Bible Strands
Job 8:2
“How long will you go on saying such things? The words of your mouth are a blustering wind.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Bildad the Shuhite addresses Job at the opening of his second speech in the cyclical dialogue. He confronts Job’s prolonged lament with a direct challenge to his current line of speech.
The words — תְּמַלֶּל (te.ma.lel) literally means “will you say” or “utter,” and ר֫וּחַ (ruach) means “wind.” Bildad pairs these terms to frame Job’s speech as a forceful but empty gust.
The thread — The text links speech to wind in Job 6:26, Job 15:2, and 1 Kings 19:11. In each case, wind functions as a metaphor for hollow or overwhelming utterance rather than a medium of divine presence.
Why it lands — The verse demands the reader examine whether their own words carry weight or merely circulate without substance. It calls for speech that aligns with reality rather than self-generated noise.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
Cross-references
- Job 6:26 Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair?
- Job 15:2 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
- 1 Kings 19:11 Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
- Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
- Exodus 10:7 Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
- Job 6:9 that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off!
- Job 7:11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Job 11:2 “Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a speaker be vindicated?
- Job 16:3 Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying?
- Job 18:2 “How long until you end these speeches? Show some sense, and then we can talk.