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Texts -- Job 8:1-21 (NET)

Context
Bildad’s First Speech to Job
8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said : 8:2 “How long will you speak these things, seeing that the words of your mouth are like a great wind ? 8:3 Does God pervert justice ? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right ? 8:4 If your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin . 8:5 But if you will look to God , and make your supplication to the Almighty , 8:6 if you become pure and upright , even now he will rouse himself for you , and will restore your righteous abode . 8:7 Your beginning will seem so small , since your future will flourish . 8:8 “For inquire now of the former generation , and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors ; 8:9 For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge , since our days on earth are but a shadow . 8:10 Will they not instruct you and speak to you, and bring forth words from their understanding ? 8:11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh ? Can reeds flourish without water ? 8:12 While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting , they can wither away faster than any grass ! 8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God ; the hope of the godless perishes , 8:14 whose trust is in something futile , whose security is a spider’s web . 8:15 He leans against his house but it does not hold up , he takes hold of it but it does not stand . 8:16 He is a well-watered plant in the sun , its shoots spread over its garden . 8:17 It wraps its roots around a heap of stones and it looks for a place among stones . 8:18 If he is uprooted from his place, then that place will disown him, saying, ‘I have never seen you!’ 8:19 Indeed , this is the joy of his way , and out of the earth others spring up . 8:20 “Surely , God does not reject a blameless man, nor does he grasp the hand of the evildoers . 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter , and your lips with gladness .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Uncharitableness

    [nave] UNCHARITABLENESS. Isa. 29:20, 21; Matt. 7:1-5 Luke 6:37-42. Luke 12:57; John 7:24; John 8:7; Rom. 2:1; Rom. 14:1-15; 1 Cor. 4:3-5, 7; 1 Cor. 13:1-6; Jas. 4:11, 12 See: Accusation, False; Charitableness; Slander; Speaking, E...

  • Righteous

    [nave] RIGHTEOUS. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Contrasted with the Wicked; Described; Promises to, Expressed or Implied. Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics Compared with: The sun, Judg. 5:31; Matt. 13:43; sta...

  • Heathen

    [nave] HEATHEN Under this head are grouped all who are not embraced under the Abrahamic covenant. Cast out of Canaan, Lev. 18:24, 25; Psa. 44:2; and their land given to Israel, Psa. 78:55; 105:44; 135:12; 136:21, 22; Isa. 54:1-3. ...

  • Wicked

    [nave] WICKED Compared with: Abominable branches, Isa. 14:19; ashes under the feet, Mal. 4:3; bad fishes, Matt. 13:48; beasts, Psa. 49:12; 2 Pet. 2:12; the blind, Zeph. 1:17; Matt. 15:14; bronze and iron, Jer. 6:28; Ezek. 22:18; br...

  • Job

    [nave] JOB 1. A man who dwelt in Uz, Job 1:1. Righteousness of, Job 1:1, 5, 8; 2:3; Ezek. 14:14, 20. Riches of, Job 1:3. Trial of, by affliction of Satan, Job 1:13-19; 2:7-10. Fortitude of, Job 1:20-22; 2:10; Jas. 5:11. Visite...

  • JOB, BOOK OF

    [isbe] JOB, BOOK OF - || I. INTRODUCTORY 1. Place in the Canon 2. Rank and Readers II. THE LITERARY FRAMEWORK 1. Setting of Time, Place and Scene 2. Characters and Personality 3. Form and Style III. THE COURSE OF THE STORY A) To Jo...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • History

    [nave] HISTORY, Job 8:8-10. See: Books; Books of Genesis, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther; Israel, History of; Jesus, History of.

  • Flag

    [ebd] (Heb., or rather Egyptian, ahu, Job 8:11), rendered "meadow" in Gen. 41:2, 18; probably the Cyperus esculentus, a species of rush eaten by cattle, the Nile reed. It also grows in Palestine. In Ex. 2:3, 5, Isa. 19:6, it is th...
    [isbe] FLAG - Two Hebrew words: (1) cuph (Ex 2:3,1, "flags"; Isa 19:6, "flags"; Jon 2:5, "weeds"). This is apparently a general name which includes both the fresh-water weeds growing along a river bank and "seaweeds." The Red Sea w...
    [nave] FLAG 1. Ex. 2:3, 5; Job 8:11; Isa. 19:6; Jonah 2:5. 2. An ensign. See: Ensign.

  • Godlessness

    [nave] GODLESSNESS. Deut. 7:10; Deut. 32:15; 1 Sam. 2:30; Job 8:11-13; Job 35:10; Psa. 2:2, 4; Psa. 9:17; Psa. 10:4; Psa. 14:2, 3 Psa. 53:2, 3; Rom. 3:11, 18. Psa. 28:5 Isa. 5:12. Psa. 36:1; Psa. 50:22; Psa. 52:7; Psa. 53:4; Psa. ...

  • Spider

    [ebd] The trust of the hypocrite is compared to the spider's web or house (Job 8:14). It is said of the wicked by Isaiah that they "weave the spider's web" (59:5), i.e., their works and designs are, like the spider's web, vain and...
    [isbe] SPIDER - spi'-der ((1) `akkabhish; compare Arabic `ankabut, English Versions of the Bible "spider"; Septuagint arachne (Job 8:14; Isa 59:5); (2) semamith, "lizard," the King James Version "spider"; Septuagint kalabotes (Prov...
    [nave] SPIDER Mentioned in one of Agur's riddles, Prov. 30:28. Web of, figurative of the hope of the hypocrite, Job 8:14; Isa. 59:5.

  • Prayer

    [ebd] is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a "beseeching t...
    [nave] PRAYER. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Answer to, Promised; Answered, Instances of Answered; Confession in; Importunity in, Instances of Importunity in; Intercessor...

  • Hypocrisy

    [nave] HYPOCRISY. Job 8:13-15; Job 13:16; Job 15:31, 33, 34; Job 17:8; Job 20:4, 5 vs. 6-18.; Job 27:8-10 vs. 13-18.; Job 31:33, 34; Job 34:30; Job 36:13, 14; Psa. 5:9; Psa. 50:16, 17; Psa. 52:4; Psa. 55:12-14, 20, 21, 23; Psa. 78...

  • Bildad

    [ebd] son of contention, one of Job's friends. He is called "the Shuhite," probably as belonging to Shuah, a district in Arabia, in which Shuah, the sixth son of Abraham by Keturah, settled (Gen. 25:2). He took part in each of the...
    [nave] BILDAD, one of Job's friends, Job 2:11; 8:1; 18:1; 25:1.

  • Forgetting God

    [nave] FORGETTING GOD A characteristic of the wicked, Prov. 2:17; Isa. 65:11. Backsliders guilty of, Jer. 2:32; 3:21. Is forgetting his covenant, Deut. 4:23; 2 Kin. 17:38; works, Psa. 78:7, 11; 106:13; benefits, Psa. 103:2; 106:7...

  • Shuhite

    [isbe] SHUHITE - shoo'-hit (shuchi): Cognomen of Bildad, one of Job's friends (Job 2:11; 8:1; 18:1; 25:1; 42:9). The place referred to cannot be definitely located. See BILDAD; SHUAH.
    [nave] SHUHITE Job 2:11, 8:1, 18:1, 25:1, 42:9

  • Seekers

    [nave] SEEKERS. Gen. 49:18; Deut. 4:29; 1 Chr. 16:11; 1 Chr. 22:19; 1 Chr. 28:9; 2 Chr. 11:16; 2 Chr. 15:2, 12, 13; 2 Chr. 26:5; 2 Chr. 30:18, 19; 2 Chr. 31:21; Ezra 8:22; Job 5:8; Job 8:5, 6; Psa. 9:10; Psa. 14:2; Psa. 17:1, 2; P...

  • AGE

    [ebd] used to denote the period of a man's life (Gen. 47:28), the maturity of life (John 9:21), the latter end of life (Job 11:17), a generation of the human race (Job 8:8), and an indefinite period (Eph. 2:7; 3:5, 21; Col. 1:26)....
    [isbe] AGE - aj: A period of time or a dispensation. In the above sense the word occurs only once in the King James Version, in the sing, as the translation of dor, which means, properly, a "revolution" or "round of time," "a perio...

  • Wisdom

    [nave] WISDOM Of Joseph, Gen. 41:16, 25-39; Acts 7:10. Of Moses, Acts 7:22. Of Bezaleel, Ex. 31:3-5; 35:31-35; 36:1. Of Aholiab, Ex. 31:6; 35:34, 35; 36:1; of other skilled artisans, Ex. 36:2; of women, Ex. 35:26. Of Hiram, 1 K...

  • MEADOW

    [isbe] MEADOW - med'-o: (1) `aroth, "the meadows (the King James Version "paper reeds") by the Nile" (Isa 19:7); ma`areh-gabha`, the King James Version "meadows of Gibeah," the Revised Version (British and American) "Maareh-geba," ...
    [smith] In (Genesis 41:2,18) meadow appears to be an Egyptian term meaning some kind of flag or waterplant, as its use in (Job 8:11) (Authorized Version "flag") seems to show. In (Judges 20:33) the sense of the Hebrew word translate...
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Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
  • I. Prologue chs. 1-2A. Job's character 1:1-5B. Job's calamities 1:6-2:101. The first test 1:6-222. The second test 2:1-10C. Job's comforters 2:11-13II. The dialogue concerning the basis of the divine-human relationship 3:1-42...
  • The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main body (3:1-42:6) in poetry. The prologue and epilogue form a frame around the main emphasis of the revelation, the poetic section, and ...
  • The two soliloquies of Job (chs. 3 and 29-31) enclose three cycles of dialogue between Job and his three friends. Each cycle consists of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in that order interspersed with Job's reply to e...
  • Bildad agreed with Eliphaz that God was paying Job back for some sin he had committed, and he believed God would show Job mercy if he confessed that sin. However, Bildad built his conclusions on a slightly different foundatio...
  • Bildad's initial words contrast with Eliphaz's. Whereas Eliphaz was gentle and indirect, Bildad was impatient and insensitive. He accused Job of being a blow-hard (v. 2)."Bildad is objective and analytical in his speech about...
  • The illustration of the water plant (vv. 11-13) emphasized the fact that in Bildad's view Job had abandoned God, the source of his blessing (cf. 1:1, 8). Bildad advised his friend not to forget God. The spider's web analogy (...
  • By reminding Job of God's integrity Bildad hoped to appeal to his friend to repent. Bildad assured him that if he did God would restore him."Bildad's assertion that God will not reject a blameless man(20a) makes him the precu...
  • Verse 2 is irony; his companions were not as wise as they thought. Job pointed out that much of what they had said about God was common knowledge (cf. 5:9-10; 8:13-19; 11:7-9). Nonetheless their conclusion, that the basis of ...
  • Specifically Eliphaz accused Job of speaking irreverently (vv. 1-6) and of pretending to be wiser and purer than he was (vv. 7-16). For a second time one of his friends said Job was full of hot air (vv. 2-3; cf. 8:2). The eas...
  • Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
  • Job said his visitors had said nothing new to help him (v. 1). He picked up Eliphaz's word (translated "mischief"in 15:35) and used it to describe him and his companions as "sorry"comforters (v. 2). Eliphaz's words had not br...
  • Job began this reply to Bildad as Bildad had begun both of his speeches: "How long . . .?"(v. 2; cf. 8:2; 18:2). How long would his friends torment him? The ten times (v. 3) may have been ten actual occurrences not all of whi...
  • "But it is just here, when everything is blackest, that his faith . . . like the rainbow in the cloud . . . shines with a marvelous splendor."89This short section contains probably the best known verses in the book (vv. 23-27...
  • Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job's three friends (vv. 6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason he said he had refrained from speaking until now. However he had become convinced that advancing age does not...
  • Jeremiah first viewed Jerusalem's destruction as an outsider looking in. Verses 1-7 describe the extent of the desolation and verses 8-11 its cause.1:1 Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so g...
  • 13:1 Luke linked this incident chronologically with the preceding one. Apparently messengers from Jerusalem had just arrived with news about Pilate's act. This is the usual force of the Greek verb apaggello, translated "repor...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.'--Job 8:14.And hope maketh not ashamed.'--Romans 5:5.THESE TWO texts take opposite sides. Bildad was not the wisest of Job's friends, and he gives utteranc...
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