Job 18:2

How long will it be ere ye make an end of words?.... Because these words are expressed the plural number, some think more persons than one are addressed, either Eliphaz and Job together, who are complained of as taking up all the time, and having all the talk to themselves, that another could scarce put in a word; Bildad could say this with a better grace, because his discourses were but short; or else all his friends, whom he blames for not stopping Job's mouth at once, and for lengthening out the dispute with him; as if he should say, why are you so complaisant to him, to wait till he has done speaking, before you reply? why do not you, without any ceremony, interrupt him, and not suffer him to go on with his prate, a man that is so insufferably rude as to reckon us all as beasts? and to what purpose is it to talk to such a man, that is so hardened and incorrigible, so proud and conceited?

it is all labour in vain, and mere beating the air; it is high time to have done talking, and to put an end to the dispute, when things are such a pass with him as they are: or else the words are directed to Job, and his friends that were with him, who might now and then speak a word in his behalf, though their words are not recorded; or, however, by their looks or gestures might show their approbation of Job's defences: that there were others present besides Job and his three friends, it is probable; yea, it is certain that Elihu was present all the while, but he was not altogether of Job's mind; nor does it appear that he had any to take his part, for his brethren, acquaintance, kinsfolk, and familiar friends, stood at a distance from him, and his maids and menservants used him ill; and even his own wife was not very kind to him, as he declares in the following chapter; wherefore it seems best of all to understand these words as spoken to Job alone, the plural being used for the singular, according to the idiom of the tongue in which they were spoken, and so are a charge of loquacity against him for talking too much, and too long, unless it had been to better purpose; and in like manner Bildad begins his first reply to Job, Job 8:2 ; a late interpreter renders the words, "how long will you lay snares with words" (e)?

Job 18:2 . How long will it be ere you wake an end — How long shall we continue this dispute? Why do not you, my brethren, give over discoursing with Job, who is so transported by his passions, as not to be fit to be discoursed with? At least, forbear to proceed till both you and he shall better understand the subject? For, if Bildad be considered as addressing himself to his two companions, he must have meant to reprove them for making use of too long discourses, and to advise them first to consider the subject well, and then to speak directly to the purpose. But many commentators understand him as addressing Job; using here, as also Job 18:3 , the plural number, according to the common idiom of the eastern language: which was to speak thus to, or of one person, especially if he were of great eminence. In this case he must have intended to censure Job for puzzling the cause with cavils and exceptions, and to call upon him to produce a plain instance, in which a righteous man was known to have had punishment inflicted on him, or else to own the truth of the established maxim, that punishment was a sure mark of wickedness. Mark, and afterward we will speak — Consider the matter better, and then we shall speak concerning it to more advantage. Or, inform us: Hebrew תבינו , tabinu, make us to understand. Seeing thou lookest upon us as ignorant and brutish men, as it follows, Job 18:3 , do thou instruct and inform us.

2 . Then he spoke impiously of God, saying that He tore him in His anger (ch. Job 16:9 ), and appealed to the earth and nature to rise up on his side (ch. Job 16:18 ). Such things provoke the personal and moral indignation of Bildad alike. It seems to him that Job holds his brethren and him little higher than the beasts (although it was Job himself that was destitute of understanding), and that in his extravagant self-righteousness he flings them away from him as belonging to the class of the “unclean” ( Job 18:2-3 ). And it is not God that tears him in His anger; rather in his outrageous fury he is tearing himself. And does he suppose, as his appeal to the earth might suggest, that the eternal flow of law and order in the universe is to be interrupted for his sake—that he may be reputed innocent, or that being guilty he may not suffer the penalty of his evil, and that his principles may prevail? ( Job 18:4 ). This question naturally leads over to the principal theme of the discourse, the certainty of the destruction of the wicked through the operation of the fixed order of the world and the moral instincts of mankind ( Job 18:5-21 ). ere you make an end of words ] Rather, how long will ye hunt for words , lit. set snares for words . Bildad begins with the same exclamation of impatient astonishment that he used on a former occasion, ch. Job 8:2 , how long? quousque tandem abutere patientia nostra ?

By “hunting for words” he means making subtle and artificial attempts at finding arguments—which were only words. He probably refers to the distinctions which Job, in wrestling with his great problem, drew between God and God, and his appeals to the one against the other. Such things seem subtleties to Bildad and but the theme of speakers; man’s destiny in the world of God is a thing of more solid stuff, and its principles not so intangible. mark, and afterwards ] Rather, understand . Bildad gives back Job’s words, Thou hast hid their heart from understanding, ch. Job 17:4 . It was not they but he that was without wisdom, and until he came to some admission of first principles talking was of little avail. In answering Job Bildad uses here the plur. ye , with reference no doubt to Job’s identifying himself with the class of righteous sufferers persecuted by the wicked, ch. Job 17:6 seq . The circumstances of the Author’s time perhaps shine out through these allusions—the collision of classes, the conflicting claims of parties to represent the true people of God, and the diverse solutions which various minds sought for the hard problem of the national affliction, which turned the servant of the Lord over into the hands of the wicked (ch. Job 16:11 ) and made him the servant of rulers ( Isaiah 49:7 ). Job 18:2

Ere ye; either, 1. You my brethren. Why do you not give over discoursing with Job, who is wholly transported with rage, and not fit to be discoursed with, at least until both you and he have better considered what to say? Or rather, 2. Thou, O Job, of whom he speaks here, as also Job 18:3 , in the plural number; either because there were some other person or persons present at this debate, who by their words or gestures showed themselves favourers of Job’s cause; or because it was a common idiom of the Eastern language to speak thus of one person, especially where he was one of eminency or authority. Job’s speeches were generally longer than his friends’, and they seemed very tedious to them. Mark; consider the matter and our words better. Or, inform us , Heb. make us to understand . Seeing thou lookest upon us as ignorant and brutish men, as it follows, do thou instruct and inform us. Cease cavilling and railing, and produce thy strong reasons, that we may consider and answer them, or yield to them.

How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? - It has been made a question to whom this is addressed. It is in the plural number, and it is not usual in Hebrew when addressing an individual to make use of the plural form. Some have supposed that it is addressed to Job and to Eliphaz, as being both "long-winded" and tedious in their remarks. Others have supposed that it refers to Job "and the members of his family," who possibly interposed remarks, and joined Job in his complaints. Others suppose that it refers to Eliphaz and Zophar, as being silent during the speech of Job, and not arresting his remarks as they ought to have done. Rosenmuller supposes that it refers to Job and those similar to him, who were mere feigners of piety, and that Bildad means to ask how long it would be before they would be effectually silenced, and their complaints hushed. I see no great difficulty in supposing that the reference is to Job. The whole strain of the discourse evidently supposes it; and there is no evidence that any of the family of Job had spoken, nor does it seem at all probable that Bildad would reprove his own friends either for the length of their speeches, or for not interrupting an other. The custom in the East is to allow a man to utter all that he has to say without interruption. Mark - Hebrew understand; or be intelligent - תבינו tābı̂ynû; that is, either speak distinctly, clearly, intelligently; or consider and weigh our arguments.

The former is the interpretation of Schultens, and seems to me to be the true one. The idea is this: "You, Job, have been altering mere words. They are words of complaint, without argument. Speak now in a different manner; show that you understand the case; advance arguments that are worthy of attention, and then we will reply."