Lent With Job and Saint Thomas Aquinas: Chapter Eighteen

Job’s friend Bildad is now heard from again:

Since Baldath of Shuah could not understand what blessed Job meant with his intellect, he thought that what he himself did not understand was spoken without basis even by the speaker, and so in the beginning of his answer he says, “To what end will you just toss out words?” Here he blames Job for three things: first, the ineffectual character of his speech, as though the words Job had spoken had no efficacious proof of anything, which is shown in the fact that he says, “To what end.” Second, he blames him for the vain multiplication of words, as though these words of Job lacked the weight of serious consideration, which is shown in the fact that he says, “words.” Third he criticizes him for the disordered connection of his words, which is shown when he says, “will you just toss out words?” For one is said to toss out words who scatters them inordinately, although one can also interpret this third thing as a display of bragging. These three faults occur in the speech of someone who has a weak intellect; and so a confrontation with one lacking intelligence is useless, and so he continues, “Understand first, and then we will speak,” as if to say: From the fact that you speak inefficaciously, lightly and inordinately it is clear that you have weak intelligence, and so I insist first that you apply yourself to understand and afterwards we can converse with each other. Then he blames him for presumption since he had not deemed them to be wise when he had said, “I will find no wise man among you.” (17:10) So to answer this he then says, “Why have you taken us to be asses and deprecate us in your presence?” For the man who lacks wisdom seems contemptible and like beasts of burden, because the honor and crown of man consists in wisdom. Consequently he finds fault him about anger because he had said, “Anger misted over my vision.” (17:7) He had taken this in the wrong way believing that it was the sort of anger that had taken away from him the light of wisdom, not listening to what he had said after this, “The just will preserve his course.” (17:9) So he then says, “Why do you lose your soul in your anger?” For one loses his soul in anger who because of anger departs from wisdom and justice which are the principle goods of the soul.

With these premises in which he had noted weakness of intellect, presumption and fury in the person of Job, he arrives as the consequence at his principal proposition towards which the controversy was directed which is that the adversities of this present life are punishments of sin. Job had said against this, “I have not sinned, and my eye lingers on bitter things.” (17:2) Since Baldath could not use arguments for the assertion of his opinion, he wanted to establish his opinion as most firm from common opinion, and so he compared it to the things which cannot be moved, like the earth and cliffs. So he says, “Because of you should the land disappear and would the cliffs be displaced?” implying: This opinion that adversities happen in return for sins is firm as earth and cliffs. Will it be able to be removed because of your arguments to prove your innocence?

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Job’s friends have not mastered the art of listening and understanding.