Job 8:3 (ESV)

3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

In Bildad’s questions, emphasis is placed on the words “God” and “the Almighty.” Bildad is implying that Job had accused God of injustice. This is not true, of course. Job had never doubted God’s righteousness. In fact, the reason for his distress was that he could not discover why the righteous God would make him suffer so.

But in Bildad’s reasoning, Job’s claims of innocence are in themselves accusations against God. Bildad’s speech is based on the same false dilemma as that of Eliphaz: Either God or Job must be guilty. To Bildad the solution is obvious: The guilt must lie with Job. Yet we know from the prologue (Job 1:1 – 2:13) that this is a false dilemma and that neither God nor Job is guilty.