(Bilʹdad).

One of Job’s three companions, called the Shuhite; a descendant of Shuah, the son of Abraham by Keturah. (Job 2:11; Ge 25:2; 1Ch 1:32) Taking his second-place turn in the three rounds of debate, Bildad usually followed the general theme set by Eliphaz; his speeches were shorter and more biting, though not to the degree of Zophar’s. Bildad was the first to accuse Job’s children of wrongdoing and of therefore meriting the calamity that befell them. With misguided reasoning he used this illustration: As papyrus and reeds dry up and die without water, likewise “all those forgetting God”​—a statement true in itself, but most erroneous in the intimation that it applied to God-fearing Job. (Job 8) Like Eliphaz, Bildad falsely classified Job’s afflictions as those coming upon the wicked: “no posterity and no progeny” for poor Job, Bildad implied. (Job 18) With his third speech, a short one in which Bildad argued that man is “a maggot” and “a worm” and hence unclean before God, the words of “comfort” from Job’s three companions came to an end. (Job 25) Finally, Bildad, along with the other two, was divinely instructed to offer a burnt sacrifice and to have Job pray in their behalf.​—Job 42:7-9.