Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
Parallel translations
- WEB Why are we counted as animals, which have become unclean in your sight?
- BSB Why are we regarded as cattle, as stupid in your sight?
- NKJV Why are we counted as beasts, And regarded as stupid in your sight?
- NASB “Why are we regarded as animals, As stupid in your eyes?
- NLT Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Bildad takes offense that Job seems to regard the friends as stupid, unclean animals. He resents Job's perceived contempt.
Overview
Bildad feels insulted, asking why he and the others are counted as senseless beasts in Job's eyes. His wounded pride shows how the friends are more defensive of their dignity than attentive to Job's pain. This self-focus contrasts with the humble, others-centered love Scripture commends, which does not insist on its own honor (1 Corinthians 13:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 73:22So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
- Job 17:4For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
- Job 17:10But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
- Rom 12:10Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
- Eccl 3:18I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
- Job 12:7–8But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 18:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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