Who was Bildad in the bible

Bildad was one of Job’s friends. He thought he had it all figured out—about God, about Job, about life—but in the end God showed that he was wrong on all three counts.

Though Bildad knew Job to be successful in all things, he watched as Job became the victim of unbearable suffering. Together with two mutual friends—Eliphaz and Zophar—Bildad arrived at Job’s home to mourn with him and speak with him.

Job’s friends started out right by simply sitting silently with Job in his pain for seven days.

After that, however, everything went downhill. Eliphaz spoke first, gently suggesting that Job must have sinned to bring about his suffering. After Job replied to him, Bildad spoke. Bildad was even more direct than Eliphaz in accusing Job and his family of wrongdoing. His second and third speeches reiterated this assertion, which basically assumes that all suffering is a direct result of a person’s sin—so Job must have been hiding some unconfessed failure.

Even Bildad’s recognition that God will restore the repentant is barely noticeable (Job 8:20–22). After everyone, including the Lord, had finished speaking, God rebuked the three friends for what they said about Job. He instructed them to offer a sacrifice and ask Job to pray for them so they wouldn’t be punished for their foolish words about him. The three friends did so, and the Lord was merciful to them.

When we see someone suffering, our primary concern should be to love and help that person—rather than simply judge him according to the way we think things must work with God. That’s not to say that someone’s sin or faulty understanding of God should never be addressed. But, unlike Bildad, we should always keep love for others as our guiding principle.