Job 25

Chapter Overview

What happens in Job 25

Bildad speaks for the third and final time with the shortest speech in the debate. He says God is so great and pure that no human being -- who is nothing but a worm -- could ever be righteous before him.

Scripture

Bildad's Final Words

Study note

Bildad's final speech is only six verses long. He has run out of arguments. He simply repeats that God is supreme and keeps order in the heavens. He asks how any person born of a woman can be pure before God. If even the moon and stars are not pure in God's sight, how much less a human being, who is only a maggot or a worm? This is Bildad's last word in the debate. Zophar never speaks again either, suggesting the friends have exhausted their arguments.

1 Then Bildad from Shuah spoke up and said, Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

2 'Supreme authority and the power to inspire awe belong to God. He keeps peace and order in the highest heavens.' Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

3 'Is there any way to count the armies he commands? Is there a single place where his light does not reach?' Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

4 'So how could any human being stand before God and be called righteous? How could anyone born from a woman claim to be pure?' How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

5 'If even the moon is not bright enough for him, and the stars fail to meet his standard of purity,' Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

6 'then what about a human being, who is as small as a maggot? What about a person, who is no more than a worm?' How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

Key Themes

Themes in Job 25

The greatness and purity of GodHuman smallness before the CreatorThe inadequacy of human righteousnessA theology that is true but incomplete

Apply This Today

Living Job 25

Bildad's final words are brief but powerful: God is vast and pure, and we are small. This is true. But it is not the whole truth. God is also near, personal, and compassionate. Never let God's greatness make you forget His tenderness.

Go Deeper

Study Job in Covenant Path

Read every chapter with study aids, bookmarks, and daily reading plans — free in the app.

Download for iOS Download for Android

← Job 25 →