Bildad (בִּלְדַּד) is the name of the second of Job's three friends, described as 'the Shuhite' — likely from Shuah, a son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2), placing him in the region east of Canaan. Bildad appears in Job 8, 18, and 25, each time presenting a more severe retributive theology than his companion Eliphaz. His approach is characterized by appeals to tradition ('Ask the former generations, find out what their ancestors learned,' Job 8:8) and increasingly harsh assessments of Job's supposed sin.
Bildad represents the voice of traditional orthodoxy misapplied. His theology is not entirely wrong — God does judge wickedness — but he applies it without compassion and without regard for the mystery of innocent suffering. He stands as a warning against turning theological truth into a weapon. In Job 42, God rebukes Bildad and the other friends for speaking 'what is not right' about God, even while using correct theological categories. The failure was not in having tradition but in refusing to let divine mystery transcend human theological systems.