children as proof that God punishes the wicked: ‘When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin’ (8:4). Bildad doubts Job’s righteousness: ‘If you are pure and upright …’ (8:6, emphasis added). No justification exists for this inference regarding Job’s sons: it goes against the redemptive significance of the sacrifices made on their behalf; furthermore the book of Job says nothing about the profligacy of Job’s sons. This is an instance of Bildad’s cold, analytical