^18:1 But Bildad the Shuhite, answering, said:
^18:2 To what end will you toss about words? Understand first, and then let us speak.
^18:3 Why have we been reputed as beasts and become vile before you?
^18:4 Why do you destroy your soul in your fury? Will the earth be forsaken because of you, and will rocks be moved from their place?
^18:5 Will not the light of the impious man be extinguished, and will the flame of his fire not shine?
^18:6 The light will grow dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him will be extinguished.
^18:7 The steps of his strength will be narrowed, and his own counsel will cast him down.
^18:8 For he has put his feet into a net, and he walks in its meshes.
^18:9 His sole will be held by a snare, and thirst will burn against him.
^18:10 His trap is hidden in the earth, and his snare upon the path.
^18:11 Fears will terrify him on every side, and they will entangle his feet.

276. But Bildad the Shuhite, answering, etc. Because Bildad the Shuhite could not grasp with his understanding the preceding words of blessed Job, he thought that the things he himself did not understand were also brought forth emptily by the speaker; whence at the beginning of his response he says: To what end will you toss about words?

Here he seems to accuse him of three things:

first indeed, of ineffectiveness in speech, as if Job’s preceding words had no efficacy for confirming anything, which is signified in what he says: To what end;

second, he accuses him of a vain multiplication of words, as if the weight of judgments were lacking in Job’s preceding words, which is signified in what he says: words;

third, he marks him for a disordered connection of words, which is signified in what he says: will you toss about; for one is said to toss about words who scatters them in a disorderly way, although this third point can also be referred to boastful elation. Now these three things come about in someone’s speech from a defect of understanding; but with one who is deficient in understanding, conference is useless, and therefore he adds: Understand first, and then let us speak, as if to say: from the fact that you speak ineffectively, lightly, and disorderly, it is clear that you are deficient in understanding; hence first apply yourself to understanding, and afterwards we shall be able to confer with one another.

Then he accuses him of presumption because he had not judged them wise when he said: I shall not find among you any wise man, and therefore, answering this, he adds: Why have we been reputed as beasts and become vile before you? For a man who lacks wisdom seems like the beasts and vile, because the honor and adornment of man consist in wisdom. Consequently, he reprehends him for anger because he had said: My eye has grown dim through indignation, which he had understood wrongly, believing that it was the kind of indignation that had taken away from him the light of wisdom, not attending to what he had said afterwards: And the just will hold to his way; and therefore he adds: Why do you destroy your soul in your fury? For he destroys his soul in fury who, because of fury, falls away from wisdom and justice, which are the chief goods of the soul.

277. Therefore, after setting down these things, by which he marked the person of Job for defect of understanding, presumption, and fury, he consequently approaches the principal proposition about which the controversy was turning, namely, that the adversities of the present life are punishments for sins, against which Job said: I have not sinned, and my eye lingers in bitternesses. But because Bildad could not use reasons to assert his judgment, he wished to establish his judgment as most firm, as though from common opinion, and therefore he compared it to things that cannot be moved, namely, the earth and rocks, whence he says: Will the earth be forsaken because of you, and will rocks be moved from their place? As if to say: this judgment, that adversities happen because of sins, is firm like the earth and rocks; therefore, can it be removed because of your disputations, so that you may be proved innocent?

278. Then he pursues his judgment more diffusely, narrating one by one the evils that come upon sinners. Among these, he first sets down the cessation of prosperous successes, which he compares to light, because he who walks in the light does not stumble, as is said in John 11:9; hence those for whom all things succeed prosperously according to their desire seem to walk in light. Therefore, concerning the loss of this light, that is, of prosperity, he says: Will not the light of the impious man be extinguished?, that is, will prosperity cease? But just as bodily light proceeds from the flame of fire, so also the brightness of prosperity proceeds from man’s affection, when what he desires comes to him, and therefore he adds: and will the flame of his fire not shine? For by fire the ardor of love is usually signified, according to Song of Songs 8:6: its lamps are lamps of fire and of flames. Now it must be considered that the prosperity of human success proceeds from a twofold cause: sometimes indeed from human providence, for example, when a man prudently and carefully disposes each thing, and with regard to this, concerning the cessation of prosperity, he says: The light will grow dark in his tabernacle, because, namely, both he and his household will lack prudence in counsels; but sometimes the prosperity of human success proceeds from a higher cause, namely, from divine providence, and with regard to this, describing the cessation of prosperity, he says: and the lamp that is over him will be extinguished, not indeed so that it does not shine in itself, but so that it does not illumine the impious man. And he fittingly called the providence of man a light, as though borrowed from another, but the providence of God a lamp, as though shining of itself. He set down first the light of human providence, because by the fact that man abandons the light of reason, he seems to merit not being protected by the light of divine providence.

279. Consequently, after the cessation of prosperity, he adds concerning adversity, regarding which he first sets down impediments to work and effort. Now man strives to arrive at the effect of his work in two ways: in one way through his own strength, and against this he says: The steps of his strength will be narrowed, because, namely, the efforts of his strength could not have broad progress; in another way, man strives to obtain something through wisdom, and with regard to this he says: and his own counsel will cast him down, when, namely, what he devised as useful becomes harmful to him. But he says that the cause of these impediments proceeds from his sin itself when he adds: For he has put his feet into a net; for just as one who willingly places his foot in a net prepares himself for capture, so one who willingly thrusts himself into sin disposes himself so that his progress may be impeded, according to Proverbs 5:22: His own iniquities capture the impious man. And just as there are various meshes in a net, so also in sin there are many diversities by which men are ensnared in different ways, and therefore he adds: and he walks in its meshes, when, namely, he proceeds from one kind of sin to another, or from one manner of sinning to another. And because he willingly thrusts himself into dangers and does not desist but always proceeds further, therefore at some time he will feel the impediment, whence he adds: His sole will be held by a snare, that is, the progress of his will and work will be impeded by some contrary thing.

280. Harms of this kind come upon those proceeding in sin from a threefold cause:

first indeed, on the part of the sinner himself, who, the more he sins, the more he increases in himself the desire of sinning, and with regard to this he adds: and thirst will burn against him, because, namely, sometimes a sinful man considers by reason that something is harmful to him, but the burning desire of sinning compels him to act against his own judgment.

Second, the cause of harm is sometimes from the very things in which he sins, as Ecclesiastes 5:12 says: Riches are preserved to the harm of their owner. Now harms of this kind sometimes come from things already attained, and with regard to this he says: His trap is hidden in the earth, because, namely, in earthly things themselves there lies hidden some danger by which the feet of the sinner are captured; but sometimes harms of this kind come while man is on the way of acquiring, and with regard to this he says: and his snare upon the path, because, namely, before the sinner attains what he seeks, his dangers lie hidden on the very way.

Third, harms of this kind are caused on the part of other men, whose snares and attacks are feared, whence he adds: Fears will terrify him on every side, because, as is said in Wisdom 17:10, since wickedness is timid, it has been given for the condemnation of all. But when a man takes precautions against everyone, it is necessary that his actions be impeded in many ways, whence he adds: and they will entangle his feet, namely, so that he cannot proceed freely anywhere.