Job · Chapter 18

Explanation of the words of this response — 'Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said.'

Introduction to the Tenth Response — Bildad's Response At the very start of his words, he grows angry at Job's statements, in which Job revealed that he does not believe — or at least doubts — that the soul survives after death. For if that is so, then man has no advantage over the beast, since ‘as this one dies, so that one dies, and both have the same spirit… and man has no preeminence above a beast’ (Ecclesiastes 3:19); and why, then, did Hashem create man in His image and breathe into his nostrils the soul of life (Genesis 2:7), a living soul that knows and reasons? On this view the human form would be pointless, present in man only to his own harm, so that he should understand that his end is utter destruction (Numbers 24:20). But since we see that Hashem planted within man precious spiritual powers, the like of which are found in the soul of no other living creature, it is clear that this is indeed the essence of man, and that the soul does not perish with the animal body, but lives on in eternal life forever. On this basis he also innovates his own position on the question of the prosperity of the wicked: in his view, the essence of prosperity lies in that which makes a person human — that is, the well-being of the soul, the very thing by which he is distinguished from the beast — not the well-being of the body, since the human body is just like the body of any animal. If so, the prosperity that the wicked achieve in this world, through possessions meant only for bodily pleasure, is not true prosperity. On this basis he explains that the punishment of the wicked is that no personal remnant or continuity remains to him: his spiritual soul is cut off and goes to destruction, never to shine in the light of life with eternal pleasantness; nor does any remnant of his line remain, for his children too are cut off, and his name and memory are cut off from the earth — and this is the most terrible and dreadful punishment of all. The righteous person, by contrast, has a name and a remnant in this world, and a hereafter beyond his death, for his soul will live on in eternal pleasantness, and there receive its reward, in place of the sufferings it endured in this world. With this he completes the position he had laid down concerning the reason for the sufferings of the righteous — that they operate by way of exchange. Job had argued at great length to answer and refute this, but all his replies hold true only on the assumption we supposed, that the exchange takes place in this world, that Hashem repays him with good in this world in place of the evil he suffered. It is not so, however, if instead Hashem repays him with an eternal, spiritual reward to his eternal soul, granting him eternal pleasantness in place of the suffering of a moment — then ‘the judgments of Hashem are true, they are righteous altogether’ (Psalms 19:10), and all of Job's replies are overturned — ‘consumed like smoke, all of them consumed’ (Psalms 37:20).

Bildad’s reply “How long?” will you prolong the discussion? Consider Be silent to understand and to hear what we will speak.

'How long will you lay snares for words' — the nun [in teshimun] is an added letter. And the correct view is that [the word kintzei] has no parallel elsewhere [in Scripture], and its sense is 'abundance' [i.e., how long will you pile up words].

'Snares' [kintzei] — meaning: like 'endings' [ketzim]. He says this because Job would speak many words in a single response, and just when it seemed that his discourse was concluding toward one purpose, he would begin a new argument — thus giving his words many endpoints. It is as if he said: To what point in this debate will you go on striving with a multitude of words and arguments? For it is possible that in the first speech all of one's arguments are stated, and from that speech onward there is no need to state new arguments to establish one's position, but only to strive to resolve the doubts raised by those who dispute one's view.

'How long' — how long will you go on piling up words? Put an end to the matter. And do this: give thought to understand Job's statements and the substance of his argument, and afterward we will speak to answer them — adding no more words that are beside the point of the argument — so that our own words may quickly come to an end.

Snares (kintzei) - an expression of 'end' and 'limit' [from the root 'ketz'].

‘How long will you lay snares for words’ — one who argues by reason and proofs brings the argument to its end with the final proof, the true and decisive demonstration, and only then does the argument reach its conclusion. But one who argues with words alone, without proofs, wants to put an end to the argument by means of mere talk — for whoever talks on and on until he wears out his fellow thereby forces an end to the argument, and that is not proper. Rather, it is fitting that you first understand, and afterward we will speak; in that way the argument will reach its true end and conclusion through the proofs of reason and intellect.

and reputed dull in your sight Heb. נטמינו. We are considered in your eyes as stopped up. The word has no radical besides the “teth” “mem,” like טַמוֹנוּן פְלִשְתָּאֵי, which is the Aramaic translation of סִתְּמוּם פלשתים “the Philistines stopped them up” (Gen. 26:15). Some explain [this] as an expression of hiding (טמינה), but they are in error, because were that the case, the word would require two “nun”s, one for the radical and one for the plural suffix.

'Why' — because of what folly are we counted in Job's eyes as beasts, that he should say of us, 'their heart You have hidden from understanding'? 'Reputed dull in your sight' — to your very faces he grows bold enough to say that we are obtuse, devoid of wisdom.

Reputed dull (nitminu) - an expression of obtuseness, as in 'and become impure through them' (Leviticus 11:43).

‘Why’ — how can you deny that the soul survives after death? For if so, man would be counted as a beast, as Scripture says, ‘and man has no preeminence above a beast… all go unto one place’ (Ecclesiastes 3:19–20); that is why we are reputed dull in your sight.

One who destroys his soul He turns to Job, “To you I say, the one who destroys his soul in his anger and in his wrath.” for your sake For the sake of your innocence shall the earth be abandoned by its standard of justice? and shall the Rock be removed The Creator. from His place From His knowledge and from His nature.

'Shall the rock be removed' [ve'yetak tzur] — meaning: shall the rock depart.

'You who tear yourself' — you, Job, who tear at your own soul and destroy it by displaying your anger against the Omnipresent — shall the earth be forsaken for your sake? Meaning: because of your outcry, in which you say you are righteous and are being made to suffer though innocent of violence, shall we conclude on that account that the earth has been abandoned to the workings of the heavenly order, and that the Creator has withdrawn from the place of the world and does not watch over it?

The rock (tzur) - the Creator [a name for God].

‘You who tear’ — you who tear your own soul through your anger, for it is by your anger that you conclude that the soul is mortal. ‘Shall the earth be forsaken for you’ — he draws his image from the idea that the earth has a foundation, a mighty rock, a firm mass fixed at its center, drawing everything toward it, so that even if the earth as a whole were destroyed, the rock and foundation of the earth would remain, hanging upon nothing, and would not budge from its place. On this basis he pictures that man, too, has a mighty rock that serves as his foundation — namely, his divine soul — such that even when the earth [that is, the earthly body] is forsaken, meaning that the earthly body dies, the rock and foundation still does not budge; that is, the divine soul remains alive and lives on forever. If so, shall it be said — for your sake, because you wish to complain against Hashem's ways — that when the earth is forsaken and the body dies and decays, the rock too shall be dislodged from its place, meaning that the soul, too, would then die along with the body?

Yea Even now, according to your cry, this will be in force for generations. the light of the wicked shall be put out it shall spring from its place. spark Etinceler in French.

'Shall be put out' [yid'ach] — meaning: shall go dark.

'Indeed, the light' — but it is not so; rather, just as we have said, so it is: the light of the wicked and their prosperity shall be snatched away from them, and the sparks of their fire shall not shine — this being a figure for the abundance of their success.

Shall be put out (yid'ach) - shall shrink and dart away [i.e., flicker out], as in 'they vanish from their place' (above, Job 6:17). Shall shine (yagah) - shall give light and shine, as in 'lightens my darkness' (Psalms 18:29). The spark (shaviv) - a spark, as in 'flames [shevivin] of fire' (Daniel 7:9).

‘Indeed’ — but this [namely, that the soul dies with the body] will hold true of the wicked, for in his case the soul, too, dies an eternal death. This is the answer to the question of the wicked who prosper: his end will be utter destruction, in that his spiritual soul — which is the light of the body and its lamp — is cut off. That is to say, the wicked do not merely die in body; their light, too, is extinguished, that light being the soul that illumines the body. ‘And the spark of his fire shall not shine’ — for when a lamp's light goes out, the flame will often return to the wick several times and flare up again. But once the lamp of the wicked goes out, its wayward flame does not flare up again and return to the wick — meaning that their soul is cut off and will never again return to see the light of life.

'The light shall be dark' — the light in his tent shall darken, and his lamp that shines over him — its flame shall be snatched away. Meaning: his prosperity shall be taken from him and shall depart, through Hashem's providence.

‘The light’ — when the light in his tent grows dark — that is, the light of physical life — then his lamp above him as well, which is the lamp of the soul, ‘shall be put out’ — is extinguished likewise, and the life of the body is snuffed out together with the life of the soul, both of them at once.

shall be straitened They shall be short. The steps of The steps of his strength. shall cast him down His counsel that he advised, which will not be fulfilled [will cast him down].

'Shall be straitened' [yeitzru] — meaning: an expression of distress. 'The steps of his strength' — meaning: the strides of his power. 'Shall cast him down' [vetashlichehu] — meaning: shall abandon him.

'Shall be straitened,' etc. — the strides he once took powerfully, over a broad expanse, will in the end become narrow and cramped, and his own counsel will cast him down to a low state, for the Omnipresent will make his counsel foolish and he will stumble through it.

His strength (ono) - his strength, as in 'I have found wealth for myself' (Hosea 12:9).

‘Shall be straitened’ — he now describes the manner of his downfall: that in his old age the steps of his strength grow constricted, and his own counsel casts him off and drives him away from itself, so that as he walks without counsel, in short, constricted steps, he is easily caught in the trap prepared to destroy him.

For his end will be that... he shall be sent into a net His feet will be sent to step on a net and be caught. and he shall walk on the toils Heb. שבכה. Every שבכה is made like a net, and that is the coif that is on the head of women.

'For he is cast into a net by his own feet' — meaning, it is his own feet that cast him into the net. 'And he walks upon the toils' [sevakhah] — in the language of Kedar (Arabic) it is like 'net,' denoting something entangled.

'Toils' [sevachah] — meaning: a net.

'For he is cast' — through his own counsel he will be sent, on his own feet, to enter into the net, to be caught in it. 'And he walks upon the toils' — of his own accord he will walk upon the net, made in the manner of a lattice-work; the matter is repeated in other words.

The toils (sevachah) - a turban; that is, a net woven the way a turban is woven, as in 'through the lattice' (II Kings 1:2).

‘For’ — he now describes the manner of his capture in the trap. The net that is spread around a trap, by which animals are driven into it, is already fastened to his feet; he puts his feet forward and they become entangled in the net, and he walks about upon a mesh, so that wherever he goes the net goes with him, until he draws near to the trap itself.

shall seize A trap shall seize him by the heel.

'A gin shall take him by the heel, and a snare shall lay hold on him' — the trap [grips] him by the heel; the 'tzammim' [those lying in wait] tighten their hold on him. Rabbi Moshe HaKohen, of blessed memory, said [tzammim means] 'the maidens.' And others say that in the language of Kedar (Arabic) [it means] 'stones,' with the letters transposed, as in 'for you are in league with the stones of the field' (Job 5:23).

'A snare' [tzamim] — meaning: a marauder.

'Shall take him' — the trap shall seize him by the heel of his foot, so that he is caught in it; and the Omnipresent shall strengthen against him those parched with thirst and worn down in strength.

A gin (pach) - a trap. A snare (tzammim) - [spelled] like 'tzeme'im' [with the aleph omitted, as commonly occurs].

‘Shall take him’ — then he is caught with great ease, for as soon as the trap catches him by the heel, cords already tighten upon him — these being the bindings of the trap by which the legs of the quarry are bound — and they will bind his feet with great force, so that he cannot get his feet free from there.

hidden...in the ground under his feet. A noose...for him The rope of his trap, with which he will be caught. and a trap for him is hidden on the path just as they hide the noose of the trap for birds.

'A noose' [chavlo] — meaning: the rope with which his feet are bound and by which he is caught. 'And a trap' [u'malkudeto] — meaning: this is the snare in which he is caught.

'Is hid' — the cord of the trap in which he will be caught shall be hidden in the ground, so that he does not sense it, and so that he does not remain on his guard against being caught. 'And a trap for him' — the snare in which he will be caught shall be spread over the path of his walking; and he speaks by way of a metaphor drawn from one who falls into a trap set for animals.

Is hid (tamun) - hidden. The way (nativ) - a path.

‘Is hid’ — it was the way of hunters to bury a rope in the ground at the spot where the animal treads, together with a trap that catches it as it walks. On this basis he pictures that the rope by which he will be caught is buried in the ground where he cannot see it, and his trap stands ready on the very path along which he walks.

terrors Demons. and beat him off his fee They knock him down to the ground.

'Terrors shall overwhelm him on every side' — all around his path, terrifying demons shall overwhelm him, and they shall spread the snare at his feet, so that he falls into it out of the dread of his terror.

Shall overwhelm him (bi'atuhu) - an expression of sudden terror. Terrors (balahot) - a transposition of the letters of 'behalah' [sudden dread]; so too, 'I will make you a terror' (Ezekiel 27). Shall entrap him (vehefitzuhu) - shall scatter him [in every direction], as in 'Hashem will scatter you' (Deuteronomy 28:64).

‘On every side’ — it was the way of hunters to frighten an animal by means of dogs, so that out of fright it would run and fall into the trap and be caught. On this basis he pictures demonic terrors standing all around him, terrifying him so that he will fall into the trap — and they themselves spread the trap at his feet.

His son Heb. אֹנוֹ, lit, his strength. for his wife Heb. לצלעוֹ lit. his rib [alluding to Eve].

'His trouble shall be ravenous' [ono] — like 'ben oni' (Genesis 35:18); the sense is that [hunger] shall feed upon it. 'For his fall' [le-tzal'o] — like 'and for the side of the Tabernacle' (Exodus 26:20).

'His trouble' [ono] — meaning: his offspring, in the sense of 'the firstfruit of his vigor' (Genesis 49:3).

'His trouble shall be ravenous' — the hunger shall come upon his children, and an evil mishap stands ready for his wife.

His vigor (ono) - [used here of] his children, who come forth from his vigor; similarly, 'the first fruit of my vigor' (Genesis 49:3) [said of a firstborn son]. And calamity (ve'eid) - a bad occurrence, as in 'Is not calamity for the unrighteous?' (below, Job 31:3). For his fall (letzal'o) - [this in fact means] for his wife, based on the verse, 'and He built... the rib... into a woman' (Genesis 2:22) [since the wife, tzela, was built from the rib].

'His trouble' — once he is caught in the snare of death, then death — which brings him into aninut, the anguished state of a mourner before burial — will be ravenous. Likewise, the calamity 'ready for his fall' means for his wife (tzela, here rendered 'fall,' also means 'side,' as with the side/rib from which she was formed): she too is ravenous and never satisfied, until —

He shall eat the branches of his body And he shall devour all the rest of his branches, viz. his sons and daughters. the prince of death Heb. בכור מות, as in (Ps. 89:28), “Also I will make him a prince (בכור).”

'It shall devour the members of his body' [badei oro] — [meaning] the limbs of his skin, by way of metaphor. 'Shall devour his members' [badav] — [meaning] his children. 'The first-born of death' — [means] strength, or primacy; the sense is that death shall take precedence when it comes.

'The members of his body' [badei oro] — meaning: the branches of his skin, that is, his limbs. 'The first-born of death shall devour his members' — meaning: the greatest of the deadly diseases shall consume his limbs.

'It shall devour' — it shall destroy the skin-branches of his body, that is, the limbs, which are like heavy boughs to a tree; and he then goes on to explain that it is the prince of death himself who shall destroy his limbs. (He mentions the skin rather than the flesh, because the skin is what appears over the surface of the body, on the outside.)

The members (badei) - branches, as in 'and it produced branches' (Ezekiel 17:6); the word is used figuratively for the limbs [of the body]. The first-born (bechor) - an expression of 'chief, ruler', as in 'I also will appoint him first-born' (Psalms 89:28).

'It shall devour the members of his body' — meaning it shall consume the branches of his skin. And afterward, 'the first-born of death' shall consume his limbs as well, that is, his flesh and his bones. All of this alludes to Job: how he was ensnared by Satan and his terrors, and how it destroyed his skin and his flesh. It can also be explained that 'it shall devour his limbs' refers to his children, who are the branches spreading out from him.

He shall be torn away from his wife Heb. מאהלו, lit. from his tent. who trusted him Heb. מבטחו, his trust, who trusted him. (His trust), that she trusted him. she will cause him to walk. yet she will cause him to walk and will send him away (from her) to the grave, to the king of the demons.

'And he shall be brought' [va-tatz'idehu] — [the subject is] his own counsel and his hope [that drive him onward]. 'To the king of terrors' — [meaning] to the greatest of terrors.

'Shall be plucked out' [yinateik] — meaning: shall be removed. 'To the king of terrors' — meaning: to the strongest and harshest among the terrors.

'Shall be plucked out of his tent' — it shall be taken away from his wife: his security — meaning, that support of his which she used to rely upon. 'And he shall be brought' — it shall lead him to the grave, to hand him over to the chief of the demons.

Shall be plucked out (yinatek) - shall be uprooted. Of his tent (me'oholo) - this refers to his wife; and similarly, our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded the verse 'and he shall dwell outside his tent' (Leviticus 14:8) [likewise reading 'tent' there as his wife]. He shall be brought (vetatz'idehu) - an expression of marching and walking.

'Shall be plucked out' — then his trust, too, shall be plucked out — that is, the eternal soul, which is a person's security after death. It too shall go out from his tent, which is his body. 'He shall be brought to the king of terrors' — that he shall be handed over to the king of demons, to chastise him and punish him.

She shall dwell in his tent as a widow. not being his (that she will not be his) because he is dead, and ultimately brimstone shall be scattered on his dwelling.

'There shall dwell in his tent' — [meaning] a strange creature. 'That which is none of his' — [meaning] so that he himself no longer dwells there. 'Brimstone shall be scattered' [yezoreh] — means 'shall be dispersed'; and similarly, 'and I will scatter you among the nations' (Leviticus 26:33).

'That which is none of his' [mibli lo] — meaning: that which was not truly his, but which he had seized.

'Shall dwell' — it shall dwell in his tent without him, for he is dead and gone; and in the end his habitation shall be laid waste, as though burning brimstone had been scattered over it.

Shall be scattered (yizoreh) - shall be dispersed, as in 'winnows the threshing-floor' (Ruth 3:2). His habitation (navehu) - his dwelling.

'There shall dwell' — his soul shall dwell in his tent, though it is no longer truly his — in his tent, which has become a thing wholly decayed, that is, in the decaying, rotting flesh of the body. In the grave his soul shall dwell there, decaying along with it and feeling its anguish; and upon his habitation brimstone shall be scattered, to burn it in the fire of Gehinnom.

'Above shall his branch wither' [yimal ketziro] — meaning: his branches shall be cut off.

'Beneath' — the roots that are beneath shall dry up, and the branch that is above shall be cut off.

Shall wither (yimal) - shall be cut off, as in 'fades and withers' (Psalms 90:6). His branch (ketziro) - his branch, as in 'and puts forth boughs' (above, Job 14:9).

'His roots shall dry up beneath' — that is his body; 'above shall his branch wither' — that is his deeds and all his actions.

'His remembrance' — this verse explains the one before it, saying that his memory shall be lost from the earth, for none of his children shall remain; and for this reason he shall have no name in the streets of the world, for his name shall be forgotten.

Abroad (chutz) - an expression of 'street, marketplace', as in 'and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus' (I Kings 20:34).

'His remembrance' — thereby the remembrance of his deeds shall perish from the earth, and his name — that is, his very essence, meaning his soul and his spirit — shall not remain. 'Abroad' — in the upper world, which lies outside this earth.

They shall drive him from heaven.

'And chased out of the world' [yenidduhu] — [meaning] they shall drive him far away, as with [something set apart in] niddah [ritual separation].

'Chased out' [yenidhu] — meaning: shall be cast out.

'He shall be driven' — the troubles that come upon him shall drive him from the light of the world into the darkness of the grave. 'And chased out of the world' — they shall banish him from the world; the matter is repeated in other words.

He shall be driven (yehadfuhu) - an expression of pushing and crushing, as in 'let God vanquish him' (below, Job 32:13). Chased (yenidduhu) - an expression of wandering.

'He shall be driven from light into darkness' — for there he shall dwell in a land of darkness, and shall not be lit by the light of eternal life, the life of light and soul; 'chased out of the world' — for he shall have no posterity remaining in this world. And this is then explained, for —

grandson Heb. נכד, a son of the son.

‘In his dwellings’ — the places where he had sojourned.

'He shall have neither son' — he shall have no child or grandchild remaining among his people, and none of them shall remain in the place where he had dwelt as a stranger, for some of them shall die and some shall go into captivity among another people.

Son (nin) - this is a son. Son's son (neched) - this is a grandson. Any remaining (sarid) - a remnant, as in 'remnant or survivor' (Jeremiah 42:17).

'He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people' — for even the remnant of his sons shall perish; 'Nor any remaining in his dwellings' — for even the dependents of his household shall perish along with him.

the later people They wondered when they heard of the misfortune that befell him. quaking Heb. שָׂעַר, tempest. This cannot be of the form of שֵׂעָר, hair, because the accent in שָׂעַר is not (on the “sin,” but on the “ayin,”) and it is not converted to a “kamatz” when it is cantillated with an “ethnachta” or a “sof pasuk.” I did not hear this.

‘Those who come after shall be astonished’ — wicked people like him. ‘And those who went before’ — they are his companions.

'Astonished' — meaning: they were amazed, astounded. 'Affrighted' — meaning: a storm, a tempest. Explanation of the words of the response: Bildad answered and said: How far will you draw out your words? Put an end there to your talk, and make us understand what you mean, and afterward we will speak and respond — since, going by your words, we know nothing at all. Why are we regarded as cattle, become impure in your eyes, and pushed away, until you have made us as lowly as beasts? Now he says this because Job had already said of them that their memorable sayings are like proverbs of ash, that no wise man is to be found among them, and that Hashem had hidden their hearts from understanding. You [Job] are the man who, in the abundance of his anger, tears and destroys his own soul. Shall we, on account of the testimony you bear about your own affairs, conclude that the earth is forsaken and that Hashem withdraws from the place on which His eyes and heart rest? That is: shall we conclude that the earth is forsaken because of the apparent disorder in your affairs — that, by your account, Hashem does not oversee individual human beings — when we find that, in the case of other people, this matter follows the order we have described? Namely, that when misfortune comes upon the righteous it is for the sake of some further good, greater than the good that preceded it, or that the misfortune is itself a good even if we cannot perceive it as such; and therefore you will never find a destructive misfortune, one that annihilates him utterly, coming upon the righteous — whereas the misfortune that comes upon the wicked does annihilate them. And if you say this is not so, we have no reason to believe you; rather, we will believe that you have indeed transgressed in a way that makes this punishment fitting for you, or that the misfortune that has come upon you does not actually kill you, even if you suppose that it does. Bildad then begins to recount the misfortunes that befall the wicked, in order to establish the truth of his view that this happens by way of justice. He says that it is not enough that bodily misfortunes come upon the wicked — their light, too, is extinguished and darkened, meaning that the light of their thought and counsel grows dark, and they walk in darkness in all the courses they choose. The steps of their strength are hemmed in, until they find in themselves no capacity to go where they wish, and their own counsel casts them down and abandons them, so that their planning results only in still greater harm. For they are sent into a net by their own feet, until they can no longer walk here or there, and they walk upon a net and are caught in it there. The trap seizes them by the heel, until they can no longer walk; a strong and violent man overpowers and assaults them. The rope by which they will be caught is hidden in the ground, and their snare is hidden on the very path they walk, so that they cannot see it and be on guard against it, but walk right into being caught by it, never expecting it. From every side, powerful terrors overwhelm them and scatter them from their place, driving them to flee here and there on foot, with no animal left for them to ride. Their offspring will go hungry, for they will have nothing to give them to eat, and calamity stands ready to strike at their side. This misfortune consumes the very branches of their skin and limbs, meaning that no whole part of their skin is left uneaten; it devours their limbs — the worst of the deadly afflictions. Their security is torn away from their tent, so that they no longer feel secure within it, and their own counsel marches them off to the place where the strongest of all terrors awaits them. Terror comes to dwell in their tent, because the tent was never truly theirs — they built it through oppression and robbery — and therefore brimstone is scattered over their dwelling to burn it, and it lies in ruins. Beneath, their roots dry up, and above, their branch is cut off, until they are cut off entirely, with neither root nor branch remaining — meaning that their offspring, too, will be cut off. Their memory perishes from the earth, and they are left with no name abroad. The misfortunes that come upon them thrust them from the light of the living into darkness, driving them wandering and casting them out of the world. They are left with no offspring, no descendant, no survivor remaining in their house. Over the day of this wicked, unjust man, when all these misfortunes come upon him, those who come after are astonished, and those who came before are seized with dread at the sight of it. Behold, these are the dwellings of the unjust man, and this is the place of the man who did not know and comprehend Hashem — and this, in Bildad's view, is something that experience itself confirms and bears out. The misfortunes that come upon the righteous, however, are not of this kind, for they do not annihilate them entirely, to the point that no memory of them survives. The point that emerges from all this is that Bildad is responding to what Job had already said to him — that the punishment of the wicked and of the good is one and the same, as he put it: 'It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys the blameless and the wicked alike' (Job 9:22) — arguing that this is not so; rather, we find by experience that the punishment of the wicked differs greatly from the punishment of the good, and it is for this reason that he dwells at such length on the misfortunes that are found to befall the wicked. And since, by Bildad's own account, such extraordinary misfortunes are found to befall the wicked alone, it would appear that their wickedness is the cause of their befalling them. For this reason, what Bildad has set forth here to resolve the difficulty raised by the apparent disorder we observe in these matters is not thereby overturned. He says that even though Job argues, from what has happened to him, that the matter is not so, it is nevertheless improper to overturn this principle — which, in Bildad's view, experience confirms as true — merely on the strength of an argument Job raises on his own behalf; for it is entirely possible that Job sinned. Even if he committed no injustice against others, he may not have exerted himself to know Hashem to the fullest extent of his ability, and that too, in Bildad's view, counts as a sin. This is why he says: 'and this is the place of one who does not know God.'

'At his day' — at the calamity of his day, those who come after him shall be astonished, seeing his downfall; and those who came before, who had seen him still at the height of his prosperity — they too shall now be greatly alarmed, seized with trembling as though from a stormwind.

Shall be astonished (nashamu) - were astonished, as in 'turn to me, and be astonished' (below, Job 21:5). Affrighted (se'ar) - [written with a shin here, it is] the same as 'sa'ar' [horror], ordinarily spelled with a samech.

'Those who come after shall be astonished at his day' — for this is the most terrifying punishment there is, whether in this generation or in ancient times; for every generation has believed in the survival of the soul, and has greatly dreaded this utter excision and eternal perdition.

These are only the dwellings of the unrighteous This is their fate.

‘And this is the place of the one who knows not God’ — [the word] ‘wicked’ [from the first half of the verse, lit. ‘iniquity’] does double duty: it governs its own clause and carries over to serve this one as well. So the verse is to be understood as though it read: ‘and this is the place of the iniquity of the one who knows not God.’

'Surely such' — meaning, this shall not happen to the righteous; rather, harsh events such as these come upon the dwellings of the wicked, and this very thing likewise comes upon the place of a man who does not know God — meaning, one deficient in wisdom to know God. (The upshot of this speech: he replies to Job that he will not concede to Job's claim that the Omnipresent does not watch over the world, even though Job cries out that he is being made to suffer though innocent of violence; and he brings proof from the downfall of the wicked through their own counsel, to the point that their name is forgotten — and this does not happen to the righteous. And as for the evil that has come upon Job, it may well be that it came upon him because he fell short in the service of God and was deficient in wisdom relative to his own great understanding — which puts him on a level with a man who does wrong.)

'Surely' — meaning: but not as you [Job] say, that there is no survival of the soul at all; for the souls of the righteous are bound up in the bond of life, and even ordinary people who have not sinned so greatly have a share in the World to Come. Rather, this refers only to 'the dwellings of the wicked' — one who shall be cut off, having neither individual survival nor survival through his line. And in this too he alludes to Job, whose sons and deeds have been cut off, and whose own soul, too, shall perish — for since he does not believe in his own survival, he is among those who have no share in the World to Come.