Job 20:3

20:3 When ¹  I hear a reproof that dishonors ²  me,

then my understanding ³  prompts me to answer. ⁴ 

Job 32:3-6

32:3 With Job’s ⁵  three friends he was also angry, because they could not find ⁶  an answer, and so declared Job guilty. ⁷  32:4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking ⁸  to Job, because the others ⁹  were older than he was. 32:5 But when Elihu saw ¹⁰  that the three men had no further reply, ¹¹  he became very angry.

Elihu Claims Wisdom

32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: ¹² 

“I am young, ¹³  but you are elderly;

that is why I was fearful, ¹⁴ 

and afraid to explain ¹⁵  to you what I know.

Matthew 22:46

22:46 No one ¹⁶  was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

Titus 1:11

1:11 who must be silenced because they mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught.

Titus 2:8

2:8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, ¹⁷  because he has nothing evil to say about us.

¹ tn There is no indication that this clause is to be subordinated to the next, other than the logical connection, and the use of the ו (vav) in the second half.

² tn See Job 19:3.

³ tn The phrase actually has רוּחַ מִבִּינָתִי (ruakh mibbinati, “a spirit/wind/breath/impulse from my understanding”). Some translate it “out of my understanding a spirit answers me.” The idea is not that difficult, and so the many proposals to rewrite the text can be rejected. The spirit of his understanding prompts the reply.

⁴ tn To take this verb as a simple Qal and read it “answers me,” does not provide a clear idea. The form can just as easily be taken as a Hiphil, with the sense “causes me to answer.” It is Zophar who will “return” and who will “answer.”

⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation to indicate whose friends they were.

⁶ tn The perfect verb should be given the category of potential perfect here.

⁷ tc This is one of the eighteen “corrections of the scribes” (tiqqune sopherim); it originally read, “and they declared God [in the wrong].” The thought was that in abandoning the debate they had conceded Job’s point.

⁸ tc This reading requires repointing the word בִּדְבָרִים (bidbarim, “with words”) to בְּדָבְּרָם (bÿdabbÿram, “while they spoke [with Job]”). If the MT is retained, it would mean “he waited for Job with words,” which while understandable is awkward.

⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the other friends) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn The first clause beginning with a vav (ו) consecutive and the preterite can be subordinated to the next similar verb as a temporal clause.

¹¹ tn Heb “that there was no reply in the mouth of the three men.”

¹² tn Heb “answered and said.”

¹³ tn The text has “small in days.”

¹⁴ 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).

¹⁵ tn The Piel infinitive with the preposition (מֵחַוֹּת, mekhavvot) means “from explaining.” The phrase is the complement: “explain” what Elihu feared.

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

¹⁷ tn Or “put to shame.”