Job 32:1-6

TEXT 32:1-6a

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. (2) Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God. (3) Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. (4) Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were elder than he. (5) And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled.

(6) And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said,

COMMENT 32:1-6a

Job 32:1Job is finished speaking. Enter Elihu, who makes four speeches[328] (Job 32:1, Job 37:24). He is described as a listener who has become too emotionally involved in Job's defense and the inadequacies of his friends-' arguments that he must break his silence. Theologically, his central theme is not suffering, as many assume, but rather the nature of God. Elihu disapproves of Job's pride before God and his dogmatic insistence of his righteousness before his holy God.[329] He also rejects the traditional thesis of Job's friends that suffering is exclusively retributory. Rather, he suggests that suffering may be God's way of warning against human hybris. If a person would repent, God would restore him. After all of this is said, Elihu's practical advice is no different from Job's three friends. Elihu's speeches contain approximately 150 lines compared with the ca. 220 lines allotted to all three consolers in the dialogue section of Job. Many critics reject the speeches as integral to the structure of the book. Though his speeches reveal a knowledge of the themes and content of the preceding dialogue, some of the reasons given for rejecting the speeches as an original part of the book are: (1) Elihu is not mentioned in either the Prologue or Epilogue; (2) Job does not respond to his speeches; (3) God's Shattering of His Silence in chapter 38 follows naturally from chapter 31, and ignores Elihu's speeches; (4) God's rebuke is addressed only to Job's three friends, completely ignoring Elihu; (5) Perhaps the most crucial and most technically powerful reason is that the Hebrew grammar suggests a later period in the history of the language. The most powerful argument for the presence of this great passage (Chapter s 32-37) is that it powerfully prepares the way for The Shattering of Silence, i.e., Yahweh's speeches. Only the creative relevatory word from outside can answer Job's dilemma.

[328] For good survey of Elihu speeches, see Marvin E. Tate, The Speeches of Elihu, Review and Expositor, The Book of Job, fall, 1971, pp. 487-495; D. N. Freedman, The Hihu Speeches in the Book of Job, Harvard Theological Review, LXI, 1968, 51-59; L. Dennefeld, Les discours d-' Elihou, Revue Biblique, 1939, pp. 163-180; G. Fohrer, Die Weisheit des Elihu, Archiv fur Orientforschung, 1959-1960, pp. 83-94; H. D. Buby, ElihuJob's Mediator? S. E. Asia Journal of Theology, 1965, PP-33-54; and R. N. Carstensen, The Persistence of the Elihu Tradition in Later Jewish Writers, Lexington Theological Quarterly, 1967, pp. 37-46.

[329] See excellent brief introduction by R. A. F. MacKenzie, Job, Jerome Biblical Commentary (Prentice-Hall, 1968), pp. 528-529; also R. Gordis, Elihu the Intruder, Biblical and Other Studies, ed. by A. Altaian, 1963, pp. 60ff; J. H. Kroeze, Die Elihureden in Buche Hiob, Oudtestamentische Studien, 1943, pp. 156ff.

In the first speech (Chapter s 32-33), we are informed four times that Elihu is angry, and he enters the verbal arena to supply the deficiency, to redeem the failure, and to rebuke Job's three friends. Following his introduction in Job 32:1-5, the speeches divide into six sections: (1) Elihu's youth is wiser than their aged wisdomJob 32:6-14; (2) The collapse of Job's friends causes Elihu to interveneJob 32:15-22; (3) He invites Job to give attention to his counselJob 33:1-7; (4) Elihu declares that Job's contention of innocence and unjust affliction is falseJob 32:8-13; (5) He maintains that Job's experience refutes his complaint that God is silentJob 32:14-18; and (6) Elihu's final appeal to JobJob 32:19-22. These three friends in Job 2:11; Job 19:21; Job 42:10 abandon Job. Elihu distributes blame impartially to Job and his three friends by the phrase in his own eyes (LXX reads in their eyes). The debate was useless and futile because of Job's incorrigible self-righteousness. He is not innocent, and God has not afflicted him without just provocation.

Job 32:2The name Elihu means he is my God and appears elsewhere in scripture in 1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 12:21; 1 Chronicles 26:7; 1 Chronicles 27:18. He is the son of Barachel, which means God has blessed. This is a strange inclusion of data in that neither the father of Job nor the fathers of his three friends are mentioned. Barachel is of the clan of Buz (an Aramaen name), the brother of UzGenesis 22:21and so is closely related to JobJob 1:1. An Arabian Buz is mentioned in Jeremiah 25:23. Ram (means lofty) has Judahite connections in 1 Chronicles 2:9; 1 Chronicles 2:25; 1 Chronicles 2:27; Ruth 4:19; Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33. Thus, we have genealogical connections all the way to Job's redeemer. But Job not only declared his innocence, he brought an indictment against God.

Job 32:3Elihu is aroused not because the friends condemned Job, but because they had not devised effective arguments against him. Rabbinic traditions list this verse as one of the eighteen corrections of the scribes, and the last line of the original text had declared God in the wrong, not Job. Yet this seems strange in that no condemnation of God follows from their failure to adequately respond to Job. The text wakes perfectly good sense as it standsbecause they had found no answer by which they could prove Job guilty (as condemned in A. V.)Blommerde.

Job 32:4Elihu had waited for Job's words. He gives as reason for his previous reticence his youth. Elihu's youthful modesty is excelled only by his youthful assurance.

Job 32:5The intensity of Elihu's anger is suggested by the fact that the phrase his wrath was kindled appears three times in these five verses.

Job 32:6The introductory narrative is finished; now Elihu begins his speech with the omniscience of youth. He initiates his speech with the reasons that compel him to join in the debate.

2. Silent because they are older, yet the spirit of the Almighty has given him understanding. (Job 32:6-10)

TEXT 32:6b-10

I am young, and ye are very old;
Wherefore I held back, and durst not show you mine opinion.

7 I said, Days should speak,

And multitude of years should teach wisdom.

8 But there is a spirit in man,

And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding,

9 It is not the great that are wise,

Nor the aged that understand justice.

10 Therefore I said, Hearken to me;

I also will show mine opinion.

COMMENT 32:6b-10

Job 32:6He denies that wisdom is prerogative of the aged. He has given them adequate time in which to answer Job, if they only had the power of mind and words to do so. He timidly held backJob 32:4while they spoke (bedabberam rather than bidbarim). The rendering of A. V. opinion does not express the text which reads knowledge. Elihu is giving forth with more than his opinion. He is not troubled by timidity. He expresses his position with brashful speech, not bashful silence.

Job 32:7Older men should speak out of their reservoir of experience. Because of his youth, he was silent, but no more.

Job 32:8The spirit (ruah) of God gives life, wisdom, intelligence, or any special and significant abilityJob 27:3; Job 33:4; Exodus 31:3; Isaiah 11:2; Daniel 5:12-13. Wisdom does not necessarily flow from old ageJob 12:12 and Job 15:10. Since wisdom comes from God, piety is a prerequisiteProverbs 1:7; Proverbs 2:6; Proverbs 10:31; Proverbs 15:33; Wisdom of Song of Solomon 1:5, Song of Solomon 1:5-7; 7:22-23; 1 Corinthians 2:6. Like the PsalmistPsalms 119:99youthful Elihu believes that he has more understanding than his elders, because God is the origin of all wisdom. Wisdom belongs to God's Spirit rather than age. Elihu is correct in this part of his assertion, but his immodest assertions are inexcusable.

Job 32:9He correctly claims that it is not the great (as in A. V. does not mean powerful or influential) in age, as the parallel line showscf. Genesis 25:23that have wisdom. The word means something like seniors, as the use of zeqenim in the Manual of Discipline suggests, i.e., senior members of the order.

Job 32:10Because wisdom derives from the Spirit of God, not from old age, Elihu said Hearken to me. The verb hearken or listen is in the singular form and thus addressed to Job. He will declare true knowledge based on real wisdom.

3.

Since the friends have no answer, Elihu can no longer restrain himself from speaking. (Job 32:11-22)