Bildad

Bildad (meaning: old friendship or son of contention) was the second of Job's three friends who came to comfort him in his affliction. He is called the Shuhite, probably identifying him as a member of the tribe or district of Shuah, associated with one of the sons of Abraham by Keturah who settled in Arabia. Like his companions Eliphaz and Zophar, Bildad came with genuine intentions of comfort but became an articulate defender of traditional theological orthodoxy at the expense of pastoral sensitivity.

Bildad speaks three times in the dialogues of Job. His speeches consistently appeal to the wisdom of the ancestors and traditional doctrine: suffering is the consequence of sin, and if Job's children died it was because they sinned. He urges Job to seek God and trust that the righteous are rewarded and the wicked destroyed. His second speech contains an extended and vivid description of the fate of the wicked that Job finds deeply offensive in his circumstances. Bildad speaks briefer and briefer speeches as the dialogues progress, his third speech being only six verses long. At the end of the book, God declares that he is angry with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because they have not spoken what is right about him, as his servant Job has.