Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 8:8
For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
8. prepare thyself to the search ] i. e., give heed to the research, or, to that which their fathers have searched out. By referring to a former age, and then to the fathers of that age or generation, Bildad intimates that his truth was recognised through all antiquity backwards till history loses itself in the beginnings of time.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8 19. The moral wisdom of the ancients
Bildad, having laid down his moral principle, invites Job to reflect that it is a principle resting on the research and the generalized experience of men of generations long past, whose long lives enabled them to weigh and balance and infer from the multitude of cases the general truth. It is no new theory of his or of the short-lived men of to-day, who are but of yesterday and know nothing. These maxims of the ancient world are clothed in rich and gorgeous similes drawn from the luxuriant plant-life of the sultry East.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For inquire thee of the former age – That is, attend to the results of observation. Ask the generations which have passed, and who in their poems and proverbs have left the records of their experience. The sentiment which Bildad proposes to confirm by this appeal is, that though the wicked should for a time flourish, yet they would be cut off, and that the righteous, though they may be for a time afflicted, yet if they seek God, they will ultimately prosper. It was common to make these appeals to the ancients. The results of observation were embodied in proverbs, parables, fables, and fragments of poems; and he was regarded as among the wisest of men who had the fruits of these observations most at command. To that Bildad appeals, and especially, as would appear, to the fragment of an ancient poem which he proceeds to repeat, and which, perhaps, is the oldest poem extant in any language.
And prepare thyself – Make an effort, or give diligent attention to it.
To the search of their fathers – Of the bygone generations, not only to the age immediately past, but to their ancestors. He would bring the results of the observation of far distant ages to confirm the sentiment which he had advanced.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Inquire – of the former age] ledor rishon, of the first age; of the patriarchs; the first generation of men that dwelt upon the earth: not of the age that was just past, as Mr. Peters and several others have imagined, in order to keep up the presumption of Job’s high antiquity. Bildad most evidently refers to an antiquity exceedingly remote.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of the former age, i.e. of our predecessors, who had the advantage of longer life and more experience, besides more frequent revelations from God, than we have; who also will be more impartial judges of this cause than we may be thought to be. Inform thyself from them by the instructions which they left, either in word or writing, what their opinion was about the manner of Gods dealings with men.
Prepare thyself to the search of their fathers; do not slightly, but seriously and industriously, search the ancient records.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8, 9. The sages of the oldentime reached an age beyond those of Job’s time (see on Job42:16), and therefore could give the testimony of a fullerexperience.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,…. With respect to the truth of what he had said, or should say; he does not desire Job to take his word for it, but inquire how it was in former times; by which it would appear, that when good men have been in affliction and trouble, and have behaved well under it, as became them, they have been delivered out of it, and have been afterwards in more flourishing and comfortable circumstances, as Noah, Abraham, Lot, and others; and that wicked men and hypocrites, though they have flourished for a while, yet destruction has sooner or later come upon them, and they have utterly perished, as the descendants of Cain, the builders of Babel, and the men of Sodom, and others; whereas good and upright men are never cast away by the Lord, no instance can be given of it; all which would appear, if inquiry was made into what had happened in the “former age” not the “first age”, as the Septuagint version, the age or generation in which the first man and woman lived; for who were “their fathers”, mentioned in the next clause? but the age or generation preceding that in which Job and his friends lived; and the knowledge of things done in that might with some application and diligence be more easily obtained:
and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers; of the fathers of the men of the former age, who lived in the age preceding that, and from whom their posterity had received the knowledge of many things by tradition, as they had received from their fathers that lived before them and so upwards; things being handed down in a traditionary way from father to son; and though these fathers were dead, yet, by their traditions that were preserved, they were capable of teaching and instructing men; and their sayings and sentiments deserved regard, and were had in much esteem; but yet being uninspired and fallible men, were not to be received without examination; for though truth is of the greatest antiquity, and to be revered on that account, yet error is almost as old as that; and therefore great care is to be taken how any thing is received purely upon the score of antiquity; and great pains, diligence, and circumspection, are necessary to a due search of the fathers, and coming at their sense and sentiments; and so as to distinguish between truth and error, and get a true knowledge of facts done in ancient times; such a search is to be made in like manner as one would search for gold and silver, and hidden treasures.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8 For inquire only of former ages,
And attend to the research of their fathers –
9 For we are of yesterday, without experience,
Because our days upon earth are a shadow –
10 Shall they not teach thee, speak to thee,
And bring forth words from their heart?
This challenge calls Deu 32:7 to mind. is to be supplied to ; the conjecture of Olshausen, , is good, but unnecessary. is after the Aramaic form of writing, comp. Job 15:7, where this and the ordinary form are combined. The “research of their fathers,” i.e., which the fathers of former generations have bequeathed to them, is the collective result of their research, the profound wisdom of the ancients gathered from experience. Our ephemeral and shadowy life is not sufficient for passing judgment on the dealings of God; we must call history and tradition to our aid. We are ( per aphaeresin, the same as ), yesterday = of yesterday; it is not necessary to read, with Olshausen, . There is no occasion for us to suppose that Job 8:9 is an antithesis to the long duration of life of primeval man. (Job 8:10) is not the antithesis of mouth; but has the pregnant signification of a feeling, i.e., intelligent heart, as we find , a man of heart, i.e., understanding, Job 34:10, Job 34:34. , promunt , calls to mind Mat 13:52. Now follow familiar sayings of the ancients, not directly quoted, but the wisdom of the fathers, which Bildad endeavours to reproduce.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: 9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) 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.
Bildad here discourses very well on the sad catastrophe of hypocrites and evil-doers and the fatal period of all their hopes and joys. He will not be so bold as to say with Eliphaz that none that were righteous were ever cut off thus (ch. iv. 7); yet he takes it for granted that God, in the course of his providence, does ordinarily bring wicked men, who seemed pious and were prosperous, to shame and ruin in this world, and that, by making their prosperity short, he discovers their piety to be counterfeit. Whether this will certainly prove that all who are thus ruined must be concluded to have been hypocrites he will not say, but rather suspect, and thinks the application is easy.
I. He proves this truth, of the certain destruction of all the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to antiquity and the concurring sentiment and observation of all wise and good men; and an undoubted truth it is, if we take in the other world, that, if not in this life, yet in the life to come, hypocrites will be deprived of all their trusts and all their triumphs: whether Bildad so meant or no, we must so take it. Let us observe the method of his proof, v. 8-10.
1. He insists not on his own judgment and that of his companions: We are but of yesterday, and know nothing, v. 9. He perceived that Job had no opinion of their abilities, but thought they knew little. “We will own,” says Bildad, “that we know nothing, are as ready to confess our ignorance as thou art to condemn it; for we are but of yesterday in comparison, and our days upon earth are short and transient, and hastening away as a shadow. And hence,” (1.) “We are not so near the fountain-head of divine revelation” (which then for aught that appears, was conveyed by tradition) “as the former age was; and therefore we must enquire what they said and recount what we have been told of their sentiments.” Blessed be God, now that we have the word of God in writing, and are directed to search that, we need not enquire of the former age, nor prepare ourselves to the search of their fathers; for, though we ourselves are but of yesterday, the word of God in the scripture is as nigh to us as it was to them (Rom. x. 8), and it is the more sure word of prophecy, to which we must take heed. If we study and keep God’s precepts, we may by them understand more than the ancients,Psa 119:99; Psa 119:100. (2.) “We do not live so long as those of the former age did, to make observations upon the methods of divine providence, and therefore cannot be such competent judges as they in a cause of this nature.” Note, The shortness of our lives is a great hindrance to the improvement of our knowledge, and so are the frailty and weakness of our bodies. Vita brevis, ars longa–life is short, the progress of art boundless.
2. He refers to the testimony of the ancients and to the knowledge which Job himself had of their sentiments. “Do thou enquire of the former age, and let them tell thee, not only their own judgment in this matter, but the judgment also of their fathers, v. 8. They will teach thee, and inform thee (v. 10), that all along, in their time, the judgments of God followed wicked men. This they will utter out of their hearts, that is, as that which they firmly believe themselves, which they are greatly affected with and desirous to acquaint and affect others with.” Note, (1.) For the right understanding of divine Providence, and the unfolding of the difficulties of it, it will be of use to compare the observations and experiences of former ages with the events of our own day; and, in order thereto, to consult history, especially the sacred history, which is the most ancient, infallibly true, and written designedly for our learning. (2.) Those that would fetch knowledge from the former ages must search diligently, prepare for the search, and take pains for the search. (3.) Those words are most likely to reach to the hearts of the learners that come from the hearts of the teachers. Those shall teach thee best that utter words out of their heart, that speak by experience, and not by rote, of spiritual and divine things. The learned bishop Patrick suggests that Bildad being a Shuhite, descended from Shuah one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2), in this appeal which he makes to history he has a particular respect to the rewards which the blessing of God secured to the posterity of faithful Abraham (who hitherto, and long after, continued in his religion) and to the extirpation of those eastern people, neighbours to Job (in whose country they were settled), for their wickedness, whence he infers that it is God’s usual way to prosper the just and root out the wicked, though for a while they may flourish.
II. He illustrates this truth by some similitudes.
1. The hopes and joys of the hypocrite are here compared to a rush or flag, v. 11-13. (1.) It grows up out of the mire and water. The hypocrite cannot gain his hope without some false rotten ground or other out of which to raise it, and with which to support it and keep it alive, any more than the rush can grow without mire. He grounds it on his worldly prosperity, the plausible profession he makes of religion, the good opinion of his neighbours, and his own good conceit of himself, which are no solid foundation on which to build his confidence. It is all but mire and water; and the hope that grows out of it is but rush and flag. (2.) It may look green and gay for a while (the rush outgrows the grass), but it is light and hollow, and empty, and good for nothing. It is green for show, but of no use. (3.) It withers presently, before any other herb, v. 12. Even while it is in its greenness it is dried away and gone in a little time. Note, The best state of hypocrites and evil-doers borders upon withering; even when it is green it is going. The grass is cut down and withers (Ps. xc. 6); but the rush is not cut down and yet withers, withers before it grows up (Ps. cxxix. 6): as it has no use, so it has no continuance. So are the paths of all that forget God (v. 13); they take the same way that the rush does, for the hypocrite’s hope shall perish. Note, [1.] Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of men’s hypocrisy, and of the vain hopes with which they flatter and deceive themselves in their hypocrisy. Men would not be hypocrites if they did not forget that the God with whom they have to do searches the heart and requires truth there, that he is a Spirit and has his eye on our spirits; and hypocrites would have no hope if they did not forget that God is righteous, and will not be mocked with the torn and the lame. [2.] The hope of hypocrites is a great cheat upon themselves, and, though it may flourish for a while, it will certainly perish at last, and they with it.
2. They are here compared to a spider’s web, or a spider’s house (as it is in the margin), a cobweb, Job 8:14; Job 8:15. The hope of the hypocrite, (1.) Is woven out of his own bowels; it is the creature of his own fancy, and arises merely from a conceit of his own merit and sufficiency. There is a great deal of difference between the work of the bee and that of the spider. A diligent Christian, like the laborious bee, fetches in all his comfort from the heavenly dews of God’s word; but the hypocrite, like the subtle spider, weaves his out of a false hypothesis of his own concerning God, as if he were altogether such a one as himself. (2.) He is very fond of it, as the spider of her web; pleases himself with it, wraps himself in it, calls it his house, leans upon it, and holds it fast. It is said of the spider that she takes hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces, Prov. xxx. 28. So does a carnal worldling hug himself in the fulness and firmness of his outward prosperity; he prides himself in that house as his palace, fortifies himself in it as his castle, and makes use of it as the spider of her web, to ensnare those he has a mind to prey upon. So does a formal professor; he flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of his salvation, is secure of heaven, and cheats the world with his vain confidences. (3.) It will easily and certainly be swept away, as the cobweb with the besom, when God shall come to purge his house. The prosperity of worldly people will fail them when they expect to find safety and happiness in it. They seek to hold fast their estates, but God is plucking them out of their hands; and whose shall all those things be, which they have provided? or what the better they will be for them? The confidences of hypocrites will fail them. I tell you, I know you not. The house built on the sand will fall in the storm, when the builder most needs it and promised himself the benefit of it. When a wicked man dies his expectation perishes. The ground of his hopes will prove false; he will be disappointed of the thing he hoped for, and his foolish hope with which he buoyed himself up will be turned into endless despair; and thus his hope will be cut off, his web, that refuge of lies, swept away, and he crushed in it.
3. The hypocrite is here compared to a flourishing and well-rooted tree, which, though it do not wither of itself, yet will easily be cut down and its place no it no more. The secure and prosperous sinner may think himself wronged when he is compared to a rush and a flag; he thinks he has a better root. “We will allow him his conceit,” says Bildad, “and give him all the advantage he can desire, and bring him in suddenly cut off.” He is here represented as Nebuchadnezzar was in his own dream (Dan. iv. 10) by a great tree. (1.) See this tree fair and flourishing (v. 16) like a green bay-tree (Ps. xxxvii. 35), green before the sun, it keeps its greenness in defiance of the scorching sun-beams, and his branch shoots forth under the protection of his garden-wall and with the benefit of his garden-soil. See it fixed, and taking deep root, never likely to be overthrown by stormy winds, for his roots are interwoven with the stones (v. 17); it grows in firm ground, not, as the rush, of mire and water. Thus does a wicked man, when he prospers in the world, think himself secure; his wealth is a high wall in his own conceit. (2.) See this tree felled and forgotten notwithstanding, destroyed from his place (v. 18), and so entirely extirpated that there shall remain no sign or token where it grew. The very place say, I have not seen thee; and the standers by shall say the same. I sought him, but he could not be found, Ps. xxxvi. 36. He made a great show and a great noise for a time, but he is gone of a sudden, and neither root nor branch is left him, Mal. iv. 1. This is the joy (that is, this is the end and conclusion) of the wicked man’s way (v. 19); this is that which all his joy comes to. The way of the ungodly shall perish, Ps. i. 6. His hope, he thought, would in the issue be turned into joy; but this is the issue, this is the joy. The harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow, Isa. xvii. 11. This is the best of it; and what then is the worst of it? But shall he not leave a family behind him to enjoy what he has? No, out of the earth (not out of his roots) shall others grow, that are nothing akin to him, and shall fill up his place, and rule over that for which he labored. Others (that is, others of the same spirit and disposition) shall grow up in his place, and be as secure as ever he was, not warned by his fall. The way of worldlings is their folly, and yet there is a race of those that approve their sayings, Ps. xlix. 13.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
2. The wisdom of the ages teaches that it is the godless who perish. (Job. 8:8-19)
TEXT 8:819
8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,
And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
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 its greenness, and not cut down,
It withereth before any other herb.
13 So are the paths of all that forget God;
And the hope of the godless man shall perish:
14 Whose confidence shall break in sunder,
And whose trust is a spiders web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand:
He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the son,
And his shoots go forth over his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the stone-heap,
He beholdeth the place of stones.
18 If he be destroyed 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 spring.
COMMENT 8:819
Job. 8:8For inquire[112] of the wisdom of the ancients, see that I am right. The ancients searched out lit. searching out, i.e., the results of investigation. Note that it is deduction based on past experience of human correlation between rich-righteousness, and poverty and the power of sin, not revelation from God.[113]
[112] For discussion concerning the reading bonen for M. T. konen, see M. Dahood, Biblica, 46, 1965, 329.
[113] See W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (Doubleday, pb.), p. 142, n. 85.
Job. 8:9-10The longest life is but a brief flickering candle, so we need to consider the experience of humanity, not merely that of an individual. The brevity of life is a common theme in Wisdom LiteratureJob. 14:2; Psa. 90:9-10; Psa. 102:3-4; Psa. 144:4; Ecc. 6:12; Ecc. 8:13. Every individual needs recourse to total experience of mankind. Bildad claims that the instruction comes from the depth of their understanding (Heb. heart), and not from their lips as mere verbal advice.
Job. 8:11Bildad now recites some proverbial sayings which might have Egyptian background.[114] Could the papyrus and reeds (Heb. gome and ahu) grow without a proper environment? Can Job prosper without environmental righteousness? The law of retribution is as sure as physical law. The unrighteous will perish in the midst of their prosperity, just as plants die when they are deprived of waterJob. 15:32.
[114] In Ugaritic a cognate word is applied to the marshlands of Lake Samak, revealing that the terms above could have Palestinian origin.
Job. 8:12When deprived of its life-sustaining environment, it withers before all, i.e., quicker than everything else. This symbolizes Jobs condition.
Job. 8:13The paths (Heb. orhot), i.e., the fate[115] of all who forget God is suffering. The word translated godless occurs eight times in the book. The verb means to be profane, irreligious, or worldly person.
[115] Dhorme retains the M. T. over the LXX, and adduces support from Pro. 1:19 where paths mean fate; see also discussion in B. S. Childe, Isaiah and the Assyrian Crisis, 1967, pp. 28ff.
Job. 8:14Though there are technical problems in this verse, its basic meaning is clear. Jobs confidence is not in Gods justice, so his life will break like a spiders web.[116]
[116] See Dhorme, pp. 120ff, and Pope, pp. 667, for discussion; J. Reider, Vetus Testamentum, IV, 1954, 288ff.
Job. 8:15The confidence of the wicked is no more substantial than the proverbial flimsy spiders webJob. 27:18. Verily, frailest of all houses is the house of the spider, Qoran, 29:40.
Job. 8:16Here we observe a radical shift in imagery, that of a flourishing tree suddenly cut down. The tree thrives (lit. is sappysee also Job. 24:8) in a garden,[117] Job. 15:30-33; Job. 18:16-19; Eccl. 40:15; Mat. 13:4-9.
[117] See Jean Leveque, Job et Son Dieu, Tome II, 400408.
Job. 8:17The tree even grows in the midst of a stone-heap. Though they may appear secure, the wicked live in the midst of stones. The R. S. V. follows the LXX rather than the M. T. Though there are several problems with the translation of the A. V., the general sense is communicated, i.e., the tree strengthens its hold on the earth (even grows within context of stones).[118]
[118] Hebrew text readsyehezehhe sees, LXX reads zesetaihe lives.
Job. 8:18There is no vestige of the tree left; it must be removed from among the stones, which is the final sign of its former state and presence. He shall deny him or disown himJob. 31:28; reveals its final uprootedness of the treePsa. 103:16.
Job. 8:19Here joy can only be ironic. The grammar shows incongruity between the singular subject and plural verb, though the sense is that others will soon replace him, and he will not even be remembered.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Second long strophe THE WISE TEACHINGS OF THE ANCIENTS AS RESPECTS THE MERITED END OF THOSE WHO FORGET GOD, Job 8:8-19.
a. Introductory Praise of the collective wisdom of the ancients, “the oldest patriarchs,” (Dr. Clarke and Ewald,) whose vastly longer lives afforded a vastly wider range of experience and observation than that enjoyed by Job and his brother ephemera, Job 8:8-10.
8. Search Rather, the results of searching deep wisdom, that which comes from profound investigation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
An Accusation of Wickedness against Job.
Bildad was convinced that Job was, in some way, guilty of some special great transgression against the Lord, that his present affliction was the punishment for some specific wrong committed by him. Therefore he continued his harangue in this strain.
v. 8. For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, v. 9. (for we are but of yesterday and know nothing, v. 10. shall not they teach thee and tell thee, v. 11. Can the rush, v. 12. Whilst it is yet in his greenness and not cut down, v. 13. So are the paths of all that forget God, v. 14. whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web, v. 15. He shall lean upon his house, v. 16. He is green before the sun, v. 17. His roots are wrapped about the heap, v. 18. If he destroy him from his place, v. 19. Behold, this is the joy of his way, v. 20. Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, v. 21. till He, v. 22. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Job 8:8-13. For inquire, I pray thee, &c. Bildad had exhorted Job to apply himself to God by prayer, upon the assurance, that if he were innocent, as he pretended, or shewed any marks of a sincere repentance, there was no doubt but he would be restored, through the divine mercy, to his former state of prosperity; but, if he should forget God in his calamity, or play the hypocrite with him, there were then no hopes for him; and for this he quotes a saying of their ancestors in these remarkable words. There are three things in this passage well worthy of our observation: First, his referring Job to their ancestors of former times, as the best instructors in wisdom; then urging the comparative ignorance of the generation which then was, and the reason of it, viz. the shortness of men’s lives; We are but of yesterday, &c. human life being at this time in a swift decline, and reduced, in a few generations, from eight or nine hundred years, to one hundred and fifty, or thereabouts: but what is most to our purpose is, in the next place, his representing these long-lived ancestors of theirs, from whom they derived their wisdom, as living but an age or two before them: they were the men of the former age, or perhaps the fathers and grandfathers of these. And it appears from the Scripture history, that Shem, the son of Noah, who lived five hundred years after the flood, might well have been a cotemporary with the grand-fathers or great-grand-fathers of Job and his friends: with what authority, therefore, would such a one teach them! and with what attention would his instructions be received! Indeed, the same of these restorers of the human race was so great for many ages after, that when mankind fell into the superstition of worshipping men-deities, there is little doubt to be made, but that these were the first mortals who were deified; and that Saturn and his three famous sons (who are said by old Homer, Iliad xvi. ver. 187. to have “divided the world between them by a fair lot,”) were, in reality, no other than Noah and his sons. See Bochart, Phaleg. c. 1. . The last thing that I shall observe from the passage is, the style or manner in which the precepts of their ancestors were transmitted to them; and that is, by some apt simile, or comparison, drawn from nature, and, like a picture, fitted to engage the attention; and, by agreeably entertaining the imagination, to leave a strong impression on the memory. Such is that natural and beautiful comparison which we have here; and which, by the way of introducing it, appears plainly to have been a proverbial saying, delivered down from their forefathers, and perhaps taught them from their cradles: Enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers. Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart: out of the heart, the seat of wisdom always with the ancients. Have not they then, says he, transmitted to thee this wise lesson? That as the rush cannot grow up without mire, nor the flag without water, so neither can any thing flourish or prosper long without the blessing of Almighty God? and how should the ungodly or the hypocrite expect his blessing! One scarcely knows which to admire most, the piety of the sentiment, or the elegance and justness of the comparison. The Redeemer of mankind, who came into the world, among other great designs, to revive, by his teaching, that simplicity of manners which was so observable in those ancient times, I mean that piety, and love, and humility, and purity, and probity, and truth, and those other ornaments of the mind of man, which we see so admirably delineated throughout this book,was pleased to choose the same method of conveying his doctrines and precepts, under the delightful style of an easy parable or similitude: but enough has been said, I hope, to vindicate the interpretation given of this passage: and I have dwelt the longer on this point, as judging it a thing of some importance in itself, as well as necessary to a right understanding of the following part of the chapter.
And prepare thyself to the search of their fathers Search diligently of the fathers for their memorial. Houbigant. The Syriac has it, and understand the histories of the fathers of them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 457
BILDAD WARNS JOB OF THE DANGER OF HYPOCRISY
Job 8:8-14. Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flay grow without water? Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrites hope shall perish: whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spiders web.
RELIGIOUS controversy is rarely carried on with that meekness and candour, which are necessary to render it profitable to the soul. Even in such a sacred subject as religion, the generality seek for victory rather than for truth, and put such a construction on the expressions of their adversary as to distort his sentiments and to calumniate his views. The friends of Job, though good men, were guilty of this to a very great extent. In the chapter before us, Bildad begins his reply with a most unjustifiable misconstruction of all that Job had spoken; and accuses him of having represented God as perverting justice; when Job certainly never intended to make so impious an assertion. But still we must remember, that the general sentiments of Bildad were just; and that, if Job had really been such a character as his friends imagined, the warnings which they suggested, and the advice which they gave him, were on the whole both salutary and good.
In order to enter fully into the meaning of the words before us, we must particularly bear in mind, that Bildad regarded the sons of Job as ungodly, and Job himself as hypocritical [Note: Compare Job 4:7-11; Job 5:3-5. with 8:4, 6.]. In this view, he designates the former as forgetting God, and the latter as having acted the hypocrite before him: and both the one and the other he compares to a rush, which, when deprived of water, withers in a very short space of time.
We shall consider this comparison,
I.
In reference to those who manifestly forget God
Here, as we have observed, we must keep in view the precise character which Bildad considered as belonging to the sons of Job
[They were living in ease and affluence, happy in their family connexions, and blessed with an abundant measure of harmony in their domestic circle. The apprehension which their father had, lest his sons should by any means have been led to dishonour God in their mirth [Note: Job 1:5.], shews, that they were not, in his opinion at least, possessed of solid piety; whilst, on the other hand, it shewed, that they were not addicted to impiety. Now persons of this description are very numerous: There is a generation, says Solomon, that are pure in their own eyes, but are not washed from their filthiness [Note: Pro 30:12.]: they fill up their stations in life with credit to themselves, and with benefit to all around them: they are irreproachable in their character, as men of honour and integrity, of kindness and benevolence, of decency and decorum: and in all these respects they are, like the rush in the mire, green and flourishing.
In their prospects also and their expectations, they are happy. Not anticipating evil, they look forward to fresh gratifications, like travellers in a rich and fertile country. In early youth they form sanguine hopes of settling in the world; and then of advancing their rising families: and thus, having always some fresh object in view, they run their career of pleasure or ambition, and conclude that, at the termination of it, they shall stand as high in the approbation, of their God, as they do in the estimation of their ignorant fellow-creatures.]
In their end also an especial reference is made to them
[Those of the foregoing character, whilst living in their proper element, the world, flourish; but when, through illness or misfortunes, they can no longer enjoy the world, like the rush or flag in a season of drought, they wither: they need not be cut down by great calamities; small trials suffice to rob them of all their verdure, and to reduce them to a very pitiful and drooping state. In the fulness of their sufficiency they are in straits [Note: Job 20:22.]: and they are compelled, however reluctantly, to inscribe on every created enjoyment, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
But, if we look to the period of their departure hence, we shall find the text yet more awfully verified in them: then indeed all their hopes perish, even as a spiders web. We have a most remarkable illustration of their state in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man seems to have been much such a character as we suppose these to be: he lived to the flesh rather than to the Spirit, and to himself rather than unto God. This was the rich mans sin; (we charge him wrongfully, if we accuse him of avarice or oppression;) and it is the sin of those we are now speaking of [Note: Rom 8:5; Rom 14:7-9 and 2Co 5:15.]: they forget God: they forget, that God is entitled to all their love, and to all the service which they can possibly render to him: they forget, that, as he is the Author, so he should be also the End, of their being; and that, whether they eat or drink, or whatever they do, they should have a single eye to his glory. The end of such a course is seen in the rich man; who was no sooner taken from his present enjoyments, than he was cast into hell, where he lift up his eyes in torments, and entreated in vain for a drop of water to cool his tongue. We find him too requesting that a messenger might be sent to his five surviving brethren, to warn them, lest they also should come into the same place of torment: for then he found, what during his life he would not believe, what must of necessity be the issue of such a life; he found, what all must find, (either now by faith, or hereafter by their own actual experience,) that the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God [Note: Psa 9:17.].]
The comparison in our text will be found no less just, if we consider it,
II.
In reference to those who make a hypocritical profession of serving God
As under the former head we have kept Jobs sons in view, so here we must keep Job himself in view.
In Bildads opinion of him we find the true notion of a hypocrite
[Job had maintained a high reputation for sanctity, and had shewn a great zeal for Gods honour in relation to others; but, as Bildad erroneously thought, had neglected to consult it himself, or to live agreeably to his avowed principles. This, though not the true character of Job, is a just description of many amongst ourselves: they profess to venerate religion, and shew much zeal in the propagation of it: they pretend also to feel deeply, when any depart from the good way, and bring a disgrace on their holy profession: but yet they are themselves under the dominion of some besetting sin. They are secretly indulging pride, envy, malice, covetousness, lewdness, or some other bosom lust: they do not live nigh to God in their secret chamber, or aspire after an entire conformity to his will: they are more anxious to appear religious, than to be so, and to be applauded of man, than to be approved of God.
Now these persons, whilst carried on by a conceit of their own superior knowledge of divine truth, and a desire of establishing a character for piety, are, like the flag in the water, green and flourishing: they seem extremely rapid in their growth; and are regarded, both by themselves and others, as persons of a higher order of being.]
But the hope of all such persons is most delusive
[It rarely happens that a hypocrite continues long to deceive those who are acquainted with his private habits: he cannot maintain a consistency of character, for want of an inward principle of grace. Like the seed sown in ground where it had no depth of earth, or like the flag destitute of water, he withers away, and exposes both himself and religion to general contempt. For the truth of this we may appeal to the records of former ages; yea, though we are of yesterday and know nothing, as it were, we must have seen it but too frequently in our own day; that person of high expectation have declined from the right path, and made shipwreck either of faith or of a good conscience. As Lots wife was a monument in the Old Testament, so is Demas in the New: and similar monuments are yet found in every Church.
But let us follow the hypocrite also into the eternal world: what is his condition there? Alas! alas! however high he was in his own estimation or in that of others, he is now fallen indeed; and all his towering hopes are now swept away with the besom of destruction [Note: See Job 20:4-7.]. Even whilst he is here carrying on his deception, though it be unsuspected by himself or others, and though his hypocrisy be not in act, but in heart only, he is treasuring up wrath for himself [Note: Job 36:13.] against the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus [Note: Rom 2:16.]. Possibly he may carry his confidence with him into the eternal world, and almost presume to expostulate with his Judge: but he will say to them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [Note: Mat 7:22-23.]: and then shall their state be so superlatively wretched, that they who sink the deepest into perdition are said to take their portion with the hypocrites.]
O that we might all learn from this subject,
1.
The importance of piety
[We are not disposed to undervalue the blessings of worldly prosperity, or domestic happiness: but in comparison of eternal blessedness we must needs say, that every thing in this world is only as the dust of the balance. Yet the highest ambition of parents for their children is, to see them precisely in the way that Jobs children were, all with separate establishments, living in sweet harmony with each other, and in the vicinity of their parents, where all as one family, may augment and enjoy the happiness of the whole. This state also is regarded by young persons of both sexes as the summit of their ambition. But even in this life we see how soon their gourd may be withered by a worm at the root: and after this life, nothing remains of it, but a fearful responsibility for every hour that has been spent in a forgetfulness of God. Indeed, indeed, however the ungodly may scoff at piety, there is nothing that deserves a thought in comparison of it. If the whole world be no adequate price for one single soul, it is madness to be bartering away our souls, as so many do, for the veriest trifles that can be presented to our view. To all then, and especially to the young, I would say, Remember God; remember your Creator in the days of youth or health; and let the life which you now live in the flesh, be by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you. But, if you are still disposed to hold fast your delusive expectations, go and sweep away a spiders web, and then reflect, how suddenly, and irrecoverably, it is destroyed. Then say with yourself, Such is my hope, and such will ere long be the termination of it. O consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you [Note: Psa 50:22.].]
2.
The danger of self-deception
[All see how others deceive themselves; yet none, of whatever class, imagine themselves to be in any great danger of self-delusion. But St. James tells us, that we may seem to be religious, and persuade ourselves that we are so, and yet deceive our own souls, and have our religion vain [Note: Jam 1:26.]. O remember, that we live in a deceitful world, and have an adversary whose wiles and devices are inconceivably subtle; and that our own hearts also are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: and let the consideration of these things make you jealous over yourselves with a godly jealousy. Be not too confident that all is right with you; but say with Paul, Though I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the Lord [Note: 1Co 4:4.]. Yet, if you have the testimony of your own conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity you have your conversation in the world, you may rejoice in it [Note: 2Co 1:12.]: only rejoice with trembling [Note: Psa 2:11.]; and, bearing in mind that God requireth truth in the inward parts [Note: Psa 51:6.], beg of him to search and try you [Note: Psa 139:23-24.], and to make you Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Job 8:8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
Ver. 8. For enquire, I pray thee ] Bildad speaks fairly, as Eliphaz had done, whom he all along imitateth.
A bove maiori discit arare minor.
Of the former age ] The generations who came before, the Kadmonim, as the Jews called their ancestors, and used this saying concerning them, Cor priscorum fuit sicut porta, &c., the heart of our progenitors was as the gate of the porch of the Temple, ample and beautiful; but the heart of their posterity is as the eye of the needle, narrow and of no receipt in comparison, Rara datur longo prudentia temporis usu (Talmud). Of witnesses Aristotle witnesseth, that the more ancient they are the more creditable, because less corrupt, P , (Rheto. lib. i). Nihil mihi antiquius, say the Latins; Nothing is more ancient to me, that is, more highly reputed. And new things are nothing, say the Greeks, . Siculus maketh mention of an Egyptian priest, who said to Solon, one of the Greek Sages, You Greeks are very boys (ye are but of yesterday, as it is in the next verse), neither is there an old man (that is, a man versed in ancient histories, or acquainted with antiquities) to be found amongst you all, Seris venit usus ab annis, G (Diod. Sic.). Much of the ancient divinity was traditional till Moses set pen to paper; the mind of God was either immediately revealed, or handed down and transmitted from father to son, from generation to generation. Hence Bildad here bids Job inquire of the former ages; and thereto refers him for further information; so doth Moses the Israelites, Deu 4:20 ; Deu 32:7 . Antiquity, so it be right, is of no small authority; that is a received rule, Quod antiquissimum verissimum, That is truest which is most ancient; as we prefer the newest philosophy, so the ancientest divinity. The Papists boast much of antiquity (as the Gibeonites did of old shoes and mouldy bread); but when they come to prove it, they go no higher than to about a thousand years ago. They scornfully look upon us as novelers, and ask where our religion was before Luther? We answer them, that our religion was always in the Bible, where their religion never was. This is the old commandment, saith St John, which was from the beginning, 1Jn 2:7 .
And prepare thyself to the search of their fathers
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 8:8-10
Job 8:8-10
BILDAD QUOTES THE FATHERS AS ENDORSING HIS WORDS
“For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,
And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out
(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow);
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,
And utter words out of their heart?”
“Inquire … of the former age … that which … fathers have searched out” (8). “Back to the fathers, they say, back to antiquity; but there is no guarantee that they will not select the follies of the past instead of its wisdom.” Bildad was correct in one thing, namely, that the wisdom of the world in his day harmonized exactly with what he was saying. “Much of the Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature is in accord with Bildad’s doctrine.” Anderson wrote that one of the purposes of the Book of Job is to challenge and repudiate, “The unthinking acceptance of such traditions.”
E.M. Zerr:
Job 8:8-10. Bildad presumed to exhort Job to take a lesson from the forefathers. That was good advice but was not needed, for Job had already been credited by the Lord with being better than any other man in the world. (Job 1:8.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
inquire: Job 12:12, Job 15:10, Job 15:18, Job 32:6, Job 32:7, Deu 4:32, Deu 32:7, Psa 44:1, Psa 78:3, Psa 78:4, Isa 38:19, Rom 15:4, 1Co 10:11
Reciprocal: Gen 47:9 – have not Job 5:27 – we have searched Job 12:2 – ye are the people Job 13:1 – ear Job 20:4 – thou not Joe 1:2 – ye old Mat 5:21 – it
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 8:8. For inquire, &c., of the former age That is, of our predecessors, who had the advantage of longer life and more experience, besides more frequent revelations from God than we have. They also will be more impartial judges of this cause than we may be thought to be. Inform thyself by the instructions which they have left, either in word or writing, what their opinion was about the manner of Gods dealing with men. And prepare thyself to the search, &c. Do not slightly, but seriously and industriously, search the ancient records.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 8:8-19. The Wisdom of the Ancients.Bildad recalls Job to tradition as enshrined in the proverbs of the fathers (Job 8:8). Authority belongs to the voice of the past (Job 8:9). The respect which our age has for books, each of which is collected from a hundred older ones, a non-literary civilisation has for tradition and usage. Bildad is conscious of his limitation, but ascribes the same also to all others, whom, as mediocrity is wont to do, he holds without hesitation as his equals: a common combination of modesty and unconscious shamelessness (Duhm).
With Job 8:11 begin the wise sayings of the ancients. These maxims of the ancient world are clothed in rich and gorgeous similes drawn from the luxuriant plant life of the sultry East (Davidson). It is noteworthy that the imagery of Job 8:11 is Egyptian. The rush is (as mg.) the papyrus. It grows 12 feet high; but to do this requires mire in which to grow. The flag is the Nile grass. An Egyptian word (ahu) is used, which is found only twice elsewhere in OT (Gen 4:12; Gen 4:18). It is clear that the poet was acquainted with Egypt. He probably means to represent Bildad as viewing Egypt as the source of the oldest Wisdom Job 8:13 is Bildads application; cf. Eliphaz (Job 5:3), also Psa 37:36 f. The godless man shall perish. His confidence shall give way like a spiders web (Job 8:14) (lit. house; cf. the use of the latter word in Job 8:15). In the last the flimsiness of the spiders house is proverbial. Davidson quotes Koran (29:40): Verily the frailest of houses is the spiders house. With Job 8:16 f, we have a new figure, that of a spreading luxuriant plant, suddenly destroyed, so that not a trace of it is left. The lesson is the same as before.
Job 8:13. Instead of paths (orhoth) read aharitb, and translate, Such is the end of all that forget God.
Job 8:17 is difficult. Instead of heap we might translate spring. The meaning of the second line is very uncertain. Duhm, slightly emending the text (after LXX), translates, Its roots are twined about the spring, it lives in a house of stones. The meaning is then that the plant has established itself in the best place in the garden, the stone building over the spring, growing upon its walls, and surpasses in its growth all other plants in the garden rooted in their beds of earth.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
8:8 For {e} enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
(e) He wills Job to examine all antiquity and he will find it true which he here says.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The evidence from history 8:8-10
Bildad’s authority for his view comes out clearly in this section. The viewpoint Eliphaz and he espoused had the backing of many authorities from the past. Theirs was not some new theory but one that had generations of support in their educational system. Bildad would have loved the song "Tradition!" from Fiddler on the Roof.
"Bildad’s position is that what is true is not new, and what is new is not true." [Note: S. R. Driver and G. B. Grey, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Job, p. 78.]
Still, many heresies have long and impressive pedigrees.