Job 32:7-8

32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age ¹  should speak, ² 

and length of years ³  should make wisdom known.’

32:8 But it is a spirit in people,

the breath ⁴  of the Almighty,

that makes them understand.

[32:7]  ¹ tn Heb “days.”

[32:7]  ² tn The imperfect here is to be classified as an obligatory imperfect.

[32:7]  ³ tn Heb “abundance of years.”

[32:8]  ⁴ 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.