Job 18

Bildad

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:


2 "When will you end these speeches?
Be sensible, and then we can talk.

3 Why are we regarded as cattle
and considered stupid in your sight?

4 You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

5 "The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out;
the flame of his fire stops burning.

6 The light in his tent becomes dark;
the lamp beside him goes out.

7 The vigor of his step is weakened;
his own schemes throw him down.

8 His feet thrust him into a net
and he wanders into its mesh.

9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare holds him fast.

10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
a trap lies in his path.

11 Terrors startle him on every side
and dog his every step.

12 Calamity is hungry for him;
disaster is ready for him when he falls.

13 It eats away parts of his skin;
death's firstborn devours his limbs.

14 He is torn from the security of his tent
and marched off to the king of terrors.

15 Fire resides in his tent;
burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.

16 His roots dry up below
and his branches wither above.

17 The memory of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name in the land.

18 He is driven from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.

19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
no survivor where once he lived.

20 Men of the west are appalled at his fate;
men of the east are seized with horror.

21 Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;
such is the place of one who knows not God."

Side Notes:

Bildad pretty much thought that he was an expert and thought he knew how the universe should be run. That and he saw Job as an illustration of the consequences of sin. Bildad rejected Job's story because it didn't fit with his outlook on life. It is very easy to condemn Bildad because his errors are obvious, but, unfortunately we often act the same way when our ideas our threatened.

vs. 14 The "king of terrors" is a figure of speech referring to death. Bildad viewed death as a great devourer (13), but the Bible teaches that God has the power to devour even death (Psalm 49:15; Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54-56).