“Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,”
Bildad the Shuhite responds to Job with a criticism of Job's excessive speech, questioning how long Job will continue to speak in this manner. Bildad's reproach of Job's lament establishes him as less sympathetic than Eliphaz; he views the lamenting itself as a problem. The opening challenge suggests that Bildad believes Job's speech is self-indulgent rather than an authentic expression of legitimate suffering.
Church Fathers on Job 8:1
Then answered Bildad, the Shuhite, and said, How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the breath of the words of thy mouth be multiplied? To the unrighteous the words of the righteous are ever grievous, and such as they hear spoken for edification, they bear as a burthen put upon them. As Bildad, the Shuhite, plainly indicates in his own case, when he says, How long wilt thou speak these things? For he that says how long, shews that he cannot any longer bear…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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