Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
The verse stands in the debate between Job and his three friends over his afflictions, covering chapters 4 to 31 and made up of three circles of speeches by each speaker. It is Bildad's accusation against Job, asking why he and his companions are counted as beasts and regarded as vile in Job's sight. It records the friends speaking of Job as if he were a beast and vile in their sight.
The verse belongs to the friends' insistence that Job's suffering is caused by sin. Their argument, as applied to Job, was generally mistaken: suffering does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure. The verse belongs to a story that warns how people can misjudge others in their affliction.
As part of the friends' speeches, the verse's claims about Job and God are not reliable when they conflict with inspired teaching and must be tested against the rest of Scripture.
The verse stands in the debate between Job and his three friends over his afflictions, covering chapters 4 to 31 and made up of three circles of speeches by each speaker. It is Bildad's accusation against Job, asking why he and his companions are counted as beasts and regarded as vile in Job's sight. It records the friends speaking of Job as if he were a beast and vile in their sight.
The verse belongs to the friends' insistence that Job's suffering is caused by sin. Their argument, as applied to Job, was generally mistaken: suffering does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure. The verse belongs to a story that warns how people can misjudge others in their affliction.
As part of the friends' speeches, the verse's claims about Job and God are not reliable when they conflict with inspired teaching and must be tested against the rest of Scripture.