Albert Barnes Commentary Job 8:11

"Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water?" — Job 8:11 (ASV)

Can the rush - This passage has all the appearance of being a fragment of a poem handed down from ancient times. It is cited by Bildad as an example of the views of the ancients and, as the connection would seem to imply, as a specimen of the sentiments of those who lived before the life of man had been abridged. It was customary in the early ages of the world to communicate knowledge of all kinds by maxims, moral sayings, and proverbs; by aphorisms and by poetry handed down from generation to generation.

Wisdom consisted greatly in the amount of maxims and proverbs that were treasured up in this way; just as it now consists greatly in the knowledge we have of the lessons taught by the past and in the ability to apply that knowledge to the various affairs of life. The records of past ages constitute a vast storehouse of wisdom. The present generation is wiser than those who have gone before only because the results of their observations have been preserved, and we can act on their experience. We can begin where they left off and, taught by their experience, can avoid the mistakes they made.

The word “rush” here, גמא gôme', properly denotes a bulrush, and especially the Egyptian papyrus—papyrus Nilotica; see the notes at Isaiah 18:2. It is derived from the verb גמא gâmâ'—to absorb, to drink up—and is given to this plant because it absorbs or drinks up moisture.

The Egyptians used it to make garments, shoes, baskets, and especially boats or skiffs; Pliny, Nat. His. 13.21–26; see the notes at Isaiah 18:2. They also derived from it materials for writing—and thus, our word paper. The Septuagint renders it here, πάπυρος papuros.

Without mire - Without moisture. It grew in the marshy places along the Nile.

Can the flag - Another plant of a similar character. The word אחוּ 'âchû—flag, says Gesenius, is an Egyptian word, meaning marsh-grass, reeds, bulrushes, sedge, everything which grows in wet grounds. The word was adopted not only into the Hebrew but also into the Greek idiom of Alexandria, where it is written, ἄχι achi—ἄχει achei. Jerome says of it, “When I inquired of the learned what this word meant, I heard from the Egyptians, that by this name everything was intended in their language which grew up in a pool.” The word is synonymous with rush, or bulrush, and denotes a plant that absorbs a great quantity of water.

What exact idea this figure is designed to convey is not very clear. I think it probable that the whole description is intended to represent a hypocrite and that the meaning is that in his growth he had a strong resemblance to such a rush or reed.

There was nothing solid or substantial in his piety. It was like the soft, spongy texture of the water-reed and would wilt under trial, as the papyrus would when deprived of water.