Job 8:22

22. In his concluding words Bildad puts himself and his friends right with Job, and desires to put Job right with himself and God. By referring to Job’s haters he intimates that he and his friends are none of them; and by identifying these haters with the wicked (Job_8:22), he lets Job know that he regards him as at heart one who belongs to quite a different class.

The position of Job’s friends cannot be understood at all unless we consider that they assumed Job’s piety at heart, but concluded from his calamities that he had been guilty of some great sins. And as Eliphaz had already brought to bear on Job’s mind the influence of a revelation, the next strongest argument was the consent of mankind. And to some minds, especially in that condition of perplexity and confusion on religious experience in which Job’s was, the general accord of mankind speaks with a more persuasive voice than anything called revelation. Bildad clearly enough perceived the drift of Job’s words in ch. 7; they were to the effect that the government of the world and the supreme Power in it was un-moral. And his reply, that mankind everywhere, and especially in circumstances that gave their judgment weight, had perceived a moral law ruling the universe, was conclusive as a general principle. His error lay in supposing that this was the only principle on which the universe was ruled, and in imagining that this principle operated always in a manner direct and immediate. Hence the principle lost its effectiveness in his hands by being stretched to uses which it did not cover.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 8:22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

Ver. 22. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame] It shall cover their faces, Psa 69:7, yea, cover over the whole man; when beyond all expectation they shall see thee restored to thy former prosperity. Where it is worth considering, saith one, how truly this happened touching Job, and these friends of his; he was restored, and they, by God’s reproving them, covered with shame, as it appeareth, Job 42:7-10

And the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought] Heb. Shall not be. See Job 8:18. Understand it not of his tabernacle only, or dwelling place, but of his whole estate, both temporal and spiritual, all shall come to rack and ruin. God shall utterly overturn them, as Zisca did those 300 monasteries, and among the rest that famous monastery called the king’s court, a mile from Prague; in the walls whereof the whole Bible was most exquisitely written in letters of gold (Mr Clark in his Life). "The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish," Pro 14:11.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 8:22. They that hate thee — That rejoice in thy calamities; shall be clothed with shame — That is, shall be wholly covered with it, shall be utterly confounded, when they shall observe thee, whom they have despised and insulted over, to be wonderfully restored to thy former or greater felicity. And the dwelling-place of the wicked — Either, particularly, of thy enemies, who acted so unworthily and wickedly toward thee; or, more generally, of all wicked men; shall come to naught — Having showed what good God would do to the perfect, or good man, he now declares what would be the portion of the wicked. And, as he said, Job 8:20, that God would not help them; so here he adds, that God would bring not only them, but their house, that is, their family and estate, to utter ruin.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The haters of Job are the wicked. They shall be clothed with shame (Jer 3:25; Psa 35:26; Psa 109:29), at the failure of their hope that Job would utterly perish, and because they, instead of him, come to naught.

Next: Job Chapter 9

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame - When they see your returning prosperity, and the evidences of the divine favor. They will then be ashamed that they regarded you as a hypocrite, and that they reproached you in your trials.

And the dwelling-place of the wicked ... - The wicked shall be destroyed, and his family shall pass away. That is, God will favor the righteous, but punish the wicked. This opinion the friends of Job maintain all along, and by this they urge him to forsake his sins, repent, and return to God.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They that hate thee, that rejoice in thy calamities, shall be wholly covered with shame, shall be utterly confounded, when they shall observe thee, whom they have despised and insulted over, to be so wonderfully and surprisingly restored to thy former or a greater felicity.

Of the wicked; either particularly of thy enemies, who dealt so unworthily and wickedly with thee; or more generally of all wicked men. Having showed what good God would do to the perfect man, he now declares the contrary portion of the wicked; and as he said that God would not help them, Job 8:20, so here he adds, that God will bring not only them, but their house, i.e. their family and estate, to nought.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Clothed with shame — לבשׁ clothe, when employed metaphorically is for the most part used of righteousness, (Job_29:14;) also of the divine Spirit, light, glory, etc.; here, (also Psa_35:26,) with concealed sarcasm, the signification is, their best attire is shame.

Dwelling-place —In the place of בית, house, three times appearing in the ancient poem, we now have אהל, ohel, tent, happily chosen to set forth the transitoriness of the home of the wicked in comparison with that of the spider, and even the running vine.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; (comp. Psa_35:26) and the dwelling-place (literally, tent, or tabernacle) of the wicked shall come to nought (literally, shall not be). The words are involved and obscure, because Bildad does not wish to make his meaning plain. He has to invent phrases which may cut both ways, and, while they seem directed against Job"s enemies, may pain and wound Job himself.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.