Job 8:16

BILDAD IRONICALLY DESCRIBES THE GODLESS MAN'S JOY

"He is green before the sun,

And his shoots go forth over his garden.

His roots are wrapped about the stone heap,

He beholdeth the place of stones.

If he be destroyed from his place,

Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

Behold, this is the joy of his way;

And out of the earth shall others spring."

"He is green before the sun" (Job 8:16). This is a reference to Job in the days of his prosperity. Then Bildad went on to speak of, "the place of stones," Job's rocky road, (Job 8:17), and of his being "destroyed" and "denied" (Job 8:18), adding sarcastically and ironically, "This is the joy" of the way Job was going! We are grateful to Samuel Terrien for his word that, "Behold, this is the joy of his way, should be interpreted ironically."[16]

All of the Commentators have mentioned the difficulty of the text in these verses, some of it "making little sense";[17] but we have commented on the words as they stand in our version.