His memory perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the street.
Bildad is finishing his picture of the doomed man. The lamp goes out, the roots dry up, the branches wither — and now even the man's memory dies, leaving him nameless on the earth. Every line is true of wickedness in general. But Bildad aims it at a grieving, innocent man, and that is where he goes wrong.
The picture in the words
The verse wipes the man off the map in both directions: no monument where people live, and no name out in the open country. One commentator sums up the whole picture:
William KellyNo memorial to him stands in the settled parts of the earth, and he has no name in the wilderness. He is an outlaw from the inhabited world, sent away from light into darkness. Not a sprout or shoot of him remains among his people, and no one survives in his home. The desolation is complete.
True in itself, false in its aim
The sentences themselves are sound. What fails is the target Bildad picks, and the cruelty of choosing a man whose children had just been buried:
Samuel RidoutAs said again and again, the fault lies in applying such words to a man whose life proved their constant charges of open wickedness false. Bildad keeps to his theme. Name and remembrance will fail the evil man — "the name of the wicked will rot." He is driven off into darkness, and none of his family escape the disaster. Here is a sharp thrust at the bereaved parent, which must have made him wince with pain, though not in guilt.
Another writer puts the same tension in a single line:
Charles StanleyHe means well, but his words are poisoned arrows. "The light of the wicked shall be put out." Yes, every word is perfectly true of the wicked; but how crushing to Job!
Spoken before the end
Bildad is making a prediction. He makes it too early, and the rest of the book overturns every part of it:
Leslie M. GrantAt the time of course Job had no children to carry on his name; but later on he did have as many children as he had before! (Ch. 42:13). Bildad also implied that Job would have no name among the famous. Yet Job's name has been famous for centuries since. As for his possessions, Job received twice as much as he had before the dreadful trial he had to bear (Ch. 42:10). Bildad never allowed for the whole picture changing completely — and it did, before long.
A rule with no room for grace
Bildad's system is tidy: you reap what you sow. But he only ever runs it in one direction:
William KellyJob may struggle as fiercely as he likes. In the end he will find that his friends are not stupid cattle, and that God's moral government is as immovable as the course of the earth or the stubborn rock. What a man sows he reaps: if evil, ruin; if good, blessing. But of the latter Bildad has not a word to say. Did he know what grace works through faith? Faith can not only remove the rock, but cast a mountain into the sea.
Sincere and still completely wrong
The friends are not liars. That is what makes this chapter so searching. A person can be honest, quote true things, and still misread the life in front of him:
William KellyIs it not humbling and solemn that we may be completely sincere in what we believe, and still be completely wrong? We are just as responsible for what we are convinced of as for what we do or say. Only One is able to give us the right thought or feeling — He who alone gives the wisdom and strength to carry it out. It is God Himself.
The register that cannot be erased
If losing your name on earth were the final word, the verse would be terrifying for every quiet believer. Another writer points to a different book, where God keeps the names the world never records:
Hamilton SmithThey feared the Lord, and the Lord remembered them. They thought upon His name, and He will not forget their names. But it was "before Him" the book was written, not before the world. A God-fearing walk, godly dealings with others, godly jealousy for the Lord's name — these are not the traits that put a man's name on this world's list of great people. The world has only a short memory for such names. It is to the heart of the Lord that they are dear. He treasures their memory, and writes their names in His book of remembrance.
Summary
- True. Every word Bildad says about the wicked man losing name and memory is accurate in itself.
- Misaimed. Bildad fires true words at the wrong man. Job's life disproved the charge.
- Cruel. A father had just buried his children. Telling him no child will carry his name is a thrust at an open wound.
- Premature. Bildad spoke too soon. Job received children again, double possessions, and a name famous for centuries.
- Incomplete. His rule of sowing and reaping had no word for grace. It also missed the book of remembrance, where God keeps the names the world forgets.