Job 18 · a question people ask
Proverbs also says the lamp of the wicked is put out. So is Bildad right?
Bildad's words and Proverbs' are close. Bildad says, "Yes, the light of the wicked will be put out" (18:5), and "His lamp above him will be put out" (18:6). Proverbs says, "The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out" (Proverbs 13:9), and "The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out" (Proverbs 24:20); in Hebrew lamp, wicked and snuffed out are Bildad's words. Bildad's "His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street" (18:17) is close to "The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot" (Proverbs 10:7), with the same Hebrew words for memory and name. So much of what Bildad says, other Scripture says too. But the book also lets his words be answered. Job asks, "How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them" (21:17), with the same Hebrew words for lamp, wicked and put out, and with 18:12's calamity. The book had said Job "was blameless and upright" (1:1), and the LORD had said to Satan, "you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause" (2:3). What the book says of the three friends' words is 42:7, and it doesn't say which words it means. These notes set the verses side by side and give no verdict of their own on Bildad.
The verses
““Yes, the light of the wicked will be put out. The spark of his fire won’t shine. The light will be dark in his tent. His lamp above him will be put out.”
“The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.”
“for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.”
“His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.”