Job 32:11

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

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

Job 32:15-20

Job’s Friends Failed to Answer ³ 

32:15 “They are dismayed ⁴  and cannot answer any more;

they have nothing left to say. ⁵ 

32:16 And I have waited. ⁶  But because they do not speak,

because they stand there and answer no more,

32:17 I too will answer my part,

I too will explain what I know.

32:18 For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me ⁷  constrains me. ⁸ 

32:19 Inside I am like wine which has no outlet, ⁹ 

like new wineskins ¹⁰  ready to burst!

32:20 I will speak, ¹¹  so that I may find relief;

I will open my lips, so that I may answer.

Job 33:31-33

33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

33:32 If you have any words, ¹²  reply to me;

speak, for I want to justify you. ¹³ 

33:33 If not, you listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 33:1

Elihu Invites Job’s Attention

33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,

and hear ¹⁴  everything I have to say! ¹⁵ 

Job 5:19-20

5:19 He will deliver you ¹⁶  from six calamities;

yes, in seven ¹⁷  no evil will touch you.

5:20 In time of famine ¹⁸  he will redeem you from death,

and in time of war from the power of the sword. ¹⁹ 

[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.

[32:15]  ³ sn Elihu now will give another reason why he will speak – the arguments of these friends failed miserably. But before he gets to his argument, he will first qualify his authority.

[32:15]  ⁴ tn The verb חַתּוּ (khattu) is from חָתַת (khatat) which means “to be terrified.” But here it stresses the resulting dilemma. R. Gordis (Job, 369) renders it, “they are shattered, beaten in an argument.”

[32:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “words have moved away from them,” meaning words are gone from them, they have nothing left to say.

[32:16]  ⁶ tn Some commentators take this as a question: “And shall [or must] I wait because they do not speak?” (A. B. Davidson, R. Gordis). But this is not convincing because the silence of the friends is the reason for him to speak, not to wait.

[32:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “the spirit of my belly.”

[32:18]  ⁸ tn The verb צוּק (tsuq) means “to constrain; to urge; to press.” It is used in Judg 14:17; 16:16 with the sense of wearing someone down with repeated entreaties. Elihu cannot withhold himself any longer.

[32:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “in my belly I am like wine that is not opened” (a Niphal imperfect), meaning sealed up with no place to escape.

[32:19]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has כְּאֹבוֹת חֲדָשִׁים (kÿ’ovot khadashim), traditionally rendered “like new wineskins.” But only here does the phrase have this meaning. The LXX has “smiths” for “new,” thus “like smith’s bellows.” A. Guillaume connects the word with an Arabic word for a wide vessel for wine shaped like a cup (“Archaeological and philological note on Job 32:19,” PEQ 93 [1961]: 147-50). Some have been found in archaeological sites. The poor would use skins, the rich would use jars. The key to putting this together is the verb at the end of the line, יִבָּקֵעַ (yibbaqea’, “that are ready to burst”). The point of the statement is that Elihu is bursting to speak, and until now has not had the opening.

[32:20]  ¹¹ tn The cohortative expresses Elihu’s resolve to speak.

[33:32]  ¹² tn Heb “if there are words.”

[33:32]  ¹³ tn The infinitive construct serves as the complement or object of “I desire.” It could be rendered “to justify you” or “your justification, “namely, “that you be justified.”

[33:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “give ear,” the Hiphil denominative verb from “ear.”

[33:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hear all my words.”

[5:19]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.

[5:19]  ¹⁷ tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).

[5:20]  ¹⁸ sn Targum Job here sees an allusion to the famine of Egypt and the war with Amalek.

[5:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the hand of the sword.” This is idiomatic for “the power of the sword.” The expression is also metonymical, meaning from the effect of the sword, which is death.