Job 8:20

8:20-22 Bildad here assures Job, that as he was so he should fare; therefore they concluded, that as he fared so he was. God will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue, that Job was an ungodly, wicked man, was unjust and uncharitable. The mistake in these reasonings arose from Job's friends not distinguishing between the present state of trial and discipline, and the future state of final judgment. May we choose the portion, possess the confidence, bear the cross, and die the death of the righteous; and, in the mean time, be careful neither to wound others by rash judgments, nor to distress ourselves needlessly about the opinions of our fellow-creatures.

A sincere, upright, good man; one that is truly gracious; who, though he is not "perfect" in himself, yet in Christ; and though not with respect to sanctification, which is as yet imperfect in him, yet with respect to justification, being perfectly justified by the righteousness of Christ, and all his sins pardoned for his sake: such an one God will never "cast away"; not out of his sight, being engraven on the palms of his hands, nor out of his heart's love; or will not "loath" (r) him, as the Targum, or reject him with abhorrence and contempt; he will not cast him out of his covenant, which is ordered in all things and sure; nor out of the hands of his son, where he has put him, and from whence none can pluck; nor out of his family, where the son abides for ever; or so as to perish eternally, this would be contrary to his love, to his foreknowledge, and to his covenant; so far is he from it, that he has the greatest regard for such, delights in them, admits thereto nearness to himself, sets them as a seal on his heart, keeps them as the apple of his eye, and preserves them safe to his kingdom and glory: neither will he help the evil doers; meaning, not everyone that does evil, or sins, but such who live in sin, make a trade of sinning, are frequent and constant in the commission of it; such God will not help, or "take by the hand" (s), in order to deliver from evil, as Gersom observes; to help them out of mischief and trouble their sins have brought upon them; or to strengt

Job 8:20 . Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man — God, who will not help the evil doer, will not cast away a good man, though he may be cast down: yet it may be he will not be lifted up in this world; and therefore Bildad could not infer, that if Job was not restored to temporal prosperity he was not a good man. Let us judge nothing before the time, but wait till the secrets of all hearts are revealed, and the present difficulties of providence solved, to universal and everlasting satisfaction.

20–22 . Finally Bildad repeats his general principle and augurs from the one side of it a happy and brilliant future for Job. cast away a perfect man ] This word “perfect” is the title given to Job by the Author, and acknowledged due to him by God, see on ch. Job 1:1 . The phrase, God will not cast off a “perfect” man, becomes almost the text of Job’s reply, cf. ch. Job 9:20-21 ; Job 10:3 . help the evil doers ] lit. hold by the hand of evil-doers, cf. Isaiah 41:13 ; Isaiah 42:6 .

Verse 20. - Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man . Bildad winds up with words of apparent trust in, and good will towards, Job. God is absolutely just, and will neither forsake the righteous man nor uphold the wicked one. If Job is, as he says, true to God, upright, and (humanly speaking) "perfect," then he has only to go on trusting God; God will not leave him "till he fill his mouth with laughing, and his lips with rejoicing" (ver 21); then "they that irate him shall be clothed with shame, and their dwelling-place shall come to nought' (ver. 22); but if, as we feel instinctively that Bildad believes, Job is not "perfect," but "an evil-doer," then he must expect no relief, no lull in his sufferings; he is obnoxious to all the threatenings which have formed the bulk of Bildad's discourse (vers. 8-20) - be may look to being cut off, like the rush and the flag (vers. 11, 12), crushed like the spider's web (ver. 14), destroyed, and forgotten, like the rapidly growing gourd (Vers. 16-19); he must look for no help from God (ver. 20); but must be contented to pass away and make room for men of a better stamp (ver. 19). Neither will he help the evil-doers; literally, neither will he grasp the hand of evil-doers ; i.e. though he may support them for a while, he will not maintain them firmly and constantly. Job 8:20

20. Bildad regards Job as a righteous man, who has fallen into sin. God will not cast away a perfect man—(or godly man, such as Job was), if he will only repent. Those alone who persevere in sin God will not help (Hebrew, "take by the hand," Ps 73:23; Isa 41:13; 42:6) when fallen.

Heb. God will not despise or reject , i.e. he will not deny them his help, as appears by the opposite and following branch of the verse; he will not suffer them to be utterly lost. Help , i.e. deliver them out of their troubles. Hence it may seem that thou, O Job, art not a perfect or upright man, but an evil-doer. But this is certain, if for the future thy heart and way be not perfect, and thou dost not cease to do evil, thou wilt be utterly and irrecoverably lost; as, on the contrary, if thou dost repent and reform, he will help and deliver thee, and restore thee to thy former glory and happiness; which promise, though it be not here expressed, is sufficiently implied in the contrary threatening, as is evident from the following words, which plainly suppose it, and have a reference to it; such ellipses of contraries being not unusual in Scripture, as we shall see hereafter, especially in the Book of the Proverbs.

Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man - On the meaning of the word perfect, see the note at Job 1:1 . The sentiment of Bildad, or the inference which he draws from the whole argument is, that God will be the friend of the pious, but that he will not aid the wicked. This accords with the general sentiment maintained in the argument of the friends of Job. Neither will he help the evil doers - Margin, "Take the ungodly by the hand." This is in accordance with the Hebrew. The figure is that of taking one by the hand in order to assist him; see Isaiah 42:6.

20 Behold! God despiseth not the perfect man, And taketh not evil-doers by the hand. 21 While He shall fill thy mouth with laughing, And thy lips with rejoicing, 22 They who hate thee shall be clothed with shame, And the tent of the ungodly is no more. "To take by the hand," i.e., ready to help as His own, as Isaiah 41:13; Isaiah 42:6. Instead of עד (Job 8:21), there is no great difficulty in reading עוד: again (as e.g., Psalm 42:6) He will fill; but even עד is supportable; it signifies, like Job 1:18; Psalm 141:10, while. On the form ימלּה, vid., Ges. 75, 21, b. This close of Bildad's speech sounds quite like the Psalms (comp. Psalm 126:2 with Job 8:21; Psalm 35:26; Psalm 109:29; Psalm 132:18, with Job 8:22). Bildad does all he can to win Job over. He calls the ungodly שׂנאיך, to show that he tries to think and expect the best of Job. We have seen that Job in his second speech charges God with the appearance of injustice and want of compassion. The friends act as friends, by not allowing this to pass without admonition. After Job has exhausted himself with his plaints, Bildad enters into the discussion in the above speech. He defends the justice of God against Job's unbecoming words. His assertion that God does not swerve from the right, is so true that it would be blasphemy to maintain against him that God sometimes perverts the right.