וַיַּעַן בִּלְדַּד הַשּׁוּחִי וַיֹּאמַר׃

Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

עַד־אָן תְּמַלֶּל אֵלֶּה וְרוּחַ כַּבִּיר אִמְרֵי־פִיךָ

Until when will you pronounce these, and until when will the sayings of your mouth be a great wind, an attack, against God?

הַאֵל יְעַוֵּת מִשְׁפָּט וְאִם־שַׁדַּי יְעַוֵּת־צֶדֶק

Would God pervert judgment? Does the Almighty pervert justice? Bildad castigates Job for ideas that he did not express. Job merely articulated the pain he was feeling and wondered why God was striking him ceaselessly, as though the rest of the world required protection from his baleful influence. Nevertheless, like Elifaz, Bildad infers from Job’s comments that he maintains a grievance against God’s system of judgment in the world. Bildad therefore responds to his understanding of Job’s beliefs.

אִם־בָּנֶיךָ חָטְאוּ־לוֹ וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם בְּיַד פִּשְׁעָם

If your children sinned against Him, He sent them to death into the hand of, due to, their transgression.

אִם־אַתָּה תְּשַׁחֵר אֶל־אֵל וְאֶל־שַׁדַּי תִּתְחַנָּן

It would be good if you, in contrast to them, would seek God, and plead to the Almighty;

אִם־זַךְ וְיָשָׁר אָתָּה כִּי־עַתָּה יָעִיר עָלֶיךָ וְשִׁלַּם נְוַת צִדְקֶךָ

if you are truly pure and upright, right now He will rouse Himself to bring goodness for you, and He will restore the abode of your righteousness, or He will recompense you properly for your righteous habitation.

וְהָיָה רֵאשִׁיתְךָ מִצְעָר וְאַחֲרִיתְךָ יִשְׂגֶּה מְאֹד

Your beginning may be small, as you started lowly and poor, but your end will soar very high. Alternatively, the good you possessed initially will be considered minor in comparison to what you will ultimately receive.

כִּי־שְׁאַל־נָא לְדֹר רִישׁוֹן וְכוֹנֵן לְחֵקֶר אֲבוֹתָם

For ask now of the first generation, and attend, direct your attention, to the investigation of their fathers, the early generations,

כִּי תְמוֹל אֲנַחְנוּ וְלֹא נֵדָע כִּי צֵל יָמֵינוּ עֲלֵי־אָרֶץ

for we are but of yesterday, we are very young, and therefore do not know everything, for our days on earth are as a passing shadow.

הֲלֹא־הֵם יוֹרוּךָ יֹאמְרוּ לָךְ וּמִלִּבָּם יוֹצִאוּ מִלִּים

Won’t they, your fathers, teach you, say to you, and from their heart, words will emerge, to explain to you the proper order of nature?

היִגְאֶה גֹּמֶא בְּלֹא בִצָּה יִשְׂגֶּא אָחוּ בְלִי־מָיִם

Can a reed, a plant that sprouts near swamps and streams, grow tall without a marsh? Can rushes, a generic term for shrubbery that grows alongside water, or a type of willow, rise without water?

עֹדֶנּוּ בְאִבּוֹ לֹא יִקָּטֵף וְלִפְנֵי כָל־חָצִיר יִיבָשׁ

With no source of water, even though it is still in its bud, or fresh, and is not supposed to be plucked so quickly, and yet nevertheless it will wither before any other grass.

כֵּן אָרְחוֹת כָּל־שֹׁכְחֵי אֵל וְתִקְוַת חָנֵף תֹּאבֵד

So are the paths of all forgetters of God. They will wither quickly, because they abandoned their source of sustenance, and the hypocrite’s hope will perish;

אֲשֶׁר־יָקוֹט כִּסְלוֹ וּבֵית עַכָּבִישׁ מִבְטַחוֹ

it is he whose support, upon which he relies, is gossamer, a thin web, or his confidence will be cut down and diminished, and whose trust is a spider’s web. He places his trust in flimsy webs.

יִשָּׁעֵן עַל־בֵּיתוֹ וְלֹא יַעֲמֹד יַחֲזִיק בּוֹ וְלֹא יָקוּם

He will lean on his house, but it will not stand; he will grasp it, but it will not endure. One cannot rely upon such a house.

רָטֹב הוּא לִפְנֵי שָׁמֶשׁ וְעַל־גַּנָּתוֹ יוֹנַקְתּוֹ תֵצֵא

It, this plant, the wicked individual, is moist before the rising of the sun, before retribution arrives, or it is moist and flourishing when it is in the sunshine; and its shoots go forth over, into, his garden. Some interpret this set of verses (16–19) as referring to a righteous individual who ultimately attains a good portion despite temporary suffering.

עַל־גַּל שָׁרָשָׁיו יְסֻבָּכוּ בֵּית אֲבָנִים יֶחֱזֶה

However, if on a heap of stones, its roots are entangled, then it looks for a place among the stones, and the plant has nothing to take hold of and has no source of sustenance.

אִם־יְבַלְּעֶנּוּ מִמְּקֹמוֹ וְכִחֶשׁ בּוֹ לֹא רְאִיתִיךָ

If it is cleared away, uprooted, from its place, and then its place will deny it and say: I did not see you. I never knew you at all. Nothing will be left of you.

הֶן־הוּא מְשׂוֹשׂ דַּרְכּוֹ וּמֵעָפָר אַחֵר יִצְמָחוּ

Behold, this is the gladness, the supposed success, of its way, or, alternatively, the dissolving or rotting of his path. This plant is about to rot, and hopefully from other earth they, its roots, will grow. The roots of the plant will spring again elsewhere on earth, in a different form.

הֶן אֵל לֹא יִמְאַס תָּם וְלֹא־יַחֲזִיק בְּיַד מְרֵעִים

Behold, God will not despise the blameless. If you are indeed an upright individual, God will come to your aid. And He will not support the evildoers,

עַד יְמַלֵּה שְׂחוֹק פִּיךָ ושְׂפָתֶיךָ תְרוּעָה

since if you are righteous, He will assist you until He fills your mouth with laughter and your lips with celebration.

שֹׂנְאֶיךָ יִלְבְּשׁוּ־בֹשֶׁת וְאֹהֶל רְשָׁעִים אֵינֶנּוּ

But Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.