Psalms 73:22(v3)I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
Job 14:18(v4)“But the mountain falling comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of its place;
Job 16:9(v4)He has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
Job 5:2(v4)For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
Job 13:5-6(v2)Oh that you would be completely silent! Then you would be wise. Hear now my reasoning. Listen to the pleadings of my lips.
Show all 27 cross-references
Job 13:14(v4)Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand?
Job 17:4(v3)For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you will not exalt them.
Job 17:10(v3)But as for you all, come back. I will not find a wise man among you.
Proverbs 18:13(v2)He who answers before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.
Job 3:5-6(v2)Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it. As for…
Job 3:17(v2)There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.
Job 8:2(v2)“How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
Job 11:2(v2)“Shouldn’t the multitude of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified?
Job 12:7-8(v3)“But ask the animals, now, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach…
Job 16:2-3(v2)“I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters! Shall vain words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?
Job 21:2(v2)“Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.
Job 33:1(v2)“However, Job, please hear my speech, and listen to all my words.
Job 40:8(v4)Will you even annul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?
Ecclesiastes 3:18(v3)I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.
Isaiah 54:10(v4)For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not…
Ezekiel 9:9(v4)Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full…
Jonah 4:9(v4)God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”
Matthew 24:35(v4)Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Mark 9:18(v4)and wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth, and wastes away. I asked your disciples to…
Luke 9:39(v4)Behold, a spirit takes him, he suddenly cries out, and it convulses him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him…
Romans 12:10(v3)In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;
James 1:19(v2)So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv2, 4Which count yourselves just, as Job 12:4.
Which count yourselves just, as Job 12:4.
Whom you take to be but beasts, as Job 12:7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Job 18:2 How long [will it be ere] ye…
Job 18:2 How long [will it be ere] ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
Ver. 2. How long will it be ere you make an end of words?] First he taxeth Job with being talkative, when he himself talked much, but said little, save only what he had spoken before, Job 8:1-22, though Job had sufficiently refuted him. But as nothing in the world is more unreasonable than an ignorant person, who thinketh nothing well done but that which he doth himself; so those that bear themselves overly bold upon their own knowledge, and overween their own abilities, account it a great injury if any dissent from them in opinion and judgment, Lαλειν αριστος λεγειν δε αδυνατωτατος (De Alcibiade, Plutarch). And such a one here Bildad showeth himself to be by his exordium ex abrupto, as Junius phraseth it, his abrupt beginning, as if he could bear no longer with Job’s prittle prattle; who, if he were more prolix than his friends, he had greater reason, as being heavily afflicted and falsely accused, Quando tandem finem loquendi seu nugandi potius facies? (Lay.) Among the Romans the plaintiff was allowed only three hours, the defendant six. But why doth Bildad speak of Job here in the plural number? Was it for honour’s sake (as Cajetan holdeth)? I scarcely can agree. Was it because he thought Job to be possessed by an evil spirit (as Philip after Bede)? No. But this he seemeth to do, either by bending his speech to the bystanders, who seemed to favour Job, and sometimes to put in a word for him; whom therefore Bildad looked upon as his fellow hypocrites; or else, by an irony, he speaks unto Job as unto many (Vos, o Calliope, precor. Virg.), because he seemed to set up his opinion above all others, and would needs have his counter to stand for a thousand pounds.
Read full note →
Mark, and afterwards we will speak] Let thy words be henceforth dipped and dyed in thy heart before they be uttered; let our words also be duly weighed, that some end may be put to these altercations and disputes.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Ere ye; either,
Ere ye; either,
1. You my brethren. Why do you not give over discoursing with Job, who is wholly transported with rage, and not fit to be discoursed with, at least until both you and he have better considered what to say? Or rather,
Read full note →
2. Thou, O Job, of whom he speaks here, as also Job 18:3, in the plural number; either because there were some other person or persons present at this debate, who by their words or gestures showed themselves favourers of Job’s cause; or because it was a common idiom of the Eastern language to speak thus of one person, especially where he was one of eminency or authority. Job’s speeches were generally longer than his friends’, and they seemed very tedious to them.
Mark; consider the matter and our words better. Or, inform us, Heb. make us to understand. Seeing thou lookest upon us as ignorant and brutish men, as it follows, do thou instruct and inform us. Cease cavilling and railing, and produce thy strong reasons, that we may consider and answer them, or yield to them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Wherefore are we counted as beasts,.... This seems to…
Wherefore are we counted as beasts,.... This seems to refer to Job 12:7; where Job sends them to the beasts, to get knowledge and instruction; and therefore it was concluded he reckoned them as such, and put them on a level with them, yea, made them inferior to them; or to Job 17:4; where they are represented as destitute of wisdom and understanding, and therefore it is supposed were counted by Job no other than as beasts. Man, by the fall, is indeed become like them, and some are more brutish than they, and all are brutish as to spiritual knowledge and understanding; and those that are most sensible of themselves are ready to acknowledge their ignorance, that they are more brutish than any, and especially are as a beast before God; and particularly with respect to knowledge of the methods of Providence, in regard to his dealings with the righteous and wicked; see Psa 73:22; and which was the case in controversy between Job and his friends; but yet self-sufficient persons do not care to have their understandings in anything called in question, but like the Pharisees say, "are we blind also?" Joh 9:40; and take it very hard that they should be reckoned like beasts, void of understanding, when they are the people, and wisdom will die with them:
and reputed vile in your sight? as wicked and profligate persons, the most abandoned of mankind, such as are justly despised by good men, see Psa 15:4; or "unclean" (h), filthy, polluted, and defiled, as all men are by nature, and as they are in all the powers and faculties of their souls; nor can they make themselves clean, their hearts or their hands; nothing short of the grace of God, and blood of Christ, can cleanse from sin; yet self-righteous persons think themselves clean and pure when they are not washed from their sins, and take it ill of others to be reputed unclean persons: or "shut" (i), stopped up, as the hearts of men are from God and Christ, and the true knowledge of them, and divine things, until opened by him who has the key of the house of David, and opens, and no man shuts; or "hidden" (k), referring to Job 17:4; having a covering over their hearts, and a vail over the eyes of their understandings, so that the things of Providence were hid from them, as sometimes the things of grace are from the wise and prudent; but to be thought that this was their case is resented by Bildad.
Read full note →
(h) "immundi", Drusius, Piscator, Michaelis; so Broughton. (i) "Clausi sumu", Montanus; "obturati sumus", Hebraei, in Mercer. (k) So the Targum.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Ye - Thou, O Job; of whom he speaks…
Ye - Thou, O Job; of whom he speaks here, as also ver. 3, in the plural number, as was a common idiotism of the Eastern language, to speak thus of one person, especially where he was one of eminency. Mark - Consider the matter better.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Verse 2. How long will it be ere ye…
Verse 2. How long will it be ere ye make an end] It is difficult to say to whom this address is made: being in the plural number, it can hardly be supposed to mean Job only. It probably means all present; as if he had said, It is vain to talk with this man, and follow him through all his quibbles: take notice of this, and then let us all deliver our sentiments fully to him, without paying any regard to his self-vindications. It must be owned that this is the plan which Bildad followed; and he amply unburdens a mind that was labouring under the spirit of rancour and abuse. Instead of How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? Mr. Good translates: "How long will ye plant thorns (irritating, lacerating, wounding invectives) among words?" translating the unusual term קנצי kintsey, thorns, instead of bounds or limits. The word קנצי kintsey may be the Chaldee form for קצי kitsey, the נ nun being inserted by the Chaldeans for the sake of euphony, as is frequently done; and it may be considered as the contracted plural from קץ kats, a thorn, from קץ kats, to lacerate, rather than קץ kets, an end, from קצה katsah, to cut off.
Schultens and others have contended that קנץ kanats, is an Arabic word, used also in Hebrew; that [Arabic] kanasa, signifies to hunt, to lay snares; and hence [Arabic] maknas, a snare: and that the words should be translated, "How long will you put captious snares in words?" But I prefer קנצי kintsey, as being the Chaldee form for קצי kitsey, whether it be considered as expressing limits or thorns; as the whole instance is formed after the Chaldee model, as is evident, not only in the word in question, but also in lemillin, to words, the Chaldee plural instead of lemillim, the Hebrew plural.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv2–3Job 18:2. How long will it be ere you…
Job 18:2. How long will it be ere you wake an end — How long shall we continue this dispute? Why do not you, my brethren, give over discoursing with Job, who is so transported by his passions, as not to be fit to be discoursed with? At least, forbear to proceed till both you and he shall better understand the subject? For, if Bildad be considered as addressing himself to his two companions, he must have meant to reprove them for making use of too long discourses, and to advise them first to consider the subject well, and then to speak directly to the purpose. But many commentators understand him as addressing Job; using here, as also Job 18:3, the plural number, according to the common idiom of the eastern language: which was to speak thus to, or of one person, especially if he were of great eminence. In this case he must have intended to censure Job for puzzling the cause with cavils and exceptions, and to call upon him to produce a plain instance, in which a righteous man was known to have had punishment inflicted on him, or else to own the truth of the established maxim, that punishment was a sure mark of wickedness. Mark, and afterward we will speak — Consider the matter better, and then we shall speak concerning it to more advantage. Or, inform us: Hebrew תבינו, tabinu, make us to understand. Seeing thou lookest upon us as ignorant and brutish men, as it follows, Job 18:3, do thou instruct and inform us. Cease cavilling, and produce thy strong reasons, that we may consider and yield to their weight, or answer them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv2–4How long will it be ere ye make an…
How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? - It has been made a question to whom this is addressed. It is in the plural number, and it is not usual in Hebrew when addressing an individual to make use of the plural form. Some have supposed that it is addressed to Job and to Eliphaz, as being both “long-winded” and tedious in their remarks. Others have supposed that it refers to Job “and the members of his family,” who possibly interposed remarks, and joined Job in his complaints. Others suppose that it refers to Eliphaz and Zophar, as being silent during the speech of Job, and not arresting his remarks as they ought to have done. Rosenmuller supposes that it refers to Job and those similar to him, who were mere feigners of piety, and that Bildad means to ask how long it would be before they would be effectually silenced, and their complaints hushed. I see no great difficulty in supposing that the reference is to Job. The whole strain of the discourse evidently supposes it; and there is no evidence that any of the family of Job had spoken, nor does it seem at all probable that Bildad would reprove his own friends either for the length of their speeches, or for not interrupting an other. The custom in the East is to allow a man to utter all that he has to say without interruption.
Mark - Hebrew understand; or be intelligent - תבינו tābı̂ynû; that is, either speak distinctly, clearly, intelligently; or consider and weigh our arguments. The former is the interpretation of Schultens, and seems to me to be the true one. The idea is this: “You, Job, have been altering mere words. They are words of complaint, without argument. Speak now in a different manner; show that you understand the case; advance arguments that are worthy of attention, and then we will reply.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Understand ye. Teach this man to comprehend what we…
Understand ye. Teach this man to comprehend what we say. He deigns not to address Job in person: but repeats most of his former remarks respecting the wicked, as if they were unquestionably applicable to Job, chap. viii. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "mark ye." Septuagint, "do thou attend." (Haydock) --- Baldad speaks to many who might be of Job’s opinion, as he was a figure of the Church, defending the common cause; while his friends, like heretics, speak both true and false things. (St. Gregory xiv. 1.) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv3–4beasts--alluding to what Job said (Job 12:7; so Isa…
beasts--alluding to what Job said (Job 12:7; so Isa 1:3).
vile--rather from a Hebrew root, "to stop up." "Stubborn," answering to the stupidity implied in the parallel first clause [UMBREIT]. Why should we give occasion by your empty speeches for our being mutually reputed, in the sight of Job and one another, as unintelligent? (Job 17:4, Job 17:10).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv2–4Introduction. Bildad retorts Job’s charges of folly by comparing…
Introduction. Bildad retorts Job’s charges of folly by comparing him to a self-devouring brute, who in his madness would unsettle the eternal principles of God’s moral government, Job_18:2-4.
2. An end of words — How long will ye set snares for words? We have a like phrase, “hunt for words.” His former speech commenced (Job_8:2) with a similar outburst of impatience, and in the same words, “how long.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv2–42. Then he spoke impiously of God, saying that…
2. Then he spoke impiously of God, saying that He tore him in His anger (ch. Job_16:9), and appealed to the earth and nature to rise up on his side (ch. Job_16:18).
Such things provoke the personal and moral indignation of Bildad alike. It seems to him that Job holds his brethren and him little higher than the beasts (although it was Job himself that was destitute of understanding), and that in his extravagant self-righteousness he flings them away from him as belonging to the class of the “unclean” (Job_18:2-3).
Read full note →
And it is not God that tears him in His anger; rather in his outrageous fury he is tearing himself. And does he suppose, as his appeal to the earth might suggest, that the eternal flow of law and order in the universe is to be interrupted for his sake—that he may be reputed innocent, or that being guilty he may not suffer the penalty of his evil, and that his principles may prevail? (Job_18:4).
This question naturally leads over to the principal theme of the discourse, the certainty of the destruction of the wicked through the operation of the fixed order of the world and the moral instincts of mankind (Job_18:5-21).
ere you make an end of words] Rather, how long will ye hunt for words, lit. set snares for words. Bildad begins with the same exclamation of impatient astonishment that he used on a former occasion, ch. Job_8:2, how long? quousque tandem abutere patientia nostra? By “hunting for words” he means making subtle and artificial attempts at finding arguments—which were only words. He probably refers to the distinctions which Job, in wrestling with his great problem, drew between God and God, and his appeals to the one against the other. Such things seem subtleties to Bildad and but the theme of speakers; man’s destiny in the world of God is a thing of more solid stuff, and its principles not so intangible.
mark, and afterwards] Rather, understand. Bildad gives back Job’s words, Thou hast hid their heart from understanding, ch. Job_17:4. It was not they but he that was without wisdom, and until he came to some admission of first principles talking was of little avail. In answering Job Bildad uses here the plur. ye, with reference no doubt to Job’s identifying himself with the class of righteous sufferers persecuted by the wicked, ch. Job_17:6 seq.
The circumstances of the Author’s time perhaps shine out through these allusions—the collision of classes, the conflicting claims of parties to represent the true people of God, and the diverse solutions which various minds sought for the hard problem of the national affliction, which turned the servant of the Lord over into the hands of the wicked (ch. Job_16:11) and made him the servant of rulers (Isa_49:7).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–4(3) Wherefore are we counted as beasts.—Referring to Job’s…
(3) Wherefore are we counted as beasts.—Referring to Job’s words (Job_13:4, &c., Job_16:2, &c.). In this chapter there is a marked increase in his harshness and violence. It has, however, a certain resemblance to Job 8, inasmuch as Bildad works out a simile here, as he did there; and in Job_18:16 the two similes touch. In Job_18:2, which resembles Job_8:2, we must supply, as the Authorised Version does, Will it be ere? or the negative, Will ye not make? &c., or else we must render, “How long [will ye speak thus]? Make an end of words,” &c. The plural is used because Job is regarded as the representative of a class, or else as we use the plural instead of the singular in addressing a person.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Wherefore are we counted as beasts? The allusion is…
Wherefore are we counted as beasts? The allusion is probably Job_16:10, where Job spoke of his "comforters" as "gaping upon him with their mouths." And reputed vile in your sight! or, reckoned unclean. Job had spoken of his "miserable comforters" as "ungodly and wicked", (Job_16:11) without wisdom (Job_17:10) and without understanding. (Job_17:4) But he had not said that they were "unclean." Bildad, therefore, misrepresents him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v4Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Job_18:4
Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Read full note →
The folly of discontent
Some of Jobs friends said to him, Shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall the rock be removed out of its place? So I may say to every discontented, impatient heart, What! shall the providence of God change its course for thee? Dost thou think it such a weak thing that, because it does not please thee, it must alter its course? Be thou content, or not content, the providence of God will go on. When you are in a ship at sea that has all her sails spread with a full gale of wind, and swiftly sailing, can you make it still by running up and down in the ship? No more can you make the providence of God change its course with your fretting; it will go on with power, do what thou canst. (J. Burroughs.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v3General Information:
General Information:
Bildad continues speaking to Job.
Read full note →
Why are we regarded as beasts, stupid in your sight?
Bildad uses this rhetorical questions to emphasize to Job that he should not consider his friends as animals who cannot think or speak. It can be written as a statement in active form. AT: "We should not be regarded as beasts, as stupid in your sight." or "You should not regard us as beasts or think of us as stupid." (See: Rhetorical Question and Active or Passive)
Why are we
The word "we" probably refers to Bildad and Job's other friends and so is exclusive. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
regarded
Regarding, looking, is a metonym here for thinking well or badly of someone. (See: Metonymy)
in your sight
Here sight represents judgment or evaluation. AT: "in your judgment" or "in your thinking" (See: Metaphor)
your sight
The word "your" here is plural. Bildad is using sarcasm to tell Job that Job should not think of himself as a great man. AT: "your sight, you who wrongly think you are great" (See: First, Second, or Third Person and Irony)
You who tear at yourself in your anger
Here Bildad is stating that it is because of Job's anger and disobedience that he has been injured, not because of God's anger as Job has previously claimed. The word "tear" here means to "injure." AT: "You who have caused your own injuries because of your anger" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
should the earth be forsaken for you or should the rocks be removed out of their places?
This rhetorical question suggests that letting Job, whom they consider a guilty man, go free would be like changing the whole world. Bildad uses these huge exaggerations here to emphasize how outrageous he thinks this is. This can be written as a statement. AT: "asking God to let you, a guilty man, go free is as silly as asking for God to forsake the earth for your sake or for God to move the rocks out of their places to please you!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Hyperbole and Generalization)
should the earth be forsaken
This can be stated in active form. AT: "should everyone leave the earth" (See: Active or Passive)
should the rocks be removed out of their places
This can be stated in active form. The word "rocks" here refers to large rocks, such as those in the mountains. AT: "should God remove the rocks from their places" or "should God move mountains around" (See: Active or Passive)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 4 Which count yourselves just, as Job 12:4.
Which count yourselves just, as Job 12:4.
Whom you take to be but beasts, as Job 12:7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Job 18:2 How long [will it be ere] ye…
Job 18:2 How long [will it be ere] ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
Ver. 2. How long will it be ere you make an end of words?] First he taxeth Job with being talkative, when he himself talked much, but said little, save only what he had spoken before, Job 8:1-22, though Job had sufficiently refuted him. But as nothing in the world is more unreasonable than an ignorant person, who thinketh nothing well done but that which he doth himself; so those that bear themselves overly bold upon their own knowledge, and overween their own abilities, account it a great injury if any dissent from them in opinion and judgment, Lαλειν αριστος λεγειν δε αδυνατωτατος (De Alcibiade, Plutarch). And such a one here Bildad showeth himself to be by his exordium ex abrupto, as Junius phraseth it, his abrupt beginning, as if he could bear no longer with Job’s prittle prattle; who, if he were more prolix than his friends, he had greater reason, as being heavily afflicted and falsely accused, Quando tandem finem loquendi seu nugandi potius facies? (Lay.) Among the Romans the plaintiff was allowed only three hours, the defendant six. But why doth Bildad speak of Job here in the plural number? Was it for honour’s sake (as Cajetan holdeth)? I scarcely can agree. Was it because he thought Job to be possessed by an evil spirit (as Philip after Bede)? No. But this he seemeth to do, either by bending his speech to the bystanders, who seemed to favour Job, and sometimes to put in a word for him; whom therefore Bildad looked upon as his fellow hypocrites; or else, by an irony, he speaks unto Job as unto many (Vos, o Calliope, precor. Virg.), because he seemed to set up his opinion above all others, and would needs have his counter to stand for a thousand pounds.
Read full note →
Mark, and afterwards we will speak] Let thy words be henceforth dipped and dyed in thy heart before they be uttered; let our words also be duly weighed, that some end may be put to these altercations and disputes.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Ere ye; either,
Ere ye; either,
1. You my brethren. Why do you not give over discoursing with Job, who is wholly transported with rage, and not fit to be discoursed with, at least until both you and he have better considered what to say? Or rather,
Read full note →
2. Thou, O Job, of whom he speaks here, as also Job 18:3, in the plural number; either because there were some other person or persons present at this debate, who by their words or gestures showed themselves favourers of Job’s cause; or because it was a common idiom of the Eastern language to speak thus of one person, especially where he was one of eminency or authority. Job’s speeches were generally longer than his friends’, and they seemed very tedious to them.
Mark; consider the matter and our words better. Or, inform us, Heb. make us to understand. Seeing thou lookest upon us as ignorant and brutish men, as it follows, do thou instruct and inform us. Cease cavilling and railing, and produce thy strong reasons, that we may consider and answer them, or yield to them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Wherefore are we counted as beasts,.... This seems to…
Wherefore are we counted as beasts,.... This seems to refer to Job 12:7; where Job sends them to the beasts, to get knowledge and instruction; and therefore it was concluded he reckoned them as such, and put them on a level with them, yea, made them inferior to them; or to Job 17:4; where they are represented as destitute of wisdom and understanding, and therefore it is supposed were counted by Job no other than as beasts. Man, by the fall, is indeed become like them, and some are more brutish than they, and all are brutish as to spiritual knowledge and understanding; and those that are most sensible of themselves are ready to acknowledge their ignorance, that they are more brutish than any, and especially are as a beast before God; and particularly with respect to knowledge of the methods of Providence, in regard to his dealings with the righteous and wicked; see Psa 73:22; and which was the case in controversy between Job and his friends; but yet self-sufficient persons do not care to have their understandings in anything called in question, but like the Pharisees say, "are we blind also?" Joh 9:40; and take it very hard that they should be reckoned like beasts, void of understanding, when they are the people, and wisdom will die with them:
and reputed vile in your sight? as wicked and profligate persons, the most abandoned of mankind, such as are justly despised by good men, see Psa 15:4; or "unclean" (h), filthy, polluted, and defiled, as all men are by nature, and as they are in all the powers and faculties of their souls; nor can they make themselves clean, their hearts or their hands; nothing short of the grace of God, and blood of Christ, can cleanse from sin; yet self-righteous persons think themselves clean and pure when they are not washed from their sins, and take it ill of others to be reputed unclean persons: or "shut" (i), stopped up, as the hearts of men are from God and Christ, and the true knowledge of them, and divine things, until opened by him who has the key of the house of David, and opens, and no man shuts; or "hidden" (k), referring to Job 17:4; having a covering over their hearts, and a vail over the eyes of their understandings, so that the things of Providence were hid from them, as sometimes the things of grace are from the wise and prudent; but to be thought that this was their case is resented by Bildad.
Read full note →
(h) "immundi", Drusius, Piscator, Michaelis; so Broughton. (i) "Clausi sumu", Montanus; "obturati sumus", Hebraei, in Mercer. (k) So the Targum.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Ye - Thou, O Job; of whom he speaks…
Ye - Thou, O Job; of whom he speaks here, as also ver. 3, in the plural number, as was a common idiotism of the Eastern language, to speak thus of one person, especially where he was one of eminency. Mark - Consider the matter better.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Verse 2. How long will it be ere ye…
Verse 2. How long will it be ere ye make an end] It is difficult to say to whom this address is made: being in the plural number, it can hardly be supposed to mean Job only. It probably means all present; as if he had said, It is vain to talk with this man, and follow him through all his quibbles: take notice of this, and then let us all deliver our sentiments fully to him, without paying any regard to his self-vindications. It must be owned that this is the plan which Bildad followed; and he amply unburdens a mind that was labouring under the spirit of rancour and abuse. Instead of How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? Mr. Good translates: "How long will ye plant thorns (irritating, lacerating, wounding invectives) among words?" translating the unusual term קנצי kintsey, thorns, instead of bounds or limits. The word קנצי kintsey may be the Chaldee form for קצי kitsey, the נ nun being inserted by the Chaldeans for the sake of euphony, as is frequently done; and it may be considered as the contracted plural from קץ kats, a thorn, from קץ kats, to lacerate, rather than קץ kets, an end, from קצה katsah, to cut off.
Schultens and others have contended that קנץ kanats, is an Arabic word, used also in Hebrew; that [Arabic] kanasa, signifies to hunt, to lay snares; and hence [Arabic] maknas, a snare: and that the words should be translated, "How long will you put captious snares in words?" But I prefer קנצי kintsey, as being the Chaldee form for קצי kitsey, whether it be considered as expressing limits or thorns; as the whole instance is formed after the Chaldee model, as is evident, not only in the word in question, but also in lemillin, to words, the Chaldee plural instead of lemillim, the Hebrew plural.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Job 18:2. How long will it be ere you…
Job 18:2. How long will it be ere you wake an end — How long shall we continue this dispute? Why do not you, my brethren, give over discoursing with Job, who is so transported by his passions, as not to be fit to be discoursed with? At least, forbear to proceed till both you and he shall better understand the subject? For, if Bildad be considered as addressing himself to his two companions, he must have meant to reprove them for making use of too long discourses, and to advise them first to consider the subject well, and then to speak directly to the purpose. But many commentators understand him as addressing Job; using here, as also Job 18:3, the plural number, according to the common idiom of the eastern language: which was to speak thus to, or of one person, especially if he were of great eminence. In this case he must have intended to censure Job for puzzling the cause with cavils and exceptions, and to call upon him to produce a plain instance, in which a righteous man was known to have had punishment inflicted on him, or else to own the truth of the established maxim, that punishment was a sure mark of wickedness. Mark, and afterward we will speak — Consider the matter better, and then we shall speak concerning it to more advantage. Or, inform us: Hebrew תבינו, tabinu, make us to understand. Seeing thou lookest upon us as ignorant and brutish men, as it follows, Job 18:3, do thou instruct and inform us. Cease cavilling, and produce thy strong reasons, that we may consider and yield to their weight, or answer them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–4 How long will it be ere ye make an…
How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? - It has been made a question to whom this is addressed. It is in the plural number, and it is not usual in Hebrew when addressing an individual to make use of the plural form. Some have supposed that it is addressed to Job and to Eliphaz, as being both “long-winded” and tedious in their remarks. Others have supposed that it refers to Job “and the members of his family,” who possibly interposed remarks, and joined Job in his complaints. Others suppose that it refers to Eliphaz and Zophar, as being silent during the speech of Job, and not arresting his remarks as they ought to have done. Rosenmuller supposes that it refers to Job and those similar to him, who were mere feigners of piety, and that Bildad means to ask how long it would be before they would be effectually silenced, and their complaints hushed. I see no great difficulty in supposing that the reference is to Job. The whole strain of the discourse evidently supposes it; and there is no evidence that any of the family of Job had spoken, nor does it seem at all probable that Bildad would reprove his own friends either for the length of their speeches, or for not interrupting an other. The custom in the East is to allow a man to utter all that he has to say without interruption.
Mark - Hebrew understand; or be intelligent - תבינו tābı̂ynû; that is, either speak distinctly, clearly, intelligently; or consider and weigh our arguments. The former is the interpretation of Schultens, and seems to me to be the true one. The idea is this: “You, Job, have been altering mere words. They are words of complaint, without argument. Speak now in a different manner; show that you understand the case; advance arguments that are worthy of attention, and then we will reply.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Understand ye. Teach this man to comprehend what we…
Understand ye. Teach this man to comprehend what we say. He deigns not to address Job in person: but repeats most of his former remarks respecting the wicked, as if they were unquestionably applicable to Job, chap. viii. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "mark ye." Septuagint, "do thou attend." (Haydock) --- Baldad speaks to many who might be of Job’s opinion, as he was a figure of the Church, defending the common cause; while his friends, like heretics, speak both true and false things. (St. Gregory xiv. 1.) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3–4 beasts--alluding to what Job said (Job 12:7; so Isa…
beasts--alluding to what Job said (Job 12:7; so Isa 1:3).
vile--rather from a Hebrew root, "to stop up." "Stubborn," answering to the stupidity implied in the parallel first clause [UMBREIT]. Why should we give occasion by your empty speeches for our being mutually reputed, in the sight of Job and one another, as unintelligent? (Job 17:4, Job 17:10).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Introduction. Bildad retorts Job’s charges of folly by comparing…
Introduction. Bildad retorts Job’s charges of folly by comparing him to a self-devouring brute, who in his madness would unsettle the eternal principles of God’s moral government, Job_18:2-4.
2. An end of words — How long will ye set snares for words? We have a like phrase, “hunt for words.” His former speech commenced (Job_8:2) with a similar outburst of impatience, and in the same words, “how long.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. Then he spoke impiously of God, saying that…
2. Then he spoke impiously of God, saying that He tore him in His anger (ch. Job_16:9), and appealed to the earth and nature to rise up on his side (ch. Job_16:18).
Such things provoke the personal and moral indignation of Bildad alike. It seems to him that Job holds his brethren and him little higher than the beasts (although it was Job himself that was destitute of understanding), and that in his extravagant self-righteousness he flings them away from him as belonging to the class of the “unclean” (Job_18:2-3).
Read full note →
And it is not God that tears him in His anger; rather in his outrageous fury he is tearing himself. And does he suppose, as his appeal to the earth might suggest, that the eternal flow of law and order in the universe is to be interrupted for his sake—that he may be reputed innocent, or that being guilty he may not suffer the penalty of his evil, and that his principles may prevail? (Job_18:4).
This question naturally leads over to the principal theme of the discourse, the certainty of the destruction of the wicked through the operation of the fixed order of the world and the moral instincts of mankind (Job_18:5-21).
ere you make an end of words] Rather, how long will ye hunt for words, lit. set snares for words. Bildad begins with the same exclamation of impatient astonishment that he used on a former occasion, ch. Job_8:2, how long? quousque tandem abutere patientia nostra? By “hunting for words” he means making subtle and artificial attempts at finding arguments—which were only words. He probably refers to the distinctions which Job, in wrestling with his great problem, drew between God and God, and his appeals to the one against the other. Such things seem subtleties to Bildad and but the theme of speakers; man’s destiny in the world of God is a thing of more solid stuff, and its principles not so intangible.
mark, and afterwards] Rather, understand. Bildad gives back Job’s words, Thou hast hid their heart from understanding, ch. Job_17:4. It was not they but he that was without wisdom, and until he came to some admission of first principles talking was of little avail. In answering Job Bildad uses here the plur. ye, with reference no doubt to Job’s identifying himself with the class of righteous sufferers persecuted by the wicked, ch. Job_17:6 seq.
The circumstances of the Author’s time perhaps shine out through these allusions—the collision of classes, the conflicting claims of parties to represent the true people of God, and the diverse solutions which various minds sought for the hard problem of the national affliction, which turned the servant of the Lord over into the hands of the wicked (ch. Job_16:11) and made him the servant of rulers (Isa_49:7).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–4 (3) Wherefore are we counted as beasts.—Referring to Job’s…
(3) Wherefore are we counted as beasts.—Referring to Job’s words (Job_13:4, &c., Job_16:2, &c.). In this chapter there is a marked increase in his harshness and violence. It has, however, a certain resemblance to Job 8, inasmuch as Bildad works out a simile here, as he did there; and in Job_18:16 the two similes touch. In Job_18:2, which resembles Job_8:2, we must supply, as the Authorised Version does, Will it be ere? or the negative, Will ye not make? &c., or else we must render, “How long [will ye speak thus]? Make an end of words,” &c. The plural is used because Job is regarded as the representative of a class, or else as we use the plural instead of the singular in addressing a person.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Wherefore are we counted as beasts? The allusion is…
Wherefore are we counted as beasts? The allusion is probably Job_16:10, where Job spoke of his "comforters" as "gaping upon him with their mouths." And reputed vile in your sight! or, reckoned unclean. Job had spoken of his "miserable comforters" as "ungodly and wicked", (Job_16:11) without wisdom (Job_17:10) and without understanding. (Job_17:4) But he had not said that they were "unclean." Bildad, therefore, misrepresents him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v4 Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Job_18:4
Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Read full note →
The folly of discontent
Some of Jobs friends said to him, Shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall the rock be removed out of its place? So I may say to every discontented, impatient heart, What! shall the providence of God change its course for thee? Dost thou think it such a weak thing that, because it does not please thee, it must alter its course? Be thou content, or not content, the providence of God will go on. When you are in a ship at sea that has all her sails spread with a full gale of wind, and swiftly sailing, can you make it still by running up and down in the ship? No more can you make the providence of God change its course with your fretting; it will go on with power, do what thou canst. (J. Burroughs.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 General Information:
General Information:
Bildad continues speaking to Job.
Read full note →
Why are we regarded as beasts, stupid in your sight?
Bildad uses this rhetorical questions to emphasize to Job that he should not consider his friends as animals who cannot think or speak. It can be written as a statement in active form. AT: "We should not be regarded as beasts, as stupid in your sight." or "You should not regard us as beasts or think of us as stupid." (See: Rhetorical Question and Active or Passive)
Why are we
The word "we" probably refers to Bildad and Job's other friends and so is exclusive. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
regarded
Regarding, looking, is a metonym here for thinking well or badly of someone. (See: Metonymy)
in your sight
Here sight represents judgment or evaluation. AT: "in your judgment" or "in your thinking" (See: Metaphor)
your sight
The word "your" here is plural. Bildad is using sarcasm to tell Job that Job should not think of himself as a great man. AT: "your sight, you who wrongly think you are great" (See: First, Second, or Third Person and Irony)
You who tear at yourself in your anger
Here Bildad is stating that it is because of Job's anger and disobedience that he has been injured, not because of God's anger as Job has previously claimed. The word "tear" here means to "injure." AT: "You who have caused your own injuries because of your anger" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
should the earth be forsaken for you or should the rocks be removed out of their places?
This rhetorical question suggests that letting Job, whom they consider a guilty man, go free would be like changing the whole world. Bildad uses these huge exaggerations here to emphasize how outrageous he thinks this is. This can be written as a statement. AT: "asking God to let you, a guilty man, go free is as silly as asking for God to forsake the earth for your sake or for God to move the rocks out of their places to please you!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Hyperbole and Generalization)
should the earth be forsaken
This can be stated in active form. AT: "should everyone leave the earth" (See: Active or Passive)
should the rocks be removed out of their places
This can be stated in active form. The word "rocks" here refers to large rocks, such as those in the mountains. AT: "should God remove the rocks from their places" or "should God move mountains around" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
beast
anger
earth
forsake
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v2 18:2-3 How long before you stop talking? Bildad addressed…
18:2-3 How long before you stop talking? Bildad addressed Job in the plural, perhaps meaning “people like you.”
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.