CHAPTER XXXII _Elihu comes forward, and empresses his disapprobation both of_ _Job and his three friends-with the one for justifying himself;_ _and with the others for taking up the subject in a wrong point_ _of view, and not answering satisfactorily-and makes a becoming_ _apology for himself_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:2. _THEN WAS KINDLED THE WRATH_] This means no more than that Elihu was _greatly excited_, and felt a _strong_ and _zealous_ _desire_ to vindicate the justice and providence of God, against the aspersions of Job and his friends. _ELIHU THE SON OF BARACHEL THE BUZITE_] Buz was the secon... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:3. _THEY HAD FOUND NO ANSWER_] They had condemned Job; and yet could not answer his arguments on the general subject, and in vindication of himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:6. _I_ AM _YOUNG_] How _young_ he was, or how _old_ they were, we cannot tell; but there was no doubt a great disparity in their ages; and among the Asiatics the _youth_ never spoke in the presence of the _elders_, especially on any subject of controversy.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:7. _DAYS SHOULD SPEAK_] That is, men are to be reputed wise and experienced in proportion to the time they have lived. The Easterns were remarkable for treasuring up wise sayings: indeed, the principal part of their boasted wisdom consisted in _proverbs_ and _maxims_ on different subjec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:8. _BUT_ THERE IS _A SPIRIT IN MAN_] Mr. _Good_ translates: - "But surely there is an afflation in mankind, And the inspiration of the Almighty actuateth them." Coverdale, thus: - _Every man (no doute) hath a mynde; but it is the inspyracion of_ _the Almightie that geveth understond... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:9. _GREAT MEN ARE NOT_ ALWAYS _WISE_] This is a true saying, which the experience of every age and every country increasingly verifies. And it is most certain that, in the case before us, the aged did not understand judgment; they had a great many wise and good sayings, which they had c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:11. _I WAITED FOR YOUR WORDS; I GAVE EAR TO YOUR REASONS_] Instead of תבונותיכם _tebunotheychem_, your _reasons_, תכונותיכם techunotheychem, your _arguments_, is the reading of _nine_ of _Kennicott's_ and _De Rossi's_ MSS. The sense, however, is nearly the same. _WHILST YE SEARCHED OUT... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:12. _YEA, I ATTENDED UNTO YOU_] Instead of ועדיכם _veadeychem, and unto you_, one MS. reads the above letters with _points_ that cause it to signify _and your testimonies_; which is the reading of the _Syriac, Arabic_, and _Septuagint_. _BEHOLD_, THERE WAS _NONE OF YOU THAT CONVINCED J... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:13. _WE HAVE FOUND OUT WISDOM_] We by dint of our own wisdom and understanding, have found out the _true system of God's_ _providence_; and have been able to account for all the sufferings and tribulations of Job. Had they been able to _confute_ Job, they would have _triumphed_ over him... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:14. _HE HATH NOT DIRECTED_] I am no _party_ in this controversy; I have no party feeling in it: he has not spoken a word against me, therefore I have no cause of irritation. I shall speak for _truth_; not for _conquest_ or _revenge_. _Neither will I_ _answer him with your speeches_; you... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:15. _THEY WERE AMAZED_] Mr. _Good_ translates: "They (the _speeches_) are dissipated; they no longer produce effect; the words have flirted away from them." Your words, being without proper reference and point, are scattered into thin air: there is nothing but _sound_ in them; they are... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:16. _WHEN I HAD WAITED_] I waited to hear if they had any thing to reply to Job; and when I found them in effect speechless, then I ventured to come forward.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:17. _I WILL ANSWER ALSO MY PART_] אענה חלקי _aaneh chelki_, "I will recite my portion." We have already seen that the book of Job is a sort of _drama_, in which several persons have their different _parts_ to _recite_. Probably the book was used in this way, in ancient times, for the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:18. _I AM FULL OF MATTER_] מלים _millim_, "I am full of WORDS," or _sayings_; i.e., wise sentences, and ancient opinions. _THE SPIRIT WITHIN ME CONSTRAINETH ME._] How similar to the words of St. Paul! _The love of Christ constraineth us_. Elihu considered himself _under the influence o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:19. _MY BELLY IS AS WINE_ WHICH _HATH NO VENT_] New wine in a state of effervescence. _LIKE NEW BOTTLES._] _Bottles_, or rather _bags_, made of _goat-skins_. The head and shanks being cut off, the animal is _cased_ out of the skin. The skin is then properly dressed; the _anus_ and fou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:20. _I WILL OPEN MY LIPS AND ANSWER._] In the preceding verse Elihu compares himself to a _skin-bottle_, in which the wine was in a state of _fermentation_, and the _bottle_ ready to burst for want of _vent_. He carries on the metaphor in this verse: the bottle must be _opened_ to save... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:21. _LET ME NOT - ACCEPT ANY MAN'S PERSON_] I will speak the truth without fear or favour. _NEITHER LET ME GIVE FLATTERING TITLES_] I will not give epithets to any man that are not descriptive of his true state. I will not beguile him by telling him he _is_ what he _is not_. אכנה acan... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 32:22. _MY MAKER WOULD SOON TAKE ME AWAY._] Were I to copy this conduct while under the influence which I now feel, God might justly consume me as in a moment. He is my Maker; he made me to _know truth_, to _tell truth_, and to _live_ according to _truth_; for he is the _God of truth_: I s... [ Continue Reading ]