Chapter VIII · Location 8 of 42
Chapter 8 · Open to readFrom Job · Douay–Rheims / Challoner (1749–1752)
What does Job Chapter 8 say, and which statements belong to its speaker?
Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary
Baldad rebukes Job, questions whether God perverts justice and speaks of the children's iniquity. He appeals to the fathers and compares forgotten God, fragile hope and a failing house with plants and a web. Baldad promises peace, multiplication and laughter; these remain his speech, not a verified result for Job.
Chapter breakdown
Intervening in the debate, Baldad the Suhite rebuked Job, asking how long he would pour forth words resembling a tempestuous wind. He demanded whether the Almighty could ever subvert justice or pervert what is righteous. In his reply, Baldad said that Job’s children had sinned and God had left them in the hand of their iniquity. Nevertheless, he urged Job to rise early, seek God, and supplicate the Almighty; if he would only walk in purity and integrity, God would promptly awaken on his behalf, establish his dwelling in peace, and cause his latter prosperity to multiply exceedingly, even if his former things were small.
In Baldad’s continuing speech, to substantiate his theological assertions, Baldad urged Job to inquire of ancient generations and search the accumulated memory of the fathers. He observed that mortal men are creatures of yesterday who know nothing, because their brief lifespan upon earth is merely a fleeting shadow; the ancients, however, would instruct him with heart-felt wisdom. Citing the order of nature, Baldad asked whether the marsh rush can remain green without moisture or the sedge bush grow without water. While still in bloom and untouched by human hands, it withers before all herbs. Even so, he asserted, are the paths of all who forget God, whose hope will perish and whose confidence is as flimsy as a spider's web.
Continuing his imagery, Baldad said that the godless man leans upon his house, yet it collapses beneath him; he attempts to prop it up, but it cannot stand. Though such a man appears flourishing like a plant shooting forth blossoms in the morning sun and spreading thick roots through stones, if one swallows him out of his place, it will deny him, while others sprout up to take his place. In contrast, Baldad concluded with an assurance of divine equity: God will not cast away the simple, nor will He extend His supporting hand to evildoers. He continued that Job's mouth would be filled with laughter and his lips with rejoicing, his adversaries clothed in confusion and the dwelling of the wicked not standing.
The story inside
Opening: Baldad rebukes Job, questions whether God perverts justice and speaks of the children's iniquity. Development: He appeals to the fathers and compares forgotten God, fragile hope and a failing house with plants and a web. Conclusion: Baldad promises peace, multiplication and laughter; these remain his speech, not a verified result for Job.
Lessons worth keeping
- 1Baldad rebukes Job, questions whether God perverts justice and speaks of the children's iniquity.
- 2He appeals to the fathers and compares forgotten God, fragile hope and a failing house with plants and a web.
- 3Baldad promises peace, multiplication and laughter; these remain his speech, not a verified result for Job.
Test your recall
Which images and requests does the speaker use, and what does the chapter leave unresolved?
Source edition and notes
Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.
Lines 54808–54809
Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow that which is just?
Lines 54826–54827
(For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our days upon earth are but a shadow.)
Lines 54832–54833
Can the rush be green without moisture? or sedge bush grow without water?
Lines 54841–54842
His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the spider’s web.
