Job 32:8-10

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath ¹  of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

32:9 It is not the aged ²  who are wise,

nor old men who understand what is right.

32:10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen ³  to me.

I, even I, will explain what I know.’

¹ tn This is the word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah, “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.

² tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.

³ tc In most Hebrew mss this imperative is singular, and so addressed to Job. But two Hebrew mss and the versions have the plural. Elihu was probably addressing all of them.