Job 8:13 | KingComments | STEP | Bildad supports his account of cause and effect with an example from nature. He also connects to his reference to previous generations and the brevity of their existence. The wisdom of the past has already seen that no papyrus grow where there is no marsh and that rushes does not grow without water ( ). Job knows as well as he and previous generations that this is so. It is also clear how short-lived rushes is when there is no water ( ). If it isn’t cut down, it won’t last long. Bildad then applies this to “the paths of all who forget God” and “the hope of the godless” ( ). He also seems to deepen this application from the wisdom of previous generations. He only wants to say that he is not saying anything new and that Job should take this into account. In the past it has always been the case that he who is rooted in God has prosperity and that he who acts and walks without involving God has only a brief life. He who forgets God can also forget his hope of blessing, just as rushes does not have to count on growing if there is no water. The godless is he who thinks he is receiving God’s blessing, while simply ignoring God in his activities. In veiled terms, Bildad says Job is godless. To him, the suffering of Job is proof that Job has forgotten God. This is a very low insinuation toward a sincere man immersed in misery. He who forgets God and is punished by Him for it, has a confidence that turns out to be fragile ( ). Job, Bildad says again in veiled terms, put his confidence in his sincerity and believed that God would bless him. But this trust turns out to have the power of a spider’s web, so no power at all. When a storm comes, the spider tries to hold all the threads of his cobwebs, his spun house, together, but the wind blows his house away. It is foolish to assume that cobwebs offer any protection against a storm (cf. ). “Spider web” is in Hebrew ‘house of a spider’. This leads Bildad to move on to the house of the one who forgets God ( ). Such a person may well think that his house is his strength, but he will be very much mistaken about it. His spider’s house offers him no security; if he wants to hold fast to it, it collapses. Surely Job must recognize this picture? Isn’t that how it went with him and his house? With all his true words, Bildad completely misses the point by presenting everything he says to Job. He paints Job as someone who has forgotten God and therefore has nothing left of everything he used to rely on. According to Bildad Job is a hypocrite. All his uprightness he has always played. Such uprightness is like a cobweb and offers no protection when a storm rages over his life. Surely this is evident from his current situation. Bildad still compares Job to a sap-rich plant which “thrives before the sun” ( ). This looks at the situation of prosperity in which Job used to live. “His shoots” represent Job’s children. But because of the stony ground the plant does not shoot a root ( ; cf. ). A storm easily tears the plant away from its place ( ). There is nothing left of that ‘sap-rich plant’; it looks as if it has never been there ( ). In Job’s present situation, nothing reminds one of his former prosperity. In Bildad says with some sarcasm what he meant by the preceding equations. The joy of someone who has known a great deal of prosperity and has become famous for it is only of short duration. That is the fate of all hypocrites. He has been there for a while and then he disappears from the earth and also from memory. In his place others will emerge from the dust and take his place. Nobody thinks about him anymore, everything revolves around these newcomers now.

‏ Job 8:13

The Day of the Wicked

Bildad supports his account of cause and effect with an example from nature. He also connects to his reference to previous generations and the brevity of their existence. The wisdom of the past has already seen that no papyrus grow where there is no marsh and that rushes does not grow without water (Job 8:11). Job knows as well as he and previous generations that this is so.

It is also clear how short-lived rushes is when there is no water (Job 8:12). If it isn’t cut down, it won’t last long. Bildad then applies this to “the paths of all who forget God” and “the hope of the godless” (Job 8:13). He also seems to deepen this application from the wisdom of previous generations. He only wants to say that he is not saying anything new and that Job should take this into account.

In the past it has always been the case that he who is rooted in God has prosperity and that he who acts and walks without involving God has only a brief life. He who forgets God can also forget his hope of blessing, just as rushes does not have to count on growing if there is no water. The godless is he who thinks he is receiving God’s blessing, while simply ignoring God in his activities. In veiled terms, Bildad says Job is godless. To him, the suffering of Job is proof that Job has forgotten God. This is a very low insinuation toward a sincere man immersed in misery.

He who forgets God and is punished by Him for it, has a confidence that turns out to be fragile (Job 8:14). Job, Bildad says again in veiled terms, put his confidence in his sincerity and believed that God would bless him. But this trust turns out to have the power of a spider’s web, so no power at all. When a storm comes, the spider tries to hold all the threads of his cobwebs, his spun house, together, but the wind blows his house away. It is foolish to assume that cobwebs offer any protection against a storm (cf. Isa 59:6).

“Spider web” is in Hebrew ‘house of a spider’. This leads Bildad to move on to the house of the one who forgets God (Job 8:15). Such a person may well think that his house is his strength, but he will be very much mistaken about it. His spider’s house offers him no security; if he wants to hold fast to it, it collapses.

Surely Job must recognize this picture? Isn’t that how it went with him and his house? With all his true words, Bildad completely misses the point by presenting everything he says to Job. He paints Job as someone who has forgotten God and therefore has nothing left of everything he used to rely on. According to Bildad Job is a hypocrite. All his uprightness he has always played. Such uprightness is like a cobweb and offers no protection when a storm rages over his life. Surely this is evident from his current situation.

Bildad still compares Job to a sap-rich plant which “thrives before the sun” (Job 8:16). This looks at the situation of prosperity in which Job used to live. “His shoots” represent Job’s children. But because of the stony ground the plant does not shoot a root (Job 8:17; cf. Mt 13:5 ; 20-21). A storm easily tears the plant away from its place (Job 8:18). There is nothing left of that ‘sap-rich plant’; it looks as if it has never been there (Psa 37:35-36). In Job’s present situation, nothing reminds one of his former prosperity.

In Job 8:19 Bildad says with some sarcasm what he meant by the preceding equations. The joy of someone who has known a great deal of prosperity and has become famous for it is only of short duration. That is the fate of all hypocrites. He has been there for a while and then he disappears from the earth and also from memory. In his place others will emerge from the dust and take his place. Nobody thinks about him anymore, everything revolves around these newcomers now.