Job 32:6-9
New English Translation
Elihu Claims Wisdom
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up:[a]
“I am young,[b] but you are elderly;
that is why I was fearful,[c]
and afraid to explain[d] to you what I know.
7 I said to myself, ‘Age[e] should speak,[f]
and length of years[g] should make wisdom known.’
8 But it is a spirit in people,
the breath[h] of the Almighty,
that makes them understand.
9 It is not the aged[i] who are wise,
nor old men who understand what is right.
Footnotes
- Job 32:6 tn Heb “answered and said.”
- Job 32:6 tn The text has “small in days.”
- Job 32:6 tn The verb זָחַלְתִּי (zakhalti) is found only here in the OT, but it is found in a ninth century Aramaic inscription as well as in Biblical Aramaic. It has the meaning “to be timid” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 208).
- Job 32:6 tn The Piel infinitive with the preposition (מֵחַוֹּת, mekhavvot) means “from explaining.” The phrase is the complement: “explain” what Elihu feared.
- Job 32:7 tn Heb “days.”
- Job 32:7 tn The imperfect here is to be classified as an obligatory imperfect.
- Job 32:7 tn Heb “abundance of years.”
- Job 32:8 tn This is the word נְשָׁמָה (neshamah, “breath”); according to Gen 2:7 it was breathed into Adam to make him a living person (“soul”). With that divine impartation came this spiritual understanding. Some commentators identify the רוּחַ (ruakh) in the first line as the Spirit of God; this “breath” would then be the human spirit. Whether Elihu knew that much, however, is hard to prove.
- Job 32:9 tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.
Job 32:6-9
New American Standard Bible
6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite [a]spoke out and said,
“I am young in years and you are (A)old;
Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you [b]what I think.
7 I [c]thought [d](B)age should speak,
And [e]increased years should teach wisdom.
8 But it is a spirit that is in mankind,
And the (C)breath of the Almighty gives them (D)understanding.
9 The [f]abundant in years may not be wise,
Nor may (E)elders understand justice.
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