Job 18:1-21

18:1-21 | In his second speech, Bildad decides he cannot reason with Job, so he seeks to scare him instead, reciting all the traps that are in place to ensnare the wicked. He considers Job one who will die the death of the wicked.

18:1-4 | Bildad takes offense at Job’s description of him and his two friends in animal terms.

18:5-6 | Light is associated with life just as darkness is associated with death. Since God is the Author of life, He alone can light a person’s lamp (Prov. 13:9; Acts 17:25-28). But Bildad’s misguided point is that the Lord also snuffs out the lamp of the wicked.

18:8-10 | A net, a trap, a snare, and a noose are used to catch birds and animals. According to Bildad, this is also how the wicked person rightly meets his or her demise.

18:21 | Bildad’s words throughout the chapter illustrate the power of words; in this case, their power to do further damage (Prov. 12:18). Job is obviously broken already, and here is Bildad, tearing him to shreds. Much of the Book of Job is a manual on how not to counsel, how not to help hurting people, why not to spend one’s life criticizing.