Job 32:15-22

The Voice

¹⁵    They are all undone, unhinged, embarrassed!
        They have no response!
        Their faculty of speech has apparently failed them!
¹⁶    Should I wait a bit longer to make sure they are all done speaking,
        for when they stand silent and appear to have nothing to say?
¹⁷    So now it is my turn.
        I will tell you what I think.
        I will impart what I know.

Due to the abundance of grapes and the absence of refrigeration, wine was a staple drink in the ancient Near East. The process of making wine was basically the same one used today, although the equipment was different. Grapes were grown, gathered, pressed, fermented, and stored. For the fermentation process, wineskins (usually made of goat hide) were used instead of today’s barrels. Wineskins were the perfect choice because they could expand as the grape juice released its gases during the fermentation process, much as the human stomach expands as it digests food, as Elihu points out. It was imperative that new wineskins were used for each batch of wine because each skin could only expand so far; a second round of fermentation in an old skin would rupture the skin and spill the wine—a truth Jesus makes famous in Luke 5:37. After fermentation, the wine was stored in amphora jars with vented tops, so any gases could be released and the wine still be contained or even transported.

¹⁸    After all, I am filled to the brim with words,
        and my gut reaction is to speak.
¹⁹    My insides are like fresh wine sealed up and needing to breathe.
        Like a new wineskin, I am on the brink of bursting from the pressure.
²⁰    Let me speak. Then I will find relief.
        Yes, I will open my mouth and answer.
²¹    You will have to pardon me
        if I do not impede my words with deference to any of you
        or flatter you with honorable titles.
²²    After all, I am not very skilled with flattery anyway;
        I have reason to believe that, if I were to engage in such senseless rhetoric,
    My Maker would whisk me away from here
        because this matter is so serious.