Bildad is one of the three friends of Job who visit him during his time of suffering, as recorded in the Book of Job. He is identified as Bildad the Shuhite, suggesting his lineage from Shuah, a son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:2). Bildad's role in the narrative is significant as he represents a traditional perspective on divine justice and retribution.

Role in the Book of Job

Bildad appears in three distinct speeches within the Book of Job, specifically in chapters 8, 18, and 25. His approach to Job's suffering is characterized by a strict adherence to the principle of retributive justice, which posits that suffering is a direct consequence of sin. Bildad's speeches are marked by a call for Job to repent, implying that Job's misfortunes are due to his own wrongdoing.

1. First Speech (Job 8): Bildad's initial response to Job is a defense of God's justice. He asserts that God does not pervert justice and that the wicked are inevitably punished. Bildad encourages Job to seek God and plead for mercy, suggesting that if Job is truly upright, God will restore his fortunes. He uses the example of past generations to support his argument, emphasizing the wisdom of the ancients: "For inquire, please, of the former generation and consider the discoveries of their fathers" (Job 8:8).

2. Second Speech (Job 18): In his second address, Bildad becomes more direct and severe. He describes the fate of the wicked in vivid detail, implying that Job's current state mirrors that of the unrighteous. Bildad's speech is filled with imagery of darkness and destruction, reinforcing his belief in the inevitable downfall of those who oppose God: "Indeed, the light of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow" (Job 18:5).

3. Third Speech (Job 25): Bildad's final speech is the shortest and focuses on the majesty and purity of God. He questions how any mortal can be righteous before such a holy God, emphasizing human insignificance: "How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?" (Job 25:4). This speech underscores the vast chasm between divine perfection and human frailty.

Theological Implications

Bildad's perspective is rooted in a traditional understanding of divine justice, which assumes a direct correlation between one's actions and their earthly circumstances. His insistence on retributive justice reflects a common theological view of the time, yet the narrative of Job challenges this simplistic understanding. While Bildad's speeches are intended to defend God's justice, they also reveal the limitations of human wisdom in comprehending divine purposes.

Critique and Legacy

Throughout the dialogues, Job refutes Bildad's assertions, maintaining his innocence and challenging the notion that all suffering is a result of personal sin. The Book of Job ultimately presents a more complex view of suffering and divine justice, one that transcends the arguments of Bildad and his companions. Bildad's speeches, while earnest, are critiqued for their lack of empathy and failure to grasp the depth of Job's plight.

Bildad's role in the Book of Job serves as a reminder of the dangers of rigid theological systems that fail to account for the mysteries of God's ways. His interactions with Job highlight the need for humility and compassion when addressing the suffering of others, acknowledging that human understanding is limited in the face of divine sovereignty.Bildad

old friendship

Bildad

(son of contention), the second of Job's three friends. He is called "the Shuhite," which implies both his family and nation. (Job 2:11) (B.C. about 2000.)

Bildad

A descendant of Abraham by Keturah, Genesis 25:1,2. Shuah and his brethren were located in Arabia Petraea; and thus Bildad the Shuhite was a neighbor and friend of Job, and came to condole with him in his affliction, Job 2:11; 8:1-22; 18:1-21; 25:1-6. His chief topics are the suddenness, swiftness, and terribleness of God's wrath upon hypocrites and oppressors.

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 (Genesis 25:2). He took part in each of the three controversies into which Job's friends entered with him (Job 8:1; 18:1; 25:1), and delivered three speeches, very severe and stern in their tone, although less violent than those of Zophar, but more so than those of Eliphaz. BILDAD

bil'-dad (bildadh, "Bel has loved"): The second of the three friends of Job who, coming from distant regions, make an appointment together to condole with and comfort him in his affliction (Job 2:11). He is from Shuah, an unknown place somewhere in the countries East and Southeast of Palestine (or the designation Shuhite may be intended to refer to his ancestor Shuah, one of Abraham's sons by Keturah, Genesis 25:2), and from his name (compounded with Bel, the name of a Babylonian deity) would seem to represent the wisdom of the distant East. His three speeches are contained in Job 8; Job 18; For substance they are largely an echo of what Eliphaz has maintained, but charged with somewhat increased vehemence (compare Job 8:2; Job 18:3, 4) because he deems Job's words so impious and wrathful. He is the first to attribute Job's calamity to actual wickedness; but he gets at it indirectly by accusing his children (who were destroyed, Job 1:19) of sin to warrant their punishment (Job 8:4). For his contribution to the discussion he appeals to tradition (Job 8:8-10), and taking Eliphaz' cue of cause and effect (Job 8:11) he gives, evidently from the literary stores of wisdom, a description of the precarious state of the wicked, to which he contrasts, with whatever implication it involves, the felicitous state of the righteous (Job 8:11-22). His second speech is an intensified description of the wicked man's woes, made as if to match Job's description of his own desperate case (compare Job 18:5-21 with Job 16:6-22), thus tacitly identifying Job with the reprobate wicked. His third speech (Job 25), which is the last utterance of the friends, is brief, subdued in tone, and for substance is a kind of Parthian shot, reiterating Eliphaz' depravity idea, the doctrine that dies hardest. This speech marks the final silencing of the friends.

John Franklin Genung

1085. Bildad -- perhaps "Bel has loved," one of Job's friends
... 1084, 1085. Bildad. 1086 . perhaps "Bel has loved," one of Job's friends.
Transliteration: Bildad Phonetic Spelling: (bil-dad') Short Definition: Bildad. ...
/hebrew/1085.htm - 6k

The Beginning, Increase, and End of the Divine Life
... At Exeter Hall, Strand. "Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should
greatly increase.""Job 8:7. THIS WAS the reasoning of Bildad the Shuhite. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 6 1860/the beginning increase and end.htm

Two Kinds of Hope
... These two texts take opposite sides. Bildad was not the wisest of Job's friends,
and he gives utterance to solemn commonplaces with partial truth in them. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/two kinds of hope.htm

The Story of Job
... When Job's three friends heard of all this trouble that had befallen him, they came
each from his own home: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/the story of job.htm

Job
... Bildad, annoyed at Job's challenge of God's justice, asserts the sure destruction
of evildoers, but implicitly concedes, at the end, that Job is not an evil ...
//christianbookshelf.org/mcfadyen/introduction to the old testament/job.htm

Job --Groping
... man. With the whole of the Book of Job in our hands, we know what neither
Job, nor Eliphaz, nor Bildad, nor Zophar, nor Elihu knew. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/whyte/lord teach us to pray/vii jobgroping.htm

'The End of the Lord'
... with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of Me the thing which is right,
like My servant Job.9. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/the end of the lord.htm

Letter xxxviii. To his Brother Gregory, Concerning the Difference ...
... The same moreover would have been the account that there is in the case of Bildad
the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and each of the men there mentioned. ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/letter xxxviii to his brother.htm

Job.
... In each of the three cycles of discussion with his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and
Zophar, each argues with Job except that Zophar remains silent in the third ...
/.../gerberding/the way of salvation in the lutheran church/chapter xii job.htm

Here Followeth the History of Job
... Job, hearing what harm was happed and come to Job, came ever each one from his place
to him, that one was named Eliphas the Temanite, another Bildad the Shuhite ...
/.../wells/bible stories and religious classics/here followeth the history of.htm

The Kingdom Foreshadowed
... Chapters I and 2. 1. Job. Chapter 3. 2. Eliphaz. Chapters 4 and 5. 3. Job. Chapters
6 and 7. 4. Bildad. Chapter 8. SECTION VI. THE ARGUMENT. ...
/.../palmer/a birds-eye view of the bible/i the kingdom foreshadowed.htm

Bildad (5 Occurrences)
... Eliphaz. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. BILDAD. bil ... friends. John Franklin
Genung. Multi-Version Concordance Bildad (5 Occurrences). Job ...
/b/bildad.htm - 11k

Shuhite (5 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary A designation of Bildad (Job 2:11), probably because he
was a descendant of Shuah. Int. ... See BILDAD; SHUAH. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/s/shuhite.htm - 8k

Zophar (4 Occurrences)
... He speaks but twice (Job 11; Job 20); by his silence the 3rd time the writer seems
to intimate that with Bildad's third speech (Job 25; see under BILDAD) the ...
/z/zophar.htm - 10k

Naamathite (4 Occurrences)
... Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him,
they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite ...
/n/naamathite.htm - 8k

Job's (11 Occurrences)
... Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him,
they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite ...
/j/job's.htm - 9k

Temanite (8 Occurrences)
... Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him,
they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite ...
/t/temanite.htm - 8k

Eliphaz (14 Occurrences)
... Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him,
they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite ...
/e/eliphaz.htm - 15k

Na'amathite (3 Occurrences)
... Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite
went, and did what Yahweh commanded them, and Yahweh accepted Job. (See RSV). ...
/n/na'amathite.htm - 7k

Te'manite (5 Occurrences)
... (See RSV). Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the
Naamathite went, and did what Yahweh commanded them, and Yahweh accepted Job. ...
/t/te'manite.htm - 7k

Responded (35 Occurrences)
... Job 15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, (See NAS). Job 18:1 Then Bildad the
Shuhite answered, (See NAS). Job 19:1 Then Job answered, (See NAS). ...
/r/responded.htm - 16k

What was Bildad the Shuhite's message to Job? | GotQuestions.org

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What was Elihu's message to Job? | GotQuestions.org

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