Job
Chapter 18
Second Speech of Bildad
Bildad the Shuhite replied:
When will your empty words end? Listen, and then we can talk.
Why do you treat us like beasts? Are we stupid in your sight?
You who tear yourself in your wrath, must the earth be lost on your account the rocks be moved out of their place?
Surely the evil man’s lamp is snuffed out; his fire stops burning.
The light dims in his tent; the lamp shining on him goes out.
His energetic steps weaken; his own plans cause him to stumble.
His feet lead him to a net or into a trap.
A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare lays hold of him.
Hidden in the ground is a noose for him; pitfalls await him along the way.
Terrors attack him from all directions; they torment him at every turn.
Hungering among his possessions, he faces doom if he fails.
Sickness consumes his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
Torn from the security of his tent, he is led away to the king of terrors.
His tent is no longer his: take it! Brimstone is scattered over his field.
His roots are dried up below; his branches are withered above.
His memory vanishes from the land; his name is forgotten on the earth.
From light he is driven into darkness; he is cast out from the world.
He has no descendants among his people, no survivor where he once lived.
All in the west are appalled at his fate; those of the east are filled with fright.
Such is the lot of the wicked; such is the destiny of one who does not know God.
Commentaries
Second Speech of Bildad.
After a few brief words of reproach, Bildad begins a detailed description of the fate awaiting the wicked (cf. 15:20-35). He uses six different terms from hunting slang, whose meanings are not entirely clear. The references to the destroyed tent (14b-15) or dying without offspring (16-19) likely reflect Job’s afflictions mentioned earlier in the chapter. Back then, without any hope of life after death, the only legacy one could hope for was their name and the memory their descendants preserved. Without that, it was as if the person had never existed. No worse fate could be imagined (18f).