Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 8:10
Shall not they teach thee, [and] tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
10. words out of their heart ] Words not the result of hasty and superficial generalizing, but of an experience which the lengthened lives of these men had enabled them to pass through, and the principles learned in which had sunk into their heart. The “heart” is in Heb. the deepest part of human nature, whether intellect or feeling. There is an implied condemnation in all this of the new principles which Job was setting forth, what a subsequent speaker calls his “doctrine,” ch. Job 11:4, principles based on nothing but his own single experience and instance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Shall not they teach thee – The results of human conduct, and the great principles on which God governs the world.
And utter words out of their heart – Dr. Good renders this,
And well forth the sayings of their wisdom,
And supposes it means that the words of wisdom would proceed from them as water bubbles from a fountain. But this, I think, is a mere conceit. The true sense is, that they would not speak that merely which comes from the mouth, or that which comes upper most, and without reflection – as the Greeks say, legein pan ho ti epi stoma elthe; or, as the Latins, Quicquid in buccam venerit loqui – to speak whatever comes in the mouth; but they would utter that which came from the heart – which was sincere, and the result of deep and prolonged reflection. Perhaps, also, Bildad means to insinuate that Job had uttered what was uppermost in his mind, without taking time for reflection.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. Shall not they teach thee] Wilt thou not treat their maxims with the utmost deference and respect? They utter words from their heart – what they say is the fruit of long and careful experience.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Assuredly they will inform thee that it is as we say.
Out of their heart; not partially, but sincerely, speaking their inward thoughts; not rashly, but from deep consideration; not by hearsay from others, but their own knowledge and experience.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. teach thee Job6:24 had said, “Teach me.” Bildad, therefore, says,”Since you want teaching, inquire of the fathers. Theywill teach thee.”
utter wordsmore thanmere speaking; “put forth well-considered words.”
out of their heartfromobservation and reflection; not merely, from their mouth: such, asBildad insinuates, were Job’s words. Job8:11-13 embody in poetic and sententious form (probably thefragment of an old poem) the observation of the elders. The doublepoint of comparison between the ungodly and the paper-reed is: 1. theluxuriant prosperity at first; and, 2. the sudden destruction.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Shall not they teach thee, [and] tell thee,…. That is, the men of the former age, and their fathers before them, Job is directed to inquire of, and to prepare for a search into their records and traditions; from whom he might reasonably expect to be taught and told things that would be very instructive and useful to him in his present circumstances:
and utter words out of their heart? such as were the effect of mature judgment and long observation, and which they had laid up in their hearts, and brought out from their treasure there; and, with the greatest faithfulness and sincerity, had either committed them to writing, or delivered them in a traditionary way to their posterity, to be communicated to theirs; and which might be depended upon as true and genuine, being men of probity, uprightness, and singleness of heart; who declared sincerely what they knew, and spoke not with a double heart, having no intention to deceive, as it cannot be thought they would impose upon their own children; and therefore Job might safely receive what they uttered, and depend upon it as truth and fact; and what they said, as Jarchi observes, is as follows; or what follows Bildad collected from them, and so might Job, and think he heard them “saying”, as Piscator supplies the text, what is expressed in the following verses, if not in their words, yet as their sense.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
10. Shall not they teach thee Job had confidently said, (Job 6:24,) Teach me, and Bildad adduces a most remarkable passage out of the heart of ancient times. He summons the fathers, that they may deal Job a crushing blow. In the early history of most nations knowledge was preserved in the form of proverbs, maxims, and apothegms. Lacking the advantage of circulated books for the transmission of thought, they compressed it into as small a compass as possible, that it might be more easily remembered, and thus preserved for the generations to come. We have before us fragments of a poem (Job 8:11-19) that probably came to Bildad from a very remote age. Some have conjectured that they may be relics of some primeval revelation. The imagery employed, as well as the Egyptian words gome, (Coptic, kam,) reed, (papyrus,) and ahhou, (flag,) satisfy Carey and others that this ancient lay was composed in Egypt.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(10) Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? (11) Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? (12) Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. (13) So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: (14) Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web. (15) He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. (16) He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden. (17) His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones. (18) If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee. (19) Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow. (20) Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: (21) Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. (22) They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
Observe in all these verses, how the whole scope of Bildad’s discourse is levelled against hypocrisy; and how indirectly he points to poor Job under all. I stay not to particularize: but what I would desire the Reader more immediately to regard, is the false conclusion the Shuhite draws of the providence of GOD. Though it be certainly true, that GOD never did, nor ever will, cast away a perfect man, neither help evildoers; yet this conclusion is not to be made by a view of outward things. The prophet was so struck, in his days, with what he saw of the prosperity of the wicked, and the sorrows of the righteous, that he stands up to talk with GOD on the subject. Wherefore (saith he) doth the way of the wicked prosper. Jer 12:1 . And Asaph was so overwhelmed with what he saw of the proud man’s oppression and success, that he declared it staggered him. Psa 73:3-4 . We must look therefore to another state to have these things fully and finally cleared up. There, the LORD will judge the world in righteousness, and minister true judgment unto the people.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 8:10 Shall not they teach thee, [and] tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
Ver. 10. Shall they not teach thee, and tell thee ] They, that is, the forefathers, Job 8:8 , these, though dead and gone, yet by their records and monuments, by their apopthegms and oracles (for the words of dying men are living oracles), do still teach us and tell us their minds, as if they were yet living, Heb 11:4 Luk 16:29 . Books are mute matters, silent voices. The way to be wise, said a heathen, is to converse with the dead, . Histories are faithful counsellors, and by the reading of them many young men have attained to more understanding than their elders; as Augustus, Theodosius, Macarius, who was surnamed , the old youth, for his wisdom and gravity above his years, gotten by reading and prayer, as saith Nicephorus.
And utter words out of their heart?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shall. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
and. Some codices, with Aramaean, Septuagint, and Syriac, read this “and” in the text.
heart. Supply Ellipsis (App-6), by adding the words “such as these”: referring to what follows in verses: Job 8:11-19 (see below).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Shall not: Job 12:7, Job 12:8, Job 32:7, Deu 6:7, Deu 11:19, Psa 145:4, Heb 11:4, Heb 12:1
utter words: Pro 16:23, Pro 18:15, Mat 12:35
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 8:10. Shall not they teach thee? Assuredly they will inform thee that it is as we say. And utter words out of their heart Not partially, but sincerely, speaking their inward thoughts; not rashly, but from deep consideration; not by hearsay from others, but their own knowledge and experience.