Job 18 KJV
Bildad's Second Speech
Job Chapter 18: Bildad's Second Speech
Bildad's reference to the 'king of terrors' (v. 14) is a singular biblical phrase that likely personifies death as a ruling entity, echoing Canaanite motifs of Mot as a devouring monarch rather than a mere natural end.
1hen answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
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Did You Know?
Bildad's reference to the 'king of terrors' (v. 14) is a singular biblical phrase that likely personifies death as a ruling entity, echoing Canaanite motifs of Mot as a devouring monarch rather than a mere natural end.
The cascade of trap imagery (snare, trap, gin, and robber in vv. 8-10) mirrors ancient Near Eastern legal curse formulas found in vassal treaties, framing wickedness as a self-entangling violation that triggers automatic cosmic enforcement.
Scattering brimstone upon the wicked's habitation (v. 15) deliberately recalls the Sodom narrative, recasting Job's personal affliction as an instance of archetypal communal judgment rather than individual misfortune.
The prediction that the wicked will have 'no name in the street' (v. 17) underscores the ancient Israelite conviction that social memory and public reputation constitute an extension of one's ontological existence, making erasure from collective recollection equivalent to second death.
Bildad's closing vision of the wicked being 'driven from light into darkness' (v. 18) inverts the creation motif of Genesis 1, portraying the unrighteous not merely as punished but as cosmically de-created and returned to primordial chaos.
Commentary & Study Notes
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Job 18 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Reply Of Bildad.
Reply Of Bildad v1-21
2. ye--the other two friends of Job, whom Bildad charges with having spoken mere "words," that is, empty speeches; opposed to "mark," that is, come to reason, consider the question intelligently; and then let us speak. 3. 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, 10). 4. Rather, turning to Job, "thou that tearest thyself in anger" (Job 5:2). be forsaken?--become desolate. He alludes here to Job's words as to the "rock," crumbling away (Job 14:18, 19); but in a different application. He says bitterly "for thee." Wert thou not punished as thou art, and as thou art unwilling to bear, the eternal order of the universe would be disturbed and the earth become desolate through unavenged wickedness [UMBREIT]. Bildad takes it for granted Job is a great sinner (Job 8:3-6; Isa 24:5, 6). "Shall that which stands fast as a rock be removed for your special accommodation?" 5. That (Job 18:4) cannot be. The decree of God is unalterable, the light (prosperity) of the wicked shall at length be put out. his fire--alluding to Arabian hospitality, which prided itself on welcoming the stranger to the fire in the tent, and even lit fires to direct him to it. The ungodly shall be deprived of the means to show hospitality. His dwelling shall be dark and desolate! 6. candle--the lamp which in the East is usually fastened to the ceiling. Oil abounds in those regions, and the lamp was kept burning all night, as now in Egypt, where the poorest would rather dispense with food than the night lamp (Ps 18:28). To put out the lamp was an image of utter desolation. 7. steps of his strength--Hebrew, for "His strong steps." A firm step marks health. To be straitened in steps is to be no longer able to move about at will (Pr 4:12). his own counsel--Plans shall be the means of his fall (Job 5:13). 8. he walketh upon--rather, "he lets himself go into the net" [UMBREIT]. If the English Version be retained, then understand "snare" to be the pitfall, covered over with branches and earth, which when walked upon give way (Ps 9:15; 35:8). 9. robber--rather answering to "gin" in the parallel clause, "the noose shall hold him fast" [UMBREIT]. 11. Terrors--often mentioned in this book (Job 18:14; 24:17; &c.). The terrors excited through an evil conscience are here personified. "Magor-missabib" (Jer 20:3). drive . . . to his feet--rather, "shall pursue" (literally, "scatter," Hab 3:14) him close "at his heels" (literally, "immediately after his feet," Hab 3:5; 1Sa 25:42; Hebrew). The image is that of a pursuing conqueror who scatters the enemy [UMBREIT]. 12. The Hebrew is brief and bold, "his strength is hungry." destruction--that is, a great calamity (Pr 1:27). ready at his side--close at hand to destroy him (Pr 19:29). 13. UMBREIT has "he" for "it," that is, "in the rage of hunger he shall devour his own body"; or, "his own children" (La 4:10). Rather, "destruction" from Job 18:12 is nominative to "devour." strength--rather, "members" (literally, the "branches" of a tree). the first-born of death--a personification full of poetical horror. The first-born son held the chief place (Ge 49:3); so here the chiefest (most deadly) disease that death has ever engendered (Isa 14:30; "first-born of the poor"--the poorest). The Arabs call fever, "daughter of death." 14. confidence--all that the father trusted in for domestic happiness, children, fortune, &c., referring to Job's losses. rooted out--suddenly torn away, it shall bring--that is, he shall be brought; or, as UMBREIT better has, "Thou (God) shalt bring him slowly." The Hebrew expresses, "to stride slowly and solemnly." The godless has a fearful death for long before his eyes, and is at last taken by it. Alluding to Job's case. The King of terrors, not like the heathen Pluto, the tabled ruler of the dead, but Death, with all its terrors to the ungodly, personified. 15. It--"Terror" shall haunt, &c., and not as UMBREIT, "another," which the last clause of the verse disproves. none of his--It is his no longer. brimstone--probably comparing the calamity of Job by the "fire of God" (Job 1:16) to the destruction of guilty Sodom by fire and brimstone (Ge 19:24). 16. Roots--himself. branch--his children (Job 8:12; 15:30; Mal 4:1). 17. street--Men shall not speak of him in meeting in the highways; rather, "in the field" or "meadow"; the shepherds shall no more mention his name--a picture from nomadic life [UMBREIT]. 18. light . . . darkness--existence--nonexistence. 19. nephew--(so Isa 14:22). But it is translated "grandson" (Ge 21:23); translate "kinsman." 20. after . . . before--rather, "those in the West--those in the East"; that is, all people; literally, "those behind--those before"; for Orientals in geography turn with their faces to the east (not to the north as we), and back to the west; so that before--east; behind--north (so Zec 14:8). day--of ruin (Ob 12). affrighted--seized with terror (Job 21:6; Isa 13:8). 21. (Job 8:22, Margin).