Job 8: Does God Pervert Justice?
Bildad speaks, defending God's justice and urging Job to seek him, while bluntly suggesting Job's children died for their own sin.
Job 8 (WEB)
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
2 “How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
4 If your children have sinned against him, He has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience.
5 If you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to the Almighty.
6 If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
7 Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase.
8 “Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)
10 Shall they not teach you, tell you, and utter words out of their heart?
11 “Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water?
12 While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,
14 Whose confidence shall break apart, Whose trust is a spider’s web.
15 He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand. He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the sun. His shoots go out along his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.
18 If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.
20 “Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.
21 He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked shall be no more.”
Job 8 (KJV)
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;
5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
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.
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.
Job 8 (ASV)
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these things? Andhow longshall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?
3 Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?
4 If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;
5 If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.
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 spider’s 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 sun, 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.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.
21 He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
Summary
Bildad the Shuhite takes up the argument next, and he is blunter than Eliphaz. He rebukes Job's words as a mighty but empty wind and insists that God never perverts justice. With shocking coldness he suggests that if Job's children sinned, God simply gave them over to the consequences of their transgression. His remedy for Job is straightforward: if Job will seek God earnestly and make supplication to the Almighty, and if he is truly pure and upright, then God will surely rouse himself and restore Job's righteous estate, so that his latter end will far exceed his beginning. Bildad grounds his confidence in the wisdom of past generations, urging Job to inquire of the fathers, since we ourselves are but of yesterday and know nothing, our days a passing shadow. He illustrates his point with images from nature: papyrus cannot grow without marsh, and so the godless wither; their confidence is as fragile as a spider's web and the house they lean on will not stand. But God, he assures Job, will not cast away a blameless man nor uphold evildoers; he will yet fill Job's mouth with laughter while those who hate him are clothed with shame. Bildad's defense of God's justice is sincere, but his rigid framework leaves no room for the innocent suffering the reader already knows is unfolding.
Voices
- Bildad the Shuhite (speaking) — The second friend, who defends God's justice, appeals to the wisdom of past generations, and bluntly implies Job's children died for their own sin.
- Job (addressed) — The sufferer urged to seek God and prove his purity, with the promise that the blameless are restored and the godless surely perish.
Key Verse
Job 8:3 (WEB)
Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
Lessons Learned
- God's justice is real and good, but our rigid systems can distort how we apply it to others.
- Appealing to tradition and past wisdom is valuable, yet it cannot answer every mystery of suffering.
- Words meant to defend God can become heartless when aimed carelessly at the grieving.
- A formula that says the righteous always prosper denies the reality of innocent suffering.
- God never perverts justice. “Does God pervert justice?” (Job 8:3, WEB) rightly affirms God's righteousness, even as Bildad misapplies it to condemn Job.
- Truth can be spoken without love. Bildad coldly suggests Job's children reaped their own sin (Job 8:4, WEB), a doctrinally framed cruelty that ignores Job's grief.
- Tradition has limits. Bildad rests on “past generations” and the “fathers” (Job 8:8, WEB); inherited wisdom is good, but it cannot fully explain the mystery before them.
- Hope in God remains for the blameless. “God will not cast away a blameless man” (Job 8:20, WEB) is true, yet Bildad ties it to a formula that Job's life will overturn.
- How does Bildad's tone and approach compare with that of Eliphaz?
- What is shocking about Bildad's explanation for the death of Job's children (8:4)?
- Bildad leans heavily on the wisdom of past generations (8:8-10). What are the strengths and limits of that appeal?
- Bildad rightly says God does not pervert justice. Why does his application still go so wrong?
- When defending God or biblical truth, how can we avoid becoming cold or careless toward those who are hurting?
- Bildad is more direct and severe than Eliphaz, opening by calling Job's words a blustering wind (8:2) and quickly asserting strict retribution. Where Eliphaz cloaked his theory in courtesy and a vision, Bildad bluntly defends God's justice and presses Job toward repentance with less warmth.
- Bildad reasons that if Job's children sinned, God delivered them into the hand of their transgression (8:4), explaining their deaths as deserved judgment. To a grieving father this is breathtakingly cruel, and it shows how a rigid doctrine of retribution can crush rather than comfort.
- Bildad urges Job to inquire of the fathers, since the present generation knows little (8:8-10). Honoring inherited wisdom is genuinely valuable, but tradition becomes a trap when it cannot accommodate new realities, like the innocent suffering of a blameless man.
- Bildad's premise, that God is just, is entirely true (8:3). His error is the corollary that justice always means immediate reward or punishment, so Job's suffering must signal sin. The reader knows from chapters 1-2 that this formula does not fit Job's case.
- This is a personal-application question. Encourage the group to defend God's truth with humility and compassion, holding doctrine and love together. As leader, note that being right about God is not enough if our manner wounds the very people God loves.