4 If thy children H1121 have sinned H2398 against him, and he have cast them away H7971 for H3027 their transgression; H6588
While he was yet speaking, H1696 there came H935 also another, and said, H559 Thy sons H1121 and thy daughters H1323 were eating H398 and drinking H8354 wine H3196 in their eldest H1060 brother's H251 house: H1004 And, behold, there came H935 a great H1419 wind H7307 from H5676 the wilderness, H4057 and smote H5060 the four H702 corners H6438 of the house, H1004 and it fell H5307 upon the young men, H5288 and they are dead; H4191 and I only am escaped H4422 alone to tell H5046 thee.
For we H587 will destroy H7843 H853 this place, H4725 because the cry of them H6818 is waxen great H1431 before H854 the face H6440 of the LORD; H3068 and the LORD H3068 hath sent H7971 us to destroy H7843 it. And Lot H3876 went out, H3318 and spake H1696 unto his sons in law, H2860 which married H3947 his daughters, H1323 and said, H559 Up, H6965 get you out H3318 of this place; H4725 for the LORD H3068 will destroy H7843 this city. H5892 But he seemed as one that mocked H6711 unto H5869 his sons in law. H2860 And when H3644 the morning H7837 arose, H5927 then the angels H4397 hastened H213 Lot, H3876 saying, H559 Arise, H6965 take H3947 thy wife, H802 and thy two H8147 daughters, H1323 which are here; H4672 lest thou be consumed H5595 in the iniquity H5771 of the city. H5892 And while he lingered, H4102 the men H582 laid hold H2388 upon his hand, H3027 and upon the hand H3027 of his wife, H802 and upon the hand H3027 of his two H8147 daughters; H1323 the LORD H3068 being merciful H2551 unto him: and they brought him forth, H3318 and set him H3240 without H2351 the city. H5892 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth H3318 abroad, H2351 that he said, H559 Escape H4422 for H5921 thy life; H5315 look H5027 not behind thee, H310 neither stay H5975 thou in all the plain; H3603 escape H4422 to the mountain, H2022 lest thou be consumed. H5595 And Lot H3876 said H559 unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: H113 Behold now, thy servant H5650 hath found H4672 grace H2580 in thy sight, H5869 and thou hast magnified H1431 thy mercy, H2617 which thou hast shewed H6213 unto me H5978 in saving H2421 my life; H5315 and I cannot H3201 escape H4422 to the mountain, H2022 lest some evil H7451 take H1692 me, and I die: H4191 Behold now, this city H5892 is near H7138 to flee H5127 unto, and it H1931 is a little one: H4705 Oh, let me escape H4422 thither, (is it not a little one?) H4705 and my soul H5315 shall live. H2421 And he said H559 unto him, See, H2009 I have accepted H5375 thee H6440 concerning this thing H1697 also, that I will not overthrow H2015 this city, H5892 for the which H834 thou hast spoken. H1696 Haste H4116 thee, escape H4422 thither; for I cannot H3201 do H6213 any thing H1697 till thou be come H935 thither. Therefore the name H8034 of the city H5892 was called H7121 Zoar. H6820 The sun H8121 was risen H3318 upon the earth H776 when Lot H3876 entered H935 into Zoar. H6820 Then the LORD H3068 rained H4305 upon Sodom H5467 and upon Gomorrah H6017 brimstone H1614 and fire H784 from the LORD H3068 out of heaven; H8064 And he overthrew H2015 those H411 cities, H5892 and all the plain, H3603 and all the inhabitants H3427 of the cities, H5892 and that which grew H6780 upon the ground. H127
His roots H8328 shall be dried up H3001 beneath, and above H4605 shall his branch H7105 be cut off. H5243 His remembrance H2143 shall perish H6 from the earth, H776 and he shall have no name H8034 in the street. H6440 H2351 He shall be driven H1920 from light H216 into darkness, H2822 and chased H5074 out of the world. H8398 He shall neither have son H5209 nor nephew H5220 among his people, H5971 nor any remaining H8300 in his dwellings. H4033
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.