Bildad's Assertion of Retributive Justice
Job 8:1-22
Job.8.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בלדד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השוחי: ADJ,m,sg,def
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 4:1 (verbal): Same speech-introduction formula — 'And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said' — marking the start of a friend's reply in the dialogue.
- Job 11:1 (verbal): Another parallel speech formula — 'And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said' — showing the repeated pattern of friends taking turns to respond to Job.
- Job 32:6 (structural): Introduction of a new speaker (Elihu) — like Bildad's speech, this verse signals a shift in interlocutor and a new phase in the dialogue.
- Job 38:1 (structural): Divine answer introduction — 'Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind' — parallels the function of marking a decisive response within the book's dialogic structure, though here the speaker is God rather than a friend.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
- Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
Job.8.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- אן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תמלל: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- ורוח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כביר: NOUN,m,sg,const
- אמרי: VERB,qal,impv,2,f,sg
- פיך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
Parallels
- Job 19:2 (verbal): Job retorts with the same rhetorical 'How long…?' motif—complaining that his friends torment him with their words (שָׁבׁוּעַ/דיבורי־פיכם as injurious speech).
- Job 15:2 (verbal): Eliphaz earlier condemns excessive talk—'Should a multitude of words go unanswered?'—echoing the critique of 'many/empty words' that Bildad levels at Job.
- Proverbs 10:19 (thematic): Proverbs warns that excessive speech leads to sin ('In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin'), paralleling Bildad's rebuke of Job's 'windy' or vain words.
- Matthew 12:36 (thematic): Jesus' warning that people will give account for every idle word parallels the moral concern with careless, 'wind-like' speech expressed in Bildad's rebuke.
- Job 16:3 (structural): Job answers his friends with a mirror-rhetoric—'I could also speak as you do'—reflecting the dialogic pattern and the exchange about whose words are empty or damaging.
Alternative generated candidates
- How long will you speak these things? Will the wind carry away the words of your mouth?
- How long will you speak such things? Shall the wind of your words be a mighty blast?
Job.8.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- האל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- יעות: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואם: CONJ
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יעות: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- צדק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 34:12 (verbal): Almost identical language — both assert that God/the Almighty does not pervert justice; direct verbal parallel within Job's speeches (Elihu/other respondent).
- Deuteronomy 32:4 (thematic): Affirms God's character as just and perfect in all his ways (‘His work is perfect; all his ways are justice’), countering any suggestion that God would pervert judgment.
- Psalm 9:8 (thematic): Declares that the LORD ‘judges the world with righteousness’ and rules with justice, echoing the claim that God does not pervert judgment.
- Proverbs 17:15 (thematic): Speaks against perverting justice by acquitting the wicked or condemning the righteous — engages the same concern about the proper administration of justice attributed to God or human judges.
Alternative generated candidates
- Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
- Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
Job.8.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- בניך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+POSS,2,m,sg
- חטאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- וישלחם: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf_wq,3,m,sg;obj=3,m,pl
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- פשעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3mp
Parallels
- Exodus 34:7 (verbal): Uses the same language of God "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children," a direct verbal parallel to the idea in Job 8:4 that children suffer for parental sin.
- Deuteronomy 5:9 (verbal): Repeats the covenant formula about God visiting the father's sin on children to later generations, echoing the notion of intergenerational punishment found in Job 8:4.
- Numbers 14:18 (verbal): Describes God as 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children'—another Torah passage that closely parallels Job 8:4's claim about children being afflicted for parents' transgressions.
- Deuteronomy 24:16 (thematic): Legal counterpoint: forbids executing or punishing children for their fathers' crimes, offering a legal/ethical qualification to the idea that children bear parental guilt implicit in Job 8:4.
- Ezekiel 18:20 (thematic): The prophetic rebuttal to collective/ancestral guilt—'the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father'—presents a theological contrast to the assertion in Job 8:4.
Alternative generated candidates
- If your children sinned against him, he delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
- If your children sinned against him, would he not deliver them into the hand of their transgression?
Job.8.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- תשחר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- אל: NEG
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תתחנן: VERB,hitp,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 55:6 (verbal): Both urge seeking the LORD and calling on him while he is accessible—close verbal and thematic correspondence to 'seek God' and 'entreat the Almighty.'
- Jeremiah 29:13 (thematic): Promises that earnest seeking of God will result in finding him; parallels the counsel to turn to God in hope of restoration.
- Job 22:27 (verbal): Within the same book a similar admonition: 'You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,' closely echoing Bildad's call to entreat the Almighty.
- James 4:8 (thematic): New Testament parallel: 'Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you'—shares the theme of approaching God in repentance/prayer and expecting his nearness.
- Psalm 50:15 (thematic): Encourages calling on God in trouble with the promise of deliverance—resonates with the exhortation to seek and plead with the Almighty.
Alternative generated candidates
- If you would seek God and make your supplication to the Almighty,
- If you would seek God and plead with the Almighty,
Job.8.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- זך: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- וישר: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- עתה: ADV
- יעיר: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- ושלם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נות: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- צדקך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,2ms
Parallels
- Psalm 18:20 (verbal): Language closely parallels Job 8:6: 'The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.' Both link personal purity/rightness with God's favorable response.
- Job 22:21-23 (thematic): Within the same discourse tradition (Eliphaz): returning to/being aligned with God and removing sin brings peace and restored dwelling—echoes the conditional promise that God would 'awake' for the upright.
- Job 4:6 (thematic): Earlier Eliphaz asks whether fear of God and integrity of ways are not one's confidence and hope—similarly asserts that uprightness grounds divine help and vindication.
- Psalm 34:15-16 (thematic): The motif that 'the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous' and that God delivers the righteous reflects Job 8:6's idea that God will rouse Himself on behalf of the upright.
- Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (structural): The covenantal pattern that obedient/right behavior brings blessing and protection ('all these blessings shall come upon you') provides the broader biblical framework behind Job 8:6's conditional linkage of righteousness and divine vindication.
Alternative generated candidates
- if you are pure and upright, then indeed he will rouse himself for you and restore to you the place of your righteousness.
- if you were pure and upright, even now he would rouse himself on your behalf and restore to you the dwelling of your righteousness.
Job.8.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ראשיתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+2ms
- מצער: ADJ,f,sg
- ואחריתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+2ms
- ישגה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Zechariah 4:10 (verbal): Uses the same motif of 'small beginnings' not to be despised—encouraging that what begins modestly will grow, echoing Job 8:7's contrast between humble start and abundant end.
- Psalm 126:5-6 (thematic): Speaks of sowing in tears and later reaping with shouts of joy—a reversal from distress to plentiful restoration like Job 8:7's promise that the latter end will greatly increase.
- Isaiah 54:2-3 (thematic): Commands enlargement and promises descendants and inheritance after a time of desolation—parallel theme of expansion and blessing following a humbled or afflicted beginning.
- Job 42:10 (structural): Narrative fulfillment where God restores and doubles Job's fortunes, making his latter condition greater than his beginning, directly exemplifying the principle stated in Job 8:7.
- Genesis 41:52 (allusion): Joseph names his son Ephraim ('fruitful in the land of my affliction'), linking fruitfulness and increase to a period of hardship—an illustrative allusion to the idea that a small or afflicted beginning can yield great increase.
Alternative generated candidates
- Your beginning will be small, but your latter end will be very great.
- Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would be greatly increased.
Job.8.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- שאל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- נא: PART
- לדר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רישון: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- וכונן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לחקר: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- אבותם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:7 (verbal): Both exhort the listener to inquire of former days/ages and to ask the generations that came before for instruction; wording and concept are closely parallel ("Ask of the days that are past").
- Psalm 78:3-4 (thematic): Emphasizes learning from what the fathers have told and passing ancestral instruction to the next generation—same appeal to the testimony and experience of earlier generations.
- Job 12:12 (verbal): Within the same book; asserts that wisdom and understanding are found with the aged, echoing Bildad’s appeal to consult former generations for insight.
- Proverbs 1:8 (thematic): Commands attention to a father’s instruction and teaching, reflecting the broader biblical motif of seeking guidance from one’s elders/ancestors as Bildad advises.
- Isaiah 46:9 (allusion): Calls to "remember the former things," a related exhortation to attend to the past and its revelations—the prophetic analogue to Bildad’s summons to consult earlier generations.
Alternative generated candidates
- For inquire, I pray you, of former generations and consider what their fathers have learned.
- For ask now of the former generation, and set your heart to consider the things their fathers searched out;
Job.8.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- תמול: ADV
- אנחנו: PRON,1,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- נדע: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
- כי: CONJ
- צל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימינו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 39:5-6 (thematic): Speaks of human transience and insignificance before God (days as brief, life as nothing), echoing Bildad’s claim that humans are born yesterday and know nothing.
- Psalm 102:11 (verbal): Uses the same image — 'my days are like a shadow' — directly paralleling the phrase about days on earth being a shadow in Job 8:9.
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Within Job, the poet reflects similarly on human brevity ('man born of woman is of few days... comes forth like a flower and fades'), reinforcing the theme of mortality and frailty.
- Isaiah 40:6-7 (allusion): Declares 'all flesh is grass' and that the grass withers — a related prophetic metaphor for human transience that parallels Bildad’s shadow/image of ephemeral life.
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 (verbal): Speaks of life spent 'like a shadow' and the uncertainty of human knowledge about what is good, resonating with the 'born yesterday and know nothing' motif.
Alternative generated candidates
- We are of yesterday and know nothing; our days upon the earth are a shadow.
- for we are of yesterday and know nothing, our days upon the earth are as a shadow.
Job.8.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הלא: PART
- הם: PRON,personal,3,m,pl
- יורוך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- יאמרו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- ומלבם: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- יוצאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- מלים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:7 (verbal): Both exhort consulting former generations—'remember the days of old... ask thy father, and he will shew thee'—parallel Bildad's appeal that the ancients will teach and speak to you.
- Jeremiah 6:16 (thematic): Both urge seeking the 'old ways' or the instruction of earlier times for guidance ('ask for the old paths'), echoing the appeal to be instructed by former teachers.
- Psalm 78:5-7 (thematic): Emphasizes transmission of instruction from earlier generations to later ones so that their words instruct the children—parallels the idea that ancestral teaching and sayings come forth to instruct the living.
- Proverbs 1:5 (thematic): Calls for listening to and increasing instruction from teachers ('A wise man will hear, and will increase learning'), resonating with the summons to be taught by those who speak words from the heart.
- Malachi 2:7 (verbal): Speaks of priests/teachers keeping and giving knowledge ('the priest's lips should keep knowledge... they should seek the law at his mouth'), paralleling the notion that authoritative figures will speak instructive words.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will they not instruct you and tell you, and from their counsel come words?
- Will they not instruct you and tell you? From their mouths words will come forth.
Job.8.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- היגאה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- גמא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלא: PREP
- בצה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישגה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אחו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלי: PREP
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 19:6-7 (verbal): Uses the same aquatic-reed imagery (reeds/papyrus withering when waters fail), closely paralleling Job’s rhetorical question about papyrus without marsh.
- Psalm 1:3 (thematic): Contrasts by using the image of a plant/tree flourishing beside streams of water to depict prosperity and stability—similar water-dependent growth motif.
- Jeremiah 17:8 (thematic): Likens a person to a tree planted by water that does not fear heat and yields fruit—echoes the dependence of growth on water found in Job 8:11.
- Isaiah 44:4 (thematic): Speaks of plants springing up like willows by flowing streams; another instance of the biblical trope that vegetation prospers only with water, paralleling Job’s point.
Alternative generated candidates
- Can papyrus grow without a marsh, or reeds flourish without water?
- Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh, or reeds flourish without water?
Job.8.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עדנו: ADV
- באבו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss3ms
- לא: PART_NEG
- יקטף: VERB,qal,imprf,3,ms
- ולפני: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- חציר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ייבש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 18:6-7 (verbal): Similar plant-root imagery for the fate of the wicked — roots drying up and branches withering echoes Job 8:12's picture of failing vegetation.
- Psalm 37:2 (thematic): Uses the same simile of the wicked fading and withering like grass, expressing the transience and collapse of the godless.
- Psalm 1:4 (verbal): Describes the wicked as chaff driven away (and thus transient), paralleling the imagery of sudden withering and removal of the ungodly.
- Isaiah 40:7-8 (thematic): Declares that grass withers and flowers fade, a general motif of human frailty and impermanence that underlies Job 8:12's botanical simile.
Alternative generated candidates
- While yet green and uncut they wither before all the grass.
- While yet green it is not gathered; before all grass it withers.
Job.8.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כן: ADV
- ארחות: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- כל: DET
- שכחי: NOUN,m,pl,constr
- אל: NEG
- ותקות: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- חנף: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- תאבד: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:28 (verbal): Explicit parallel contrast of hope: 'The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish,' echoing 'the hope of the godless shall perish.'
- Proverbs 11:7 (verbal): Speaks of the wicked's hope perishing at death—language closely matching Job's assertion that the godless' hope is destroyed.
- Psalm 9:17 (verbal): Links forgetting God and ruin: 'The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God,' paralleling Job's 'paths of all who forget God' leading to loss.
- Job 18:5-7 (thematic): Within Job, a parallel depiction of the fate of the wicked—their light is put out and their prosperity comes to an end—echoing the theme that the godless' hopes perish.
Alternative generated candidates
- So are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.
- So are the ways of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes.
Job.8.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יקוט: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כסלו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,pr3ms
- ובית: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,cs
- עכביש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מבטחו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 30:28 (verbal): Explicit spider imagery — the spider appears in a surprising place, echoing Job 8:14’s use of the spider/web as a striking image of fragile or unexpected security.
- Isaiah 59:5 (verbal): Speaks of weaving the spider’s web; a direct lexical and imagery parallel to Job 8:14’s comparison of hope/confidence to a spider’s web.
- Proverbs 11:28 (thematic): Warns that trust in riches brings ruin — thematically parallels Bildad’s point that misplaced confidence (here likened to a spider’s web) is futile and will fail.
- Psalm 62:10 (thematic): Advises not to set the heart on wealth or oppression; thematically aligns with Job 8:14’s critique of unstable or ill-founded confidence.
Alternative generated candidates
- The confidence of the fool is like a spider's web.
- Whoever trusts in a fool finds a spider’s house for his confidence.
Job.8.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישען: VERB,qal,imf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- ביתו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יעמד: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- יחזיק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יקום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 11:28 (thematic): Warns that one who trusts in riches will fail—parallel theme of misplaced trust in possessions or a house that will not endure.
- Proverbs 18:11 (verbal): Describes the wealthy man's wealth as his 'strong city'—a motif of false security in material holdings akin to relying on a house that will not stand.
- Psalm 127:1 (structural): Affirms that a house stands only if the LORD builds it—contrasts human confidence in a house with divine sovereignty over its stability.
- Psalm 20:7 (thematic): Contrasts trust in military/earthly supports (chariots, horses) with trust in God—similar critique of relying on fragile human supports.
- Jeremiah 7:4 (allusion): Denounces trusting in the temple/house as protection—parallels Job's denunciation of confidence in one's house that will not endure.
Alternative generated candidates
- He leans on his house, and it will not stand; he holds fast, yet it will not endure.
- He leans upon his house, yet it will not stand; he holds fast, but it will not endure.
Job.8.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- רטב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- לפני: PREP
- שמש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- גנתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3ms
- ינקתו: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
- תצא: VERB,qal,impf,2,ms
Parallels
- Psalm 1:3 (thematic): Both verses use the image of a well-watered, fruitful plant/tree by streams to symbolize flourishing life and stability.
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 (verbal): Shared imagery of roots spread toward/near water and flourishing like a tree—emphasizing vitality sustained by moisture.
- Hosea 14:5-6 (verbal): Explicit mention of divine dew and taking root—closely parallels the dew-before-sun motif and the coming forth of shoots/budding.
- Job 14:7-9 (thematic): Uses the tree-as-resilience motif (a tree sprouting again after being cut) analogous to shoots coming forth and life renewed in Job 8:16.
Alternative generated candidates
- He is green before the sun, and his branch shoots forth in his garden.
- It is moist before the sun, and its tender shoots go forth over its garden.
Job.8.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- גל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שרשיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3ms
- יסבכו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אבנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יחזה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 1:3 (thematic): Uses the planted‑tree imagery (rooted by water, flourishing) similar to Job’s image of roots taking hold and a plant established amid stones.
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 (thematic): The righteous is likened to a tree planted by water whose roots reach the stream — parallels the resilience and rooting imagery of Job 8:17.
- Psalm 92:13-14 (structural): Speaks of those planted in the house of the LORD who flourish in God’s courts — echoes Job’s ‘house’/dwelling imagery tied to a rooted plant.
- Matthew 13:5-6 (allusion): Parable of the sower describes plants on rocky ground with shallow or exposed roots that wither — a related use of rock/soil and root imagery highlighting vulnerability or establishment.
Alternative generated candidates
- His roots entwine the heap of stones; he looks upon the place of the rocks.
- Its roots entwine about a heap of stones; it seems to have a house of stone.
Job.8.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- יבלענו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ממקומו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וכחש: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- ראיתיך: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
Parallels
- Job 20:5-11 (thematic): Zophar’s speech in Job 20 echoes the motif that the wicked’s prosperity is fleeting and that they will be consumed or vanish from their place—paralleling Bildad’s assertion about the fate and disappearance of the guilty.
- Psalm 37:35-36 (verbal): The psalmist observes a wicked person who once seemed secure but 'passed away, and, lo, he was not; I sought him, but he could not be found,' closely matching the idea of being swallowed up/vanishing and not being seen.
- Psalm 104:35 (thematic): This verse prays that sinners be 'consumed out of the earth'—a concise expression of divine removal/consumption of the wicked that parallels the imagery of being swallowed up from one’s place.
- Psalm 9:5-6 (thematic): These verses depict God rebuking and destroying the wicked so that their name is blotted out—resonating with the theme of the wicked being removed and no longer seen or remembered.
Alternative generated candidates
- If he be plucked up from his place, then I will say, 'I have not seen you.'
- If it be torn up from its place, it will deny you, saying, 'I have not seen you.'
Job.8.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- משוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דרכו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ומעפר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחר: PREP
- יצמחו: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 14:7-9 (verbal): Uses the same imagery/verb of sprouting (יצמח) — a cut-down tree that nonetheless sends forth new shoots, echoing the motif of new growth arising after apparent death or loss.
- Isaiah 26:19 (thematic): Speaks of the dead/putrefying bodies coming to life (rising from the dust); parallels the theme of life or posterity emerging from dust or decay.
- Genesis 2:7 (verbal): God forming man from the dust of the ground (עפר) — shares the concrete motif of 'dust' as the origin/material from which life is constituted or renewed.
- Psalm 103:15-16 (thematic): Compares human life to grass/flowers that flourish and fade, highlighting transience while implying the cycle of life and subsequent growth or remembrance — related thematically to life/offspring rising after mortality.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, this is the joy of his way; and from the earth others will spring up.
- Behold, this is the gladness of its way; and from the dust others will spring.
Job.8.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- אל: NEG
- לא: PART_NEG
- ימאס: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- תם: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יחזיק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מרעים: VERB,qal,ptc,,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 37:28 (verbal): Affirms that the LORD loves justice and “will not forsake his saints,” echoing Job 8:20’s claim that God will not reject the blameless and will not uphold the wicked.
- Psalm 94:14 (verbal): “For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance” uses language parallel to Job’s assertion that God does not abandon the righteous.
- Psalm 1:6 (thematic): Contrasts the destinies of righteous and wicked—“the LORD knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish”—matching Job 8:20’s contrast between God’s care for the blameless and non-support of evildoers.
- Deuteronomy 31:6 (verbal): God’s pledge “He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” parallels the theme of divine faithfulness to the righteous found in Job 8:20.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, God will not reject the blameless, nor will he uphold the evildoers.
- Behold, God will not reject the blameless, nor will he uphold the hand of evildoers.
Job.8.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עד: PREP
- ימלה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שחוק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פיך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
- ושפתיך: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- תרועה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 126:2-3 (verbal): Explicitly echoes the image of mouths filled with laughter and tongues with song—’Our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing’—closely paralleling Job’s promise of filled mouths and rejoicing lips.
- Genesis 21:6 (verbal): Sarah’s declaration ‘God has made me laugh; everyone who hears will laugh with me’ uses the same root of ‘laughter’ and the idea of mouths/voices expressing joy, a direct verbal and thematic parallel.
- Psalm 30:11-12 (thematic): Speaks of God turning mourning into dancing and girding with gladness—the broader theme of divine reversal from sorrow to joyful speech found in Job 8:21.
- Isaiah 61:3 (thematic): Promises ‘beauty for ashes… the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise’—another prophetic formulation of God transforming grief into praise and rejoicing, thematically related to filled mouths and rejoicing lips.
- Job 42:10 (structural): Narrative fulfillment in Job’s life: God restores Job’s fortunes, a structural parallel showing the tangible restoration and rejoicing that Bildad predicts in 8:21.
Alternative generated candidates
- Until your mouth is filled with laughter and your lips with joyful shouting.
- Yet your mouth shall be filled with laughter and your lips with rejoicing.
Job.8.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שנאיך: PART,qal,ptcp,pl,m+2,m,sg
- ילבשו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בשת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואהל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- איננו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl,neg
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:30 (verbal): Contrasts stability of the righteous with the removal of the wicked ("the righteous shall never be removed; the wicked shall not inhabit the earth"), echoing the image of the wicked's dwelling coming to nothing.
- Psalm 37:10 (verbal): Uses nearly identical idea and wording about the short-lived destiny of the wicked ("Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be"), paralleling the extinction of the wicked's tent.
- Isaiah 41:11-12 (allusion): Promises that those furious against God's people will be ashamed and brought to nothing ("all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed... they shall be as nothing"), resonating with the motif of enemies clothed with shame.
- Job 21:18 (structural): Within the same book, this verse likewise depicts the sudden disappearance/perishing of the wicked ("They perish, and are no more"), echoing Job 8:22's outcome for the wicked's dwelling.
Alternative generated candidates
- Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
- Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
How long will you utter these things? Will the words of your mouth be a blustering wind?
Does God pervert justice, or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
If your children sinned against him, he delivered them into the hand of their transgression. But if you seek God and plead to the Almighty,
and you are pure and upright, then surely he will awake for you and repay to you the uprightness of your ways.
Though your beginning has been small, your latter end will increase greatly.
For inquire now of former generations, and attend to the experience of their ancestors.
We are of yesterday and know nothing; our days on the earth are but a shadow.
Will they not instruct you and tell you, and from their counsel words will come out of their heart?
Can papyrus grow up without a marsh, or reeds flourish without water?
While yet green it will be plucked up; at the appearance of all grass it will wither. So are the ways of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.
Whoever trusts in a worthless thing—his house will be like a spider’s web for refuge.
He leans upon his house, but it will not stand; he takes hold of it, yet it will not endure.
It is moist before the sun; in the heat it withers, and its shoot is scorched.
Its roots will twine about a heap of stones; it will cling among the rocks.
If it is torn up from its place, then it will deny you and say, ‘I never knew you.’
Behold, this is the joy of his way; out of the dust others shall spring up.
Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor will he uphold the hand of evildoers.
Surely then your mouth will be filled with laughter and your lips with shouting.
Your enemies shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.