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Job 8 is the eighth chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE.[3][4] This chapter records the speech of Bildad (one of Job's friends), which belongs to the Dialogue section of the book, comprising Job 3:1–31:40.[5][6]
| Job 8 | |
|---|---|
 The whole Book of Job in the Leningrad Codex (1008 C.E.) from an old fascimile edition. | |
| Book | Book of Job |
| Hebrew Bible part | Ketuvim |
| Order in the Hebrew part | 3 |
| Category | Sifrei Emet |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 18 |
The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 22 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q100 (4QJobb; 50–1 BCE) with extant verses 15–17.[8][9][10][11]
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 (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[12]
The structure of the book is as follows:[13]
Within the structure, chapter 8 is grouped into the Dialogue section with the following outline:[14]
The Dialogue section is composed in the format of poetry with distinctive syntax and grammar.[5] Chapter 8 record Bildad's first response to Job, which can be divided into several distinct sections:[15]
Bildad is the second of Job's friends to speak (verse 1) and he regards Job's words as inappropriate, so he rebukes Job based on his principle that Almighty God will not pervert justice or righteousness.[16] This is in contrast to Eliphaz's approach of God's utter holiness.[17] Bildad believes that suffering is punishment, so the death of Job's children is proof that they have sinned (verse 4–7).[17] The source of Bildad's argument is the long-held traditions, those searched out by former generations and appeared to have stood the test of time (verses 8–10).[18]
This verse, stated in the form of a rhetorical question, contains the fundamental premiss of Bildad's argument.[23] The twin concepts, judgment (justice; Hebrew: mišpāṭ) and justice (righteousness; Hebrew: tsedeq), are central in describing the Lord's activity in the Hebrew Bible, such as on these two principles 'the earth is established', as is 'God's throne' (Psalm 97:2), also as the two qualities God requires of Israel (Isaiah 5:7; Amos 5:24), and in which the covenant is grounded (Hosea 2:19).[23]
Bildad's speech (verses 11–19) focuses almost entirely on the negative aspects of the traditional doctrine of retribution, that is, the punishment of the wicked.[18] The excessive and overwhelming details of the discourse seem to force Job to 'understand' that Job's suffering must have been caused by sin.[18] Bildad then concludes his teaching on a fairly positive note (verse 20–22; cf. Psalm 126:2; 132:18), but this 'theoretically optimistic' sense is conditional to Job's repentance on his alleged sin and his turning away from the accusations that God is perverting justice.[26]
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