Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
How long will it be ere ye make an end - It is difficult to say to whom this address is made: being in the plural number, it can hardly be supposed to mean Job only. It probably means all present; as if he had said, It is vain to talk with this man, and follow him through all his quibbles: take notice of this, and then let us all deliver our sentiments fully to him, without paying any regard to his self-vindications. It must be owned that this is the plan which Bildad followed; and he amply unburdens a mind that was laboring under the spirit of rancour and abuse. Instead of How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? Mr. Good translates: "How long will ye plant thorns (irritating, lacerating, wounding invectives) among words?" translating the unusual term kintsey , thorns, instead of bounds or limits. The word kintsey may be the Chaldee form for kitsey , the nun being inserted by the Chaldeans for the sake of euphony, as is frequently done; and it may be considered as the contracted plural from kats , a thorn, from kats , to lacerate, rather than kets , an end, from katsah , to cut off. Schultens and others have contended that kanats , is an Arabic word, used also in Hebrew; that (Arabic) kanasa , signifies to hunt, to lay snares; and hence (Arabic) maknas , a snare: and that the words should be translated, "How long will you put captious snares in words?" But I prefer kintsey , as being the Chaldee form for kitsey , whether it be considered as expressing limits or thorns; as the whole instance is formed after the Chaldee model, as is evident, not only in the word in question, but also in lemillin , to words, the Chaldee plural instead of lemillim , the Hebrew plural.
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