פתיחה למענה האחד עשר מענה איוב The Eleventh Oration - Job’s Reply To Bildad’s Second Speech
גם על שיטת בלדד לא ערך תשובתו עדיין, כי חיכה להשיב לשלושת הריעים יחד כנ"ל בפתיחה למענה איוב הקודמת, רק התמרמר מאד על מה שמכאיבים אותו בדברים מרים ובחרפה ובוז, שהגם שידבר דבר לא נכון באמונה, אין אדם נתפס על צערו, ורואה הוא שכולם נהפכו לאויבים לו, וכאילו באו להוסיף מכאוב על מכאוביו וירדפוהו כצרים מבלי חמלה, והוא מוסר משפטו לדורות הבאים אשר יצדיקוהו בריבו, ומוסר דין עליהם לשמיים, על אשר ירדפו איש נגוע חולי כמוהו ונכאה לבב למותת, וסיפר צערו וצרתו, ומזהירם שיפחדו מעונש ה' על אונאת דברים אשר יונוהו תחת אהבתם. Job does not now reply to Bildad's hypothesis, preferring to wait until all three of his companions have completed their speeches in the second round. At this juncture he just complains bitterly at the pain their biting words are causing him; such scorn and insult (Psalms 119:22), Even had he said something improper, a person should not be held responsible for what he says when distressed.1TB Baba Batra 16b He concludes that they have turned against him; that they have become his enemies and, as such, have just come to heap still more anguish on his distress (Lamentations 1:12), hounding him mercilessly. He leaves it to future generations to judge his case; they will surely exonerate him.
He also arraigns his companions before Heaven for having persecuted a disease stricken man like him, one who is anguished to the point of death. (Psalms 109:16) He tells of his distress and his troubles and warns them that they should fear God's retribution for the way they had deceived him, under the guise of love.2This book is as much about man as it is about God. Whatever God's involvement was or was not in all that had befallen Job, his family and his possessions, his companions show little sympathy for his present state. They offer all sorts of theologies to explain it but there is no succor or comfort in their rationalizations; at least they could have shown some pity. As Yeshayahu Leibowitz said of the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner, that if it is supposed to be an explanation, it fails; but if it is meant to be a comfort to the bereaved (נחום אבלים), which is a great Mitzvah, then the book has value.