments, shoes, baskets, boats, and paper (a word derived from it). It and the flag, or bulrush, grow only in marshy places (such as are along the Nile). So the godless thrives only in external prosperity; there is in the hypocrite no inward stability; his prosperity is like the rapid growth of water plants.
12. not cut down—Before 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 herbs 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 seated in their possessions [Umbreit] (Ps 112:10).
13. paths—so "ways" (Pr 1:19).
all that forget God—the distinguishing trait of the godless (Ps 9:17; 50:22).
14. cut off—so Gesenius; or, to accord with the metaphor of the spider's "house," "The confidence (on which he builds) shall be laid in ruins" (Isa 59:5, 6).
15. he shall hold it fast—implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is fine-spun, 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 as the spider's web."
16. before the sun—that is, he (the godless) is green only before the sun rises; but he cannot bear its heat, and withers. So succulent plants like the gourd (Jon 4:7, 8). But the widespreading in the garden does not quite accord with this. Better, "in sunshine"; the sun representing the smiling fortune of the hypocrite, during which he wondrously progresses [Umbreit]. The image is that of weeds growing in rank luxuriance and spreading over even heaps of stones and walls, and then being speedily torn away.
17. seeth the place of stones—Hebrew, "the house of stones"; that is, the wall surrounding the garden. The parasite plant, in creeping towards and over the wall—the utmost bound of the garden—is said figuratively to "see" or regard it.
18. If He (God) tear him away (properly, "to tear away rapidly and violently") from his place, "then it [the place personified] shall deny him" (Ps 103:16). The very soil is ashamed of the weeds lying withered on its surface, as though it never had been connected with them. So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends disown him.
19. Bitter irony. The hypocrite boasts of joy. This then is his "joy" at the last.
and out of the earth—others immediately, who take the place of the man thus punished; not godly men (Mt 3:9). For the place of the weeds is among stones, where the gardener wishes no plants. But, ungodly; a fresh crop of weeds always springs up in the place of those torn up: there is no end of hypocrites on earth [Umbreit].
20. Bildad regards Job as a righteous man, who has fallen into sin.
God will not cast away a perfect man—(or godly man, such as Job was), if he will only repent. Those alone who persevere in sin God will not help (Hebrew, "take by the hand," Ps 73:23; Isa 41:13; 42:6) when fallen.
21. Till—literally, "to the point that"; God's blessing on thee, when repentant, will go on increasing to the point that, or until, &c.
22. The haters of Job are the wicked. They shall be clothed with shame (Jer 3:25; Ps 35:26; 109:29), at the failure of their hope that Job would utterly perish, and because they, instead of him, come to naught.