Elihu’s Angry Response
1 So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. m 2 Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite n from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified o himself rather than God. 3 He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him and yet had condemned him.
4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he. 5 But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.
6 So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied:
I am young in years,
while you are old;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to tell p you what I know.
7 I thought that age should speak
and maturity should teach wisdom.
8 But it is the spirit in a person—
the breath q from the Almighty—
that gives anyone understanding.
9 It is not only the old who are wise
or the elderly who understand how to judge.
10 Therefore I say, “Listen to me.
I too will declare what I know.”
11 Look, I waited for your conclusions;
I listened to your insights
as you sought for words.
12 I paid close attention to you.
Yet no one proved Job wrong;
not one of you refuted his arguments.
13 So do not claim, “We have found wisdom;
let God deal with him, not man.”
14 But Job has not directed his argument to me,
and I will not respond to him with your arguments.
15 Job’s friends are dismayed and can no longer answer;
words have left them.
16 Should I continue to wait now that they are silent,
now that they stand there and no longer answer?
17 I too will answer;
yes, I will tell what I know.
18 For I am full of words,
and my spirit compels me to speak. r
19 My heart is like unvented wine;
it is about to burst like new wineskins. s
20 I must speak so that I can find relief;
I must open my lips and respond.
21 I will be partial to no one, t
and I will not give anyone an undeserved title.
22 For I do not know how to give such titles;
otherwise, my Maker would remove me in an instant.
32:1–5. This chapter begins with the narrator’s description of Elihu. Elihu perceives Job as regarding himself as more righteous than God by holding on to his claim of innocence. He cannot tolerate Job raising a question about God’s righteousness and feels that he must defend God’s honor and character against Job’s fallacious accusation. Elihu is angry, which in the wisdom tradition is a trait of a fool (Pr 29:22). He is angry with Job for justifying himself more than God (32:2) and with the friends because they have been unable to refute Job and have given up the attempt (32:3, 5). To Elihu, Job’s situation seems clear enough, and he is agitated that things have reached an impasse rather than a resolution. The repeated emphasis on Elihu’s anger and his youth may be intended to alert the reader that Elihu, for all his commendable theology and good intentions, does not provide the final answer to Job’s situation. That will await God’s speeches.
32:6–9. After the narrator’s description of Elihu (32:1–5), Elihu describes himself in an extended prelude to his speeches (32:6–22). Elihu has deferred to the seniority of Job and the friends, but he is deeply disappointed in their answers and so determines now to speak up for the truth. Traditional wisdom values the aged (32:6–7), because their long years have given them the opportunity to accumulate much observation of life (Pr 4:1–9). In wisdom thought, the young are the learners, and they receive instruction from their elders (Pr 1:8).
32:10–16. Elihu expresses impatience with the friends and with Job. In 32:10–14 Elihu addresses the three friends. He has waited and listened to them speak, but they have been unsuccessful in refuting Job (32:11–12). They have claimed in vain to have found wisdom; what they have actually done is to defer to God to answer Job (32:13). Elihu resolves to answer Job more persuasively than they have (32:14), and in fact he does come closer to the mark, but God alone will give the full and final answer.
32:17–22. Elihu articulates how intent he is on speaking. In 15:2, Eliphaz asked rhetorically if a wise man should fill himself with windy knowledge. Elihu here seems to be doing just that, as he comically describes himself as a windbag who has to speak in order to get relief from the flatulence within him (32:18–20). Elihu is indeed “full of words” (32:18), but they come from his belly, which was regarded as the seat of the passions rather than of reasoned reflection. This appears to be another signal that Elihu’s aspirations in speaking to Job are better than the answers he gives him.