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Bildad
The second of Job's friends, the Shuhite, who appealed to the wisdom of the ancients.
What we know — and how we know it
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Origin & birthplace
ScholarlyBildad's gentilic 'the Shuhite' has been linked by scholars to the land of Suhu, an Aramean district on the middle Euphrates that is well attested in Assyrian royal and administrative texts, situating Job's friend within a recognizable geographic milieu.
The region Suḫu/Sūhu of the middle Euphrates in Assyrian sources; a proposed geographic identification for the biblical 'Shuhite,' not a direct attestation of Bildad.
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe name Bildad is obscure and its etymology unresolved; it is sometimes analyzed as a West-Semitic/Akkadian-flavored form (e.g. a contraction meaning 'Bel/the lord has loved'), but no derivation is secure.
Onomastic point: the name Bildad has no agreed etymology in the standard commentaries and lexica.