Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 18

Since Bildad the Shuhite could not grasp what blessed Job meant, he assumed that what he himself did not understand was spoken without basis. At the beginning of his answer, he says, “To what end will you just toss out words?” Here he blames Job for three things. First, for the ineffective nature of his speech, as though Job’s words had no effective proof, which is shown when he says, “To what end.” Second, he blames him for the empty multiplication of words, as though Job’s words lacked the weight of serious consideration, which is shown when he says, “words.” Third, he criticizes him for the disordered connection of his words, shown when he says, “will you just toss out words?” For one is said to “toss out words” who scatters them without order, although this can also be interpreted as a display of boasting.

These three faults occur in the speech of someone with a weak intellect, and a confrontation with such a person is useless. So he continues, “Understand first, and then we will speak,” as if to say: “From the fact that you speak ineffectively, frivolously, and without order, it is clear that you have a weak intellect. I insist that you first apply yourself to understanding, and afterward, we can converse with each other.” Then he blames Job for presumption, since Job had not considered them wise when he had said, I will find no wise man among you (Job 17:10). To answer this, Bildad then says, “Why have you considered us like donkeys and belittled us in your sight?” For the man who lacks wisdom seems contemptible and like a beast of burden, because the honor and crown of man consists of wisdom.

Consequently, he finds fault with him for his anger because Job had said, Anger misted over my vision (Job 17:7). Bildad had taken this the wrong way, believing it was the kind of anger that had taken from him the light of wisdom, not listening to what Job had said after this: The just will preserve his course (Job 17:9). So he then says, “Why do you lose your soul in your anger?” For one loses his soul in anger who, because of that anger, departs from wisdom and justice, which are the principal goods of the soul.

Having established these premises—noting weakness of intellect, presumption, and fury in Job—Bildad arrives at his main proposition, which was the heart of the controversy: that the adversities of this present life are punishments for sin. Job had argued against this, saying, I have not sinned, and my eye lingers on bitter things (Job 17:2). Since Bildad could not use logical arguments to assert his opinion, he wanted to establish it as completely firm based on common opinion, comparing it to things that cannot be moved, like the earth and cliffs. So he says, “Should the land disappear and the cliffs be displaced because of you?” He implies: This opinion—that adversities happen in return for sins—is as firm as the earth and the cliffs. Can it be removed by your arguments proving your innocence?

He then expands his idea more fully, listing one by one the evils that happen to sinners. First among these, he places the end of their prosperous successes, which he compares to light, because as the Lord says, He who walks in the light does not stumble (John 11:9). Thus, those for whom all their undertakings succeed prosperously, just as they would like, seem to walk in the light. He speaks about the loss of this light of prosperity, saying, “Will not the light of evil men go out?”—that is, will not their prosperity cease? Just as physical light comes from the flame of a fire, the luster of a man's prosperity comes from his affection when he attains what he desires. And so he then says, “nor will his fire sparkle?” For fire is commonly used to symbolize the fervor of love, as we read in the Song of Songs: His lamps are fire and torches (Song of Solomon 8:6).

We should note that the prosperity of a man’s success comes from two causes. Sometimes it comes from human foresight—for example, when a man prudently and carefully orders everything. Regarding this cause, he says of the end of this prosperity, “The light will grow dark in the tent of that man?” because both he and his household will lack prudence in their decisions. Sometimes, however, the prosperity of a man’s success comes from a higher cause: divine providence. He describes the end of this prosperity, saying, “the lamp from above him will be extinguished”—not that it does not shine on him, but that it ceases to throw light on the evil man. He fittingly describes man's foresight as a “light,” for it is borrowed from another, but God's providence as a “lamp,” because it gives light from itself. He has premised that because a man loses the light of reason, he seems to deserve to be unprotected by the light of divine providence.

After discussing lost prosperity, he then speaks about adversity, first addressing the impediments to action and effort. A man struggles to achieve the effect of his action in two ways. First, by his own courage, and against this, Bildad says, “The steps of his power will be extinguished,” because courageous assertion can no longer advance. Second, a man tries to attain something by wisdom, and regarding this, he says, “and his own counsels will cast him down,” which happens when what he thought was useful becomes harmful to him.

He says that the cause of these impediments comes from sin: “For he put his feet in the snare.” For just as one who willingly puts his foot in a snare desires to be captured, so one who willingly occupies himself with sin prepares himself to have his progress impeded, as Scripture says, His own iniquities have ensnared the evil man (Proverbs 5:22). Just as there are a variety of meshes in a net, so also in sin there are many different sins that entangle a man in various ways. So he then says, “and he walked forward into the mesh,” which happens when he goes from one kind of sin to another. Since he willingly puts himself in danger and always proceeds further, he will eventually feel himself impeded. And so he then says, “The foot of that man will be bound in a snare”—that is, the forward motion of his will and his action will be blocked by some obstacle.

These kinds of evil things arise from three causes for those who are progressing in sin.

1. On the part of the sinner himself, in whom the desire for sin increases the more he sins. Regarding this, he continues, “and his thirst will burn against him,” because sometimes the sinner's reason shows him that something is harmful, but the burning desire for sin compels him to act against his own thinking.
2. The cause of the harm is sometimes from the very things in which he sins, as Scripture says, Riches are amassed to the evil of the one possessing them (Ecclesiastes 5:12). Harmful things of this kind sometimes come from things already obtained, and regarding this, Bildad says, “A snare is hidden for him in the earth,” because a danger indeed lies hidden in earthly things themselves, by which the sinner's feet are caught. But sometimes harmful things of this kind arise while a man is on his way to acquiring things. Expressing this, he says, “and a trap is set for him on the path,” because even before the sinner obtains what he seeks, dangers already lie in wait on the path itself.
3. Harmful things like this are caused by other people whose plots and attacks are feared. So he then says, “From all sides dread will terrify him,” since, as Scripture says, When the evil man is timid, he has been given for the condemnation of everyone . When, however, a man is wary of everyone, his actions will necessarily be impeded in many ways. And so he then says, “and they will wrap around his feet,” so that he cannot go forward freely in any direction.

Previously, Bildad had described the punishments of sinners found in external adversities, but here he begins to address the punishments affecting the person himself. One must note that sins themselves implicate the sinner in external adversities, and so he described external adversities as if predicting them with some certainty. Bodily punishments, however, do not seem to be directly caused by the sins themselves, except perhaps for gluttony and lust, in which someone sins in his own body. Therefore, he does not describe bodily punishments by denouncing the sinner, but rather by threatening him. He begins with the bodily punishments that precede death, and because nourishment preserves the life of the body, he first calls for the removal of nourishment from him, by which a man first begins to be weakened. Regarding this, he says, 'His strength will be robbed by hunger.'

Then, when he lacks nourishment, his life is also taken away. Regarding this, he says, 'and let fasting invade his ribs,' by which he means the weakening of the vital functions, the principal one being the heart, which is contained under the ribs. The body's good qualities, which hunger begins to weaken, are totally consumed by death. The principal qualities of the body are beauty and strength, and so he then says, 'may his skin lose its beauty,' because beauty concerns external appearance, 'and may the arms of that man,' in which strength is especially found, 'be consumed by a premature'—that is, early—'death,' before the end of the natural span of life.

The dead man is taken out of his house, and regarding this he says, 'May trust be torn away violently from his tent,' because he did not place his hope in God, but in the ostentatious display and the glory of his house, of which he is deprived after death. Thrown out of his house, he is shut up in the tomb, where he is utterly destroyed in death. Regarding this, he says, 'and may destruction trample him like a king,' because death, like a king in the fullness of his power, grinds him into dust.

When he has been taken from his house, the dead man's household members remain, with whom he had fellowship in this life. Concerning this, he then says, 'May the companions of the one who no longer lives'—that is, of the dead man who now takes no part in human affairs—'inhabit his tent.' When the master dies, the members of the household mourn and show signs of sadness, either by wearing black and poor garments or by offensive odors. He expresses this when he says, 'let sulfur be sprinkled in his tent.' In this text, one understands this to mean all those things that can be signs of sadness, just as pleasant odors are used as a sign of rejoicing.

When a man has died, frequently everything that was his goes to ruin. He shows this consequence by beginning first with those things produced from the earth. Some of what he planted may still remain as seedlings after he dies. Expressing this, he says, 'Behold! May his roots be dried up,' so that if he had sown or planted anything, it may be destroyed and not bear fruit. However, as for those things that have already produced fruit, he says, 'and may his harvest above be ruined.' One can apply this to any business he has just begun or that is already almost finished.

He then proceeds to the renown that remains for a man after his death, by which some men desire to live on in the memories of others and also have glory after death. Thus, regarding the removal of the sinner from people's memories, he then says, 'Let the memory of that man perish from the earth.' As for the end of his celebrated fame, he then says, 'may his name not be celebrated in the streets.' He says this pointedly because a person's name is celebrated only by a crowd, which is usually found in the streets.

Thus, when his memory and the public renown of his name end, the brightness of his glory will be changed into the darkness of perpetual oblivion. Expressing this, he says, 'It will expel him from the light into darkness'—that is, from earthly glory to oblivion. When his fame ceases and his body has been consumed by death, nothing of him will remain any longer in the world. This is because Bildad and his companions were of the opinion that the soul did not survive after death. 'And it will transfer him from this world,' so that nothing of him remains in the world.

But since parents also live on through their children, he rejects this possibility, saying, 'His seed will not exist,' because his sons will be dead, 'nor offspring in his people,' since neither grandsons nor great-grandsons will remain, nor even his relatives. And so he then says, 'nor any remain in his territory'—neither those related by blood nor members of his household by whom his memory might be kept.

He shows the effect this has on the hearts of others when he then says, 'On his day'—which is the day of his ruin—'the youngest men will be astonished.' That is, the youngest members of the people will be stunned with great wonder, unable to comprehend how the great glory of a sinner has suddenly been reduced to nothing. As for the elders, he then says, 'horror will invade the first men,' fearing that the same thing might happen to them.

He seems to have introduced this to answer what Job had said previously: Whether his sons are noble or base, he will not understand, yet his flesh, while he lives, will grieve (Job 14:21). From this, Job seemed to refute his friends' threats or their promises of things that would happen after his death. But here Bildad answers that great tragedies of this kind, which happen after death, are still inflicted by God as punishments for the correction of others, even though the dead man does not know about them.

Since he had described some punishments for a sinner that are proper to the journey of this present life, and others that are proper to the end of that journey—death and the things that happen after death—he therefore adds an epilogue. 'These are the tents of the evil man,' which refers to his progress in the course of this present life, because travelers use tents. However, regarding the ultimate end, which is like the end of a journey, he then says, 'Such is the home of him who has no knowledge of God,' either through unbelief or disobedience.