Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight?
Bildad breaks into Job's grief with a complaint of his own: he feels insulted. He says nothing yet about God or suffering. First he wants to know why Job treats him and his two friends like cattle. The question tells us more about Bildad than about Job.
The words of the taunt
The verse turns on two images: animals, and dullness. One writer translates the opening of Bildad's speech like this:
William KellyHow long will you make a hunt for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak. Why are we accounted as cattle, stopped up [that is, stupid] in your eyes?
So Bildad's charge has two parts. Job treats them like animals, and as if their minds were shut. Another writer translates the line before it differently, and hears insult answered with insult:
F. B. HoleThe second part of verse 2 has been translated, "Be intelligent, and then we will speak." He clearly saw Job's rejection of their position, and of the claims they had made, as something that degraded them, as if they were animals. So he answered with an insult of his own. All four men feared God, Job most of all, yet see how the spirit behind their words had sunk!
An accusation Job never made
Bildad is answering something Job did not say. Look back at what Job actually claimed, and the complaint collapses:
Leslie M. GrantBildad did not learn from Job's words to be a little more considerate than before. He only shows stronger opposition, reproving Job unjustly. No doubt if Bildad had not acted like an animal, Job would not have spoken to him as he did. Yet Job had not accused them of being stupid. He had protested that he was not inferior to them, and that he did not find a wise man among them (ch.12:2; 17:10). Why did Bildad not at least modify his unfair attitude?
Job answered as one of a crowd
One detail in the grammar is easy to miss. Bildad's "you" is plural. He is not talking to one broken man only.
Samuel RidoutBildad accuses Job of multiplying words, and of being so full of talk that he will not listen to others. It is worth noticing that Bildad speaks to Job as if others stood with him: "How long will you hunt for words?" as verse 2 has been translated. Bildad treats him as the representative of everyone who would question the friends' position. But Job, at least in opposing their argument, was holding to the truth. We may think of him as standing at the head of that great company of righteous people who have gone through deep suffering for no visible reason.
Wounded pride behind the theology
One writer sums up what Bildad is hitting back at:
William KellyBildad, who is always brief, hits back at Job's long and passionate answers. He treats them as contemptuous towards his friends, and as a useless attempt at self-justification by a man plainly under God's displeasure and judgment for hidden evil. Was Job the one exception to God's always righteous government? If not, why so many words, and why such fierce attacks?
What Bildad goes on to say about the wicked is true. It is aimed at the wrong man:
Charles StanleyBildad again takes his place in the contest (Job 18). He means well, but his words are poisoned arrows. "The light of the wicked is put out." Yes, every word is true of the wicked; but how crushing to Job! Circumstances seemed to favour the charge.
Sincere and completely wrong
Bildad was sure he had Job worked out. One writer turns that into a warning:
William KellyBildad was satisfied that the truth could no longer be hidden. To him, God's judgments and Job's own words showed that Job had been simply a prosperous fool. We all understand what Scripture means by a "fool" — a man without God. No folly is like it. Is it not humbling and solemn that we can be completely sincere in what we believe, and still be completely wrong? We are just as responsible for what our convictions are as for what we do or say. The only one able to give us the right thought or feeling is He who alone gives the wisdom and strength to act on it. It is God Himself.
Summary
- Offended. Bildad's first concern is his own dignity, not Job's pain. He feels counted as cattle and "stopped up" — that is, stupid. The sting sets the tone for all that follows.
- Invented. The insult he resents was never spoken. Job had said he was not inferior to them, and that he found no wise man among them — not that they were stupid.
- Impatient. "Be intelligent, and then we will speak" is insult answered with insult. Four men feared God, and the spirit behind their words had sunk.
- Generalised. Bildad's "you" turns plural. One suffering man becomes a type — and that type is the great company of righteous people who suffer for no visible reason.
- Sincere, and wrong. Every word Bildad says about the wicked is true of the wicked; aimed at Job it becomes a poisoned arrow. We are as responsible for our convictions as for our deeds, and only God can form them rightly.