Job 32:13-22

32:13 So do not say, ¹  ‘We have found wisdom!

God will refute ²  him, not man!’

32:14 Job ³  has not directed ⁴  his words to me,

and so I will not reply to him with your arguments. ⁵ 

Job’s Friends Failed to Answer ⁶ 

32:15 “They are dismayed ⁷  and cannot answer any more;

they have nothing left to say. ⁸ 

32:16 And I have waited. ⁹  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 ¹⁰  constrains me. ¹¹ 

32:19 Inside I am like wine which has no outlet, ¹² 

like new wineskins ¹³  ready to burst!

32:20 I will speak, ¹⁴  so that I may find relief;

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

32:21 I will not show partiality to anyone, ¹⁵ 

nor will I confer a title ¹⁶  on any man.

32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles, ¹⁷ 

if I did, ¹⁸  my Creator would quickly do away with me. ¹⁹ 

[32:13]  ¹ tn Heb “lest you say.” R. Gordis (Job, 368) calls this a breviloquence: “beware lest [you say].” He then suggests the best reading for their quote to be, “We have attained wisdom, but only God can refute him, not man.” H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 209) suggests the meaning is a little different, namely, that they are saying they have found wisdom in Job, and only God can deal with it. Elihu is in effect saying that they do not need God, for he is quite capable for this.

[32:13]  ² tn The root is נָדַף (nadaf, “to drive away; to drive off”). Here it is in the abstract sense of “succeed in doing something; confound,” and so “refute; rebut.” Dhorme wants to change the meaning of the word with a slight emendation in the text, deriving it from אָלַף (’alaf, “instruct”) the form becoming יַלְּפֶנוּ (yallÿfenu) instead of יִדְּפֶנּוּ (yiddÿfenu), obtaining the translation “God will instruct us.” This makes a smoother reading, but does not have much support for it.

[32:14]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:14]  ⁴ tn The verb עַרַךְ (’arakh) means “to arrange in order; to set forth; to direct; to marshal.” It is used in military contexts for setting the battle array; it is used in legal settings for preparing the briefs.

[32:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “your words.”

[32:15]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “words have moved away from them,” meaning words are gone from them, they have nothing left to say.

[32:16]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the spirit of my belly.”

[32:18]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn The cohortative expresses Elihu’s resolve to speak.

[32:21]  ¹⁵ tn The idiom is “I will not lift up the face of a man.” Elihu is going to show no favoritism, but speak his mind.

[32:21]  ¹⁶ tn The verb means “to confer an honorary title; to give a mark of distinction,” but it is often translated with the verb “flatter.” Elihu will not take sides, he will not use pompous titles.

[32:22]  ¹⁷ tn The construction uses a perfect verb followed by the imperfect. This is a form of subordination equivalent to a complementary infinitive (see GKC 385-86 §120.c).

[32:22]  ¹⁸ tn The words “if I did” are supplied in the translation to make sense out of the two clauses.

[32:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “quickly carry me away.”