Job 32:4

32:4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking ¹  to Job, because the others ²  were older than he was.

Job 32:6

Elihu Claims Wisdom

32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: ³ 

“I am young, ⁴  but you are elderly;

that is why I was fearful, ⁵ 

and afraid to explain ⁶  to you what I know.

[32:4]  ¹ 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.

[32:4]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the other friends) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:6]  ³ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[32:6]  ⁴ tn The text has “small in days.”

[32:6]  ⁵ 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).

[32:6]  ⁶ tn The Piel infinitive with the preposition (מֵחַוֹּת, mekhavvot) means “from explaining.” The phrase is the complement: “explain” what Elihu feared.