His strong steps are shortened, and his own schemes throw him down.
Bildad pictures a strong man whose stride shortens and whose own plan trips him up — and without naming Job, he aims every word at him. The question the verse forces on us is not whether the description is true, but of whom it is true.
The picture behind the words
One writer traces the movement here from the lit tent to the failing step:
Samuel RidoutThe light of the wicked may burn brightly for a little while, as Job's had done, but it would be put out. The light of home, with its beckoning attraction, would vanish. His vigorous steps would begin to falter, and he would fall by his own evil counsel.
Ruined by his own planning
This downfall is not a careless slip. One writer ties it to the man's own planning, and to trusting himself instead of God:
William KellyNo effort would set him free; it would only entangle him more. Not rashness, but his own counsel, plunges him into complete ruin. No cleverness helps — it only traps the man who trusts himself instead of God. So his own feet send him into the net, and he walks over the meshes, with no idea what is underneath.
True in itself, false as a charge
The statement is sound doctrine in itself. What commentators reject is the use Bildad makes of it:
Leslie M. GrantHe therefore enlarges on the condition of the wicked — words true enough, but not fitting Job as though he were wicked. Whatever light the wicked man has is only darkness, and God will see that his lamp is completely put out (v. 6). His life will be shortened and his own counsel leads to his downfall (v. 7). This vivid description of what the wicked can expect is right and good, but it is no help to Job.
A second writer puts it more sharply: true words can still wound.
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 shall be put out." Yes, every word is perfectly true of the wicked; but how crushing to Job! Circumstances seemed to support the charge.
That line is from verse 5. The ESV reads, "Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out."
Why it wounded
Job's failing strength was real. That is what made the argument unbearable: his friends read his symptoms back to him as evidence.
Samuel RidoutIt was painful enough to lose all he once had, and to have the bright light quenched that once glowed in his welcoming tent. But then all this, along with the dreadful disease gnawing away inside him and draining his strength, was quoted as proof of his wickedness. That was more than human nature could bear. It is as though he were saying, "Now we have found you out; you are reaping the fruit of your sin, and all this misery is God's punishment for your wickedness."
Sincere, and completely wrong
Bildad is not lying. He has convinced himself, and his conviction is the problem:
William KellyHe was sure that, whatever the appearances had been, they were all hollow. Now the truth could no longer be hidden. God's judgments and Job's own words were making it plain that he had simply been a prosperous fool, coming to the fitting and usual end in this life... Is it not humbling and solemn that we may be completely sincere in what we believe, and completely wrong? We are just as responsible for what our convictions are as for what we do or say. The only One who can give us the right thought or feeling is God Himself, and He alone gives the wisdom and strength to carry it out.
The same writer notes the spirit behind Bildad's words, not just his wrong conclusion:
William KellyBildad has far less gentleness and self-control than his older friend Eliphaz, who leads all these discussions. So he is much more unscrupulous in voicing his doubt about Job and hinting at hypocrisy; that is what soon comes out... "Judge not, that you be not judged."
Where Job stands
Job is not the wicked man of verse 7. He belongs to a different company:
Samuel RidoutBut, as we know, Job — at least in his opposition to their argument — was holding to the truth. We may think of him as standing at the head of that great company of the righteous who have passed through deep suffering with no apparent reason for it. If Job had used strong language, there had been great provocation in the charges of the friends.
Summary
- Picture. The strong man's confident stride shortens and his own plan trips him — light fading, footing gone.
- Cause. Ruin comes from his own planning, not a careless slip. Cleverness traps the man who trusts himself instead of God.
- Truth. Every word is accurate about the wicked; the error is the target, not the content.
- Sting. Job's friends quoted his wasting strength back to him as proof of guilt. True doctrine became a poisoned arrow.
- Warning. A man can be fully sincere and fully wrong. We answer for our convictions as much as for our words.