Elihu: I Am Young and You Are Old
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Job. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than God. 3 Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. 5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled. 6 Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, “I am young, and you are very old. Therefore I held back, and didn’t dare show you my opinion. 7 I said, ‘Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’ 8 But there is a spirit in man, and the Spirit of the Almighty gives them understanding. 9 It is not the great who are wise, nor the aged who understand justice. 10 Therefore I said, ‘Listen to me; I also will show my opinion.’ 11 “Behold, I waited for your words, and I listened for your reasoning, while you searched out what to say. 12 Yes, I gave you my full attention, but there was no one who convinced Job, or who answered his words, among you. 13 Beware lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom. God may refute him, not man;’ 14 for he has not directed his words against me; neither will I answer him with your speeches. 15 “They are amazed. They answer no more. They don’t have a word to say. 16 Shall I wait, because they don’t speak, because they stand still, and answer no more? 17 I also will answer my part, and I also will show my opinion. 18 For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me. 19 Behold, my breast is as wine which has no vent; like new wineskins it is ready to burst. 20 I will speak, that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer. 21 Please don’t let me respect any man’s person, neither will I give flattering titles to any man. 22 For I don’t know how to give flattering titles, or else my Maker would soon take me away.
A young man who has been listening the whole time speaks because age has failed, and says that understanding is given rather than accumulated.
The narrator introduces him with unusual care, and gives his reasons for anger twice. He is angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God, and angry at the friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job Job 32:2–3.
That second charge is exact, and it is what God will say to them at the end Job 42:7. Elihu has correctly identified the friends' failure: not that they argued badly, but that they delivered a verdict without a case.
He had waited because of age Job 32:4, and he says so without resentment: I am young, and you are very old. Therefore I held back Job 32:6. He had believed the ordinary rule — days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom Job 32:7 — which is what Bildad and Eliphaz had both appealed to Job 8:8 Job 15:10.
What he says next is the reason he speaks at all, and it undoes the friends' basis for authority. There is a spirit in man, and the Spirit of the Almighty gives them understanding. It is not the great who are wise, nor the aged who understand justice Job 32:8–9.
Understanding is given, not accumulated. Years produce experience and experience is not the same thing, which the last twenty-nine chapters have demonstrated at length: three old men with a lifetime of settled opinion produced nothing that touched the case.
His account of his own listening is worth marking, because nobody else in the book claims it. I waited for your words, and I listened for your reasoning... I gave you my full attention Job 32:11–12. He has been there the whole time and has not been mentioned once. Whatever else he is, he is the only person present who let the argument finish.
And his verdict on it is the one the reader has reached: there was no one who convinced Job, or who answered his words, among you Job 32:12.
He then blocks the escape they are reaching for. Beware lest you say, 'We have found wisdom. God may refute him, not man' Job 32:13. Having failed, they are about to declare the question above human competence and hand it upward. Elihu will not let them retire undefeated.
His description of his own state is the most human thing in the speech. He is full of words; his breast is as wine which has no vent, like new wineskins ready to burst Job 32:18–19. He speaks in order to be relieved of the pressure, and he says so.
The last thing he promises is no flattery — no flattering titles to any man Job 32:21 — which is a claim to speak without regard for anyone's standing, including Job's.
settled What this mark means