Bi'uthim refers to terrors or frightful things — intense, overwhelming experiences of dread. The word is a plural noun, suggesting multiple or compounding terrors that assault a person. It derives from the verb ba'ath (H1204), "to be terrified" or "to overwhelm with fear."
Job uses this word to describe the relentless terrors that assail him in his suffering. The terrors are not abstract but felt as an assault — they are "turned upon" him and chase his dignity like the wind (Job 18:11, 14). Bildad's speech employs bi'uthim to describe the fate of the wicked, who are surrounded on every side by terrors. The theological question at the heart of Job is whether these terrors come as punishment (the friends' view) or as mystery (Job's experience and God's ultimate answer).