Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 8:1-7

"Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, How long wilt thou speak these things? And [how long] shall the words of thy mouth be [like] a mighty wind? Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness? If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression; If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty; If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end would greatly increase." — Job 8:1-7 (ASV)

In the discourse that Job just finished, he had responded to the speech of Eliphaz, showing that Eliphaz was profoundly mistaken. But Bildad of Shuah, who held the same opinion as Eliphaz, did not grasp the depth of blessed Job’s argument. Therefore, he speaks against Job’s answer in the way people often speak against opinions they do not understand.

People who fail to understand the minds of other speakers are usually deficient in two ways. First, they do not know when the speaker arrives at their intended conclusion. Second, they are unable to understand the logical order of the speaker’s discourse. This is clearly shown in Bildad’s speech when the text says, “How long will you go on talking like that?” Job seemed to him to talk for too long because he did not understand the conclusion Job wished to draw. Similarly, he did not grasp the logical progression of what Job had said—that is, how his points were connected. So he continues, “and prolong the high spirit of the speech of your mouth?” Because Job had explained many things whose order Bildad did not understand, he concluded that Job’s words were haphazard, like someone who lacks reason and says various things without rational order, spurred on only by impulse.

Furthermore, as has been said, because Bildad did not understand Job’s intention, he interpreted his words in an entirely different way than intended and tried to argue that they were inappropriate. In his speech, Job wanted to disprove the proposition of Eliphaz, who thought that adversities in this world happen because of people’s sins and that if afflicted sinners were to convert, they would return to their former prosperity. Job spoke against both of these ideas. Against the first, he said, “Would that my sins and the calamity which I suffer were weighed in a balance!” (Job 6:2). Against the second, he said, “I have despaired; I will not live longer to any purpose” (Job 7:16), along with many similar things, as is clear from the preceding verses.

When Job said these things, he intended to show that punishment for sinners and rewards for the just should not be hoped for from God in this life. But Bildad, who did not know about the next life, took these words to mean that God does not punish sins or reward good deeds at all, which would be contrary to divine justice. Therefore, Bildad makes his first proposition when he says, “Can God deceive judgment, or the Almighty falsify justice?” (Job 8:3). It is as if he were saying: This is what follows from your words—that God punishes a person in this world even if they are sinless or beyond what their sins deserve, or that He does not reward with good things those who turn back to Him.

Note that justice is corrupted in two ways: by the cunning of a clever person and by the violence of a powerful person. In God, however, there is both perfect wisdom and omnipotence. Yet wisdom in God does not mean He overturns judgment like a clever man, nor does omnipotence in God mean that He subverts what is just like a violent man.

There were two things that seemed to prevent Job from being restored to his former prosperity, even if he were to convert to God as Eliphaz advised. The first was that the children he lost were dead, and he could not expect them to be brought back to life by his conversion. So Bildad says, “Even if your sons sinned against him, and he delivered them into the hands of iniquity” (Job 8:4). It is as if he were saying: When you convert to God, you will regain what you lost through your sins. Your sons, however, were not punished with death for your sins, but for their own. Therefore, the fact that your sons will not be restored to life after you convert does not contradict Eliphaz’s argument that you will be restored to your prosperity.

Note here that because Bildad believed the punishments of this present life are a recompense for sins, and that the greatest of these punishments is death, he thought a person is fully punished for sin when brought to death because of it. He clearly implies this when he says, “and he delivered them up to the hands of their iniquity,” as if they were given over to the power of their own sins to be led to the ultimate punishment without any hope of recovery.

The second thing that seemed to prevent Job from returning to his former prosperity was that he had already lived the greater part of his life and had little time remaining, as Job himself had said. It did not seem possible, therefore, that his former prosperity could be sufficiently restored in such a short time, even if he converted back to God. Thus, Bildad promises him that after his conversion, compensation will be made for this short amount of time, so that he would obtain goods even greater than what he had before.

So Bildad first describes the manner of conversion, for which three things are required:

1. The sinner must rise from sin without delay. So he says, “Yet if at dawn... you will rise to God” (Job 8:5), meaning to rise at the right time and leave your sins, as Sirach says, “Do not delay in turning back to the Lord” .
2. A person must make satisfaction for their sins. For this, he says, “and you will plead with the Almighty.” Prayer is considered the first among the works of satisfaction.
3. A person must persevere in taking care not to relapse into sin. So he says, “if you proceed pure and honest” (Job 8:6), avoiding the uncleanness of the flesh in yourself and the injustices that injure your neighbor.

After describing this perfect conversion, Bildad adds the promise of prosperity, saying, “At once, God will awake to you.” God seems to sleep when He permits the just to be afflicted, but He seems to awaken when He defends them, according to the text, “Awake, why are you sleeping, O Lord?” (Psalms 43:23). Bildad expresses the effect of this awakening, saying, “he will give you back the peaceful dwelling of your justice.” This is as if to say: Your house and family were disturbed in the time of your sin, but in the time of your justice, they will have peace.

He then promises an abundance of prosperity so that Job could not complain about the shortness of time, saying that “as your past prosperity was small... so your future prosperity will be greater” (Job 8:7). In this way, the great prosperity to come will compensate for the time you spent in adversity.