Job 32:11-12

32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; ¹ 

I listened closely to your wise thoughts, ² while you were searching for words.

32:12 Now I was paying you close attention, ³ 

yet ⁴  there was no one proving Job wrong, ⁵ 

not one of you was answering his statements!

Proverbs 18:13

18:13 The one who gives an answer ⁶  before he listens ⁷  –

that is his folly and his shame. ⁸ 

[32:11]  ¹ tn Heb “for your words.”

[32:11]  ² tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.

[32:12]  ³ tn The verb again is from בִּין (bin, “to perceive; to understand”); in this stem it means to “to pay close attention.”

[32:12]  ⁴ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) has a deictic force here, calling attention to the thought that is now presented.

[32:12]  ⁵ tn The participle מוֹכִיחַ (mokhiakh) is from the verb יָכַח (yakhakh) that has been used frequently in the book of Job. It means “to argue; to contend; to debate; to prove; to dispute.” The usage of the verb shows that it can focus on the beginning of an argument, the debating itself, or the resolution of the conflict. Here the latter is obviously meant, for they did argue and contend and criticize – but could not prove Job wrong.

[18:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “returns a word”; KJV “He that answereth a matter.”

[18:13]  ⁷ sn Poor listening and premature answering indicate that the person has a low regard for what the other is saying, or that he is too absorbed in his own ideas. The Mishnah lists this as the second characteristic of the uncultured person (m. Avot 5:7).

[18:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “it is folly to him and shame.” The verse uses formal parallelism, with the second colon simply completing the thought of the first.