Elihu Rebukes Job and His Three Friends
32 Then these three men ceased from answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 So Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, from the clan of Ram, became angry.[a] He became angry[b] at Job because he justified himself rather than God, 3 and he became angry[c] at his three friends because they had not found an answer, and they had declared Job guilty. 4 Thus Elihu had waited for Job to speak[d] because they were older than he.[e] 5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he became angry.[f] 6 Then Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up[g] and said,
“I am young,[h] but[i] you[j] are old;
therefore I feared and became afraid of explaining my knowledge to you.[k]
7 I thought,[l] ‘Let days[m] speak,
and let many years teach wisdom.’
8 “Truly, it is a spirit in a human being,
and the breath of Shaddai teaches them.
9 It is not the aged[n] who are wise,
or[o] it is not the elders who understand justice.
10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
let me also declare my knowledge myself.’
11 “Look, I waited for your[p] words;
I listened for your[q] insight,
until you searched out what to say.[r]
12 And I directed my attention to you;[s]
and, look, there is no one for Job who refuted,
answering his words among you.
13 So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
let God refute him, not a man.’
14 But[t] he did not direct his words[u] to me,
and I will not answer him with your[v] words.
15 “They are dismayed; they no longer answer;
they have nothing to say.[w]
16 And I have waited because they do not speak,
because they stand there and no longer answer.
17 I myself will answer my share also;
I myself will declare my knowledge also,
18 for I am full of words;[x]
the spirit within me[y] urges me.
19 “Look, my internal organs are like unopened wine,
like new wineskins it[z] is ready to burst open.
20 Let me speak that I may find relief;[aa]
let me open my lips, and let me answer.
21 Please let me not show partiality to anyone,[ab]
and let me not show flattery to human beings,
22 for I do not know how to flatter,[ac]
else my Maker would soon[ad] put an end to me.
Footnotes
- Job 32:2 Literally “the nose of Elihu became hot”
- Job 32:2 Literally “His nose became hot”
- Job 32:3 Literally “his nose became hot”
- Job 32:4 Literally “in words”
- Job 32:4 Literally “they were older than he as far as days”
- Job 32:5 Literally “his nose became hot”
- Job 32:6 Literally “answered”; see NET
- Job 32:6 Literally “Young I am as far as days”
- Job 32:6 Or “and”
- Job 32:6 Plural
- Job 32:6 Plural
- Job 32:7 Or “said”
- Job 32:7 Compare the idiom of “as far as days” in vv. 4 and 6
- Job 32:9 Literally “many in days”
- Job 32:9 Hebrew “and”
- Job 32:11 Plural
- Job 32:11 Plural
- Job 32:11 Literally “words,” or “sentences”
- Job 32:12 Plural
- Job 32:14 Hebrew “And”
- Job 32:14 Or “sentences,” or “what he said”
- Job 32:14 Plural
- Job 32:15 Literally “words fail from them,” or “sentences fail from them,” or “what to say fails from them”
- Job 32:18 Or “sentences,” or “what to say”
- Job 32:18 Literally “the spirit of my stomach”
- Job 32:19 Antecedent is “wine”
- Job 32:20 Literally “and let it find relief for me”
- Job 32:21 Literally “Not please I will lift up face of a man”
- Job 32:22 Literally “I will flatter”
- Job 32:22 Literally “like little”