If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
Parallel translations
- KJV If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
- BSB if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.
- NKJV If you were pure and upright, Surely now He would awake for you, And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
- NASB If you are pure and upright, Surely now He will stir Himself for you And restore your righteous estate.
- NLT and if you are pure and live with integrity, he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.
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 claims that if Job were truly pure and upright, God would rouse himself and restore his household. He implies Job's loss proves impurity.
Overview
Bildad's logic is that purity guarantees prosperity, so Job's ruin must signal hidden sin. The reader knows from chapters 1-2 that Job actually is blameless, which makes Bildad's reasoning false in this case. The book dismantles the assumption that earthly fortune is an automatic measure of personal righteousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?
- Job 5:24You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.
- Isa 3:10Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Ps 7:6Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
- Ps 59:4–5I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me!
- Job 16:17Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
- 1 Jn 3:19–22And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,
- Ps 44:23Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don’t reject us forever.
- 1 Tim 2:8I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and doubting.
- Isa 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- Job 1:8Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.”
- Job 21:14–15They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways.
- Ps 26:5–6I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.
- Job 4:6–7Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope?
- Job 22:23–30If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:6 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.