Job 18


Job 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of Bildad the Shuhite, which belongs to the Dialogue section of the book, comprising Job 3:1–31:40.

Text

The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows:
  • The Prologue
  • The Dialogue
  • The Verdicts
  • The Epilogue
Within the structure, chapter 18 is grouped into the Dialogue section with the following outline:
  • Job's Self-Curse and Self-Lament
  • Round One
  • Round Two
  • *Eliphaz
  • *Job
  • *Bildad
  • **Get Some Perspective!
  • **The Fate of the Wicked
  • *Job
  • *Zophar
  • *Job
  • Round Three
  • Interlude – A Poem on Wisdom
  • Job's Summing Up
The Dialogue section is composed in the format of poetry with distinctive syntax and grammar.
Chapter 18 can be divided into two parts:
Whereas in their first speech both Eliphaz and Bildad focus on the nature of God, in their second speech both explore the topic of the fate of the wicked, suggesting in the course of the conversation they become more convinced that Job is among the wicked.

Bildad rebukes Job (18:1–5)

The chapter opens with Bildad's rebuke of Job for considering his friends as fools and urge for Job to be sensible and have broader perspective.

Verse 5

  • “Indeed”: translated from the Hebrew word גַּם, gam, which can be rendered as "also; moreover", that is, "in view of what has just been said."

Job expresses his despair (18:5–21)

The second part of the chapter contains Bildad's extended description of the fate of the wicked: insecurity, terror and hopelessness. It can be implied that Job is at least on the way to be one of the wicked, so the whole section serves as a strong warning to Job. This is strongly emphasized in the last two verses of the chapter, which demonstrates Bildad's view of Job's descent into the wickedness.

Verse 20

  • "Those who come after him": translated from the Hebrew word אַחֲרֹנִים, ʾakharonim, which can be rendered "those in the west" as in NKJV, ESV, etc.
  • "They who went before": translated from the Hebrew word קַדְמֹנִים, qadmonim, which can be rendered "those in the east" as in NKJV, ESV, etc.
In relation to the geography, there are Hebrew terms of the seas: "the hinder sea", referring to the Mediterranean, and "the front sea", referring to the Dead Sea, namely, the "East". The Greek Septuagint understood the verse as temporal: "the last groaned for him, and wonder seized the first".