The Word Made Fresh
1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered Job. 2“Authority and awe belong to God, and the highest heavens are at peace. 3God’s armies are without number, and who is hidden from God’s light? 4So, how can a mortal human be righteous before God? How can those born of a woman be pure? 5If the moon is not bright, and the stars don’t sparkle in God’s sight, 6how much less do we mortals shine? We’re no brighter than maggots and worms.”
Commentary
1-6: Bildad argues that God is so great it is impossible for a person to be righteous. Human beings are nothing more than worms, he says.
Takeaway
This is the last word Job will hear from his three “friends.” Their counsel has been disheartening, to say the least. Job, for his part, has refused to surrender to their counsel. He will continue to defend himself by insisting that he has done nothing to deserve the trouble he’s in. And he is right! Everything we are told about him at the beginning of the book reinforces Job’s arguments. For now, his three friends will remain silent, thank goodness.