Bildad

For other uses, see Bildad, Iran and Bildad (disambiguation).

File:119.Job Speaks with His Friends.jpg

Gustave Doré, Job Speaks with His Friends.

Bildad (Hebrew: בִּלְדַּד‎ Bildaḏ, "Bel has loved"), the Shuhite, was one of Job's three friends who visited the patriarch in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He was a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1 - 25:2), whose family lived in the deserts of Arabia, or a resident of the district. In speaking with Job, his intent was consolation, but he became an accuser, asking Job what he has done to deserve God's wrath.

Speeches

The three speeches of Bildad are contained in Job 8, Job 18 and Job 25. For substance, they were largely an echo of what Eliphaz, the Temanite, had maintained, but charged with somewhat increased vehemence because he deemed Job's words so impious and wrathful. Bildad was the first to attribute Job's calamity to actual wickedness; albeit indirectly, by accusing his children (who were destroyed, Job 1:19) of sin to warrant their punishment (Job 8:4). His third speech marked the silencing of the friends.

See also

• Eliphaz
• Zophar
• Elihu
• Bildad is also the name of one of the owners of the Pequod in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.