Job 8:10
in Job 8Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart?
KJV
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
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This verse in Job 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Please inquire of past generations
on Job 8:8-10
Bildad appeals to tradition as the court of final appeal: "Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers". His clause "For we were born yesterday and know nothing" admits that his generation has no standing of its own and must borrow its wisdom.
This site's exposition
Will they not teach you and tell you
Bildad trusts the fathers over any experience of Job's. Clarke reads understanding, literally heart, as the fruit of long and careful experience. Henry adds that words from a teacher's heart reach a learner's heart.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book VIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? We must mark what he had said before, And the inspiration of the words of thy mouth is multiplied. But now when the fathers are brought to mind, he says, They shall utter words out of their heart. As though heretics abhorring the life of Holy Church said, 'Thou hast abundance of inspiration in thy mouth, in thy heart thou hast none of it.
He shows the use he makes of the preceding investigation continuing, "They, themselves" who went before and the fathers who are consulted, "will teach you," the truth about the above questions. Either your fathers will teach you from words or the ancients will teach you …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Utter - Not partially, but sincerely, speaking their inward thoughts; not rashly, but from deep consideration; not by hearsay, but their own knowledge.
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,....
(2.) Those that would fetch knowledge from the former ages must search diligently, prepare for the search, and take pains for the search. (3.) Those words are most likely to reach to the hearts of the learners that come from the hearts of the teachers.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
teach thee-- Job 6:24 had said, "Teach me." Bildad, therefore, says, "Since you want teaching, inquire of the fathers. They will teach thee." utter words--more than mere speaking; "put forth well-considered words." out of their heart--from observation and reflection; not merely, from their mouth: such, as Bildad insinuates, were Job's words.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Shall not they teach thee - Wilt thou not treat their maxims with the utmost deference and respect? They utter words from their heart - what they say is the fruit of long and careful experience.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Shall not they teach thee - The results of human conduct, and the great principles on which God governs the world. And utter words out of their heart - Dr. Good renders this, “And well forth the sayings of their wisdom,” And supposes it means that the words of wisdom would proceed from them as water bubbles from a fountain. But this, I think, is a mere conceit. The true sense is, that they would not speak that merely which comes from the mouth, or that which comes upper most, and without reflection - as the Greeks say, λέγειν πᾶν ὅ τι ἐπὶ στόμα ἔλθῃ legein pan ho ti epi stoma elthē; or, as the Latins, Quicquid in buccam venerit loqui - to speak whatever comes in the mouth; but they would utter that which came from the heart - which was sincere, and the result of deep and prolonged reflection. Perhaps, also, Bildad means to insinuate that Job had uttered what was uppermost in his mind, without taking time for reflection.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Can papyrus shoot up They will say this: Papyrus cannot grow except when the marsh is wet with its water and its moisture. בִצָה is marese in Old French, a marsh.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֵ֣ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| י֭וֹרוּךָ | yorukha | will they instruct you | H3384 → | 80 times |
| יֹ֣אמְרוּ | yomeru | will they say? | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| וּ֝מִלִּבָּ֗ם | umillibam | and from heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יוֹצִ֥אוּ | yotziu | will they bring forth? | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִלִּֽים׃ | milim | words | H4405 → | 38 times |
הֲלֹא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
הֵ֣םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
י֭וֹרוּךָwill they instruct you
yorukhaH3384 →80 times
יֹ֣אמְרוּwill they say?
yomeruH559 →5305 times
לָ֑ךְto you
lakh
וּ֝מִלִּבָּ֗םand from heart their
umillibamH3820 →595 times
יוֹצִ֥אוּwill they bring forth?
yotziuH3318 →1067 times
מִלִּֽים׃words
milimH4405 →38 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set…
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24–27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
- Philippians 2:16
as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
- Luke 21:34
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Hebrews 10:35–39
So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
- 2 Timothy 4:7
Through
Matthew 12:35The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Proverbs 15:28
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.