Job 18:7

Shall be straitened. A figurative way of saying that his sphere of activity shall be narrowed, his activities restricted, his powers confined.

His own counsel. See Job 5:13; Ps. 7:14-16; 9:16; 10:2; Hosea 10:6.

Some have seen in vs. 7-13 an allusion to various arts and methods practiced in hunting. In v. 7, a number of persons extend themselves in a forest, and drive the game before them, narrowing the space from a broad base to a narrow point. Verses 8-10 describe nets, gins, and pitfalls prepared for the prey. Verse 11, according to this theory, alludes to the howling dogs that drive the game unmercifully. Verses 12 and 13 describe the eventual capture of the victims. The interpretation appears somewhat fanciful. Bildad probably had no more in mind than to heap figures together that would emphasize the inevitability of ultimate capture.