Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
The verse belongs to Bildad's first speech, which urges Job toward humility. It asks whether the people of earlier generations will instruct and inform, bringing forth words from their own understanding. It stands among the speeches in which the three friends accuse Job of sin and insist his sufferings have come upon him for that reason, while in reality God is disciplining Job and leading him through the fire of affliction.
The friends' observations and conclusions were in general true, yet they were misapplied to Job, for suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure. Statements by the friends about God and about Job cannot be accepted as reliable simply because they are found in Scripture, but must be tested by inspired declarations elsewhere, since God declares they did not speak what is true concerning Him or concerning Job. The verse touches the great problems of overruling providence, and of sin and suffering, which have perplexed mankind through all ages. It reveals how prone human beings still are to misjudge their fellow men in the same manner as the friends did.
The verse belongs to Bildad's first speech, which urges Job toward humility. It asks whether the people of earlier generations will instruct and inform, bringing forth words from their own understanding. It stands among the speeches in which the three friends accuse Job of sin and insist his sufferings have come upon him for that reason, while in reality God is disciplining Job and leading him through the fire of affliction.
The friends' observations and conclusions were in general true, yet they were misapplied to Job, for suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure. Statements by the friends about God and about Job cannot be accepted as reliable simply because they are found in Scripture, but must be tested by inspired declarations elsewhere, since God declares they did not speak what is true concerning Him or concerning Job. The verse touches the great problems of overruling providence, and of sin and suffering, which have perplexed mankind through all ages. It reveals how prone human beings still are to misjudge their fellow men in the same manner as the friends did.