Bildad now claims that his argument is supported by the wisdom of the fathers and wise men of past ages. For inquire, I pray you, of bygone ages: his opening phrase is a formula used to appeal to ancient traditions. It is used in Deuteronomy 4.32, where Moses reminds the people of the covenant and asks them to “search the past.” See also Jeremiah 18.13. Bygone ages translates the Hebrew for “first generation.” Interpreters vary greatly as to the meaning of this phrase. It can hardly refer to the patriarchal period, because that is the time setting of the Job story. Some take it to mean the generation immediately past, but others feel that one generation is too limited to accumulate wisdom. It seems best, in spite of the singular, to understand the plural, as in Revised Standard Version. The command inquire, I pray you, of bygone ages must often be restructured to say, for example, “I beg you to ask the people who lived long ago.” If such an expression is not possible, since these persons are no longer living, it may be necessary to say “I ask you to find out what the people taught who lived long ago.” Line b specifies the content of line a, and in languages where this is required to make line a clear in any case, it may not be necessary to repeat line b.

Consider what the fathers have found: consider represents a verb meaning “establish, determine.” Many editors change one consonant to get “consider.” What the fathers have found is literally “the search of their fathers” and may most likely be taken to mean the “fruit of their search, the results of their investigations.” Fathers refers to the ancestors.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .