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Thursday, October 24th, 2024
the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Job 32:18

For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.

Bible Study Resources

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Elihu;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Prophet;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ethics;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Constrain;   Job, Book of;   Matter;  

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
For I am full of pent-up words, and the spirit within me urges me on.
English Revised Version
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constraineth me.
Update Bible Version
For I am full of words; The spirit inside me constrains me.
New Century Version
I am full of words, and the spirit in me causes me to speak.
New English Translation
For I am full of words, and the spirit within me constrains me.
Webster's Bible Translation
For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
World English Bible
For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me.
Amplified Bible
"For I am full of words; The spirit within me constrains me.
English Standard Version
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For Y am ful of wordis, and the spirit of my wombe, `that is, mynde, constreyneth me.
Berean Standard Bible
For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.
Contemporary English Version
because I have so much to say, that I can't keep quiet.
American Standard Version
For I am full of words; The spirit within me constraineth me.
Bible in Basic English
For I am full of words, I am unable to keep in my breath any longer:
Complete Jewish Bible
For I am full of words; the spirit within me compels me.
Darby Translation
For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
Easy-to-Read Version
I have so much to say that I cannot hold it in.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constraineth me.
King James Version (1611)
For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
New Life Bible
For I am full of words. The spirit within me makes me speak.
New Revised Standard
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For I am full of matter, and the spirite within me compelleth me.
George Lamsa Translation
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.
Good News Translation
I can hardly wait to speak. I can't hold back the words.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For I am full of discourse, The spirit in my bosom, presseth me on.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For I am full of matter to speak of, and the spirit of my bowels straiteneth me.
Revised Standard Version
For I am full of words, the spirit within me constrains me.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For I am full of matter, and the spirite within me compelleth me.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
for I am full of words, for the spirit of my belly destroys me.
Christian Standard Bible®
For I am full of words,and my spirit compels me to speak.
Hebrew Names Version
For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me.
Lexham English Bible
for I am full of words; the spirit within me urges me.
Literal Translation
For I am full of words; the spirit inside me pressed on me;
Young's Literal Translation
For I have been full of words, Distressed me hath the spirit of my breast,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For I am full of wordes, & the sprete that is within me, copelleth me.
New American Standard Bible
"For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me.
New King James Version
For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For I am full of words; The spirit within me constrains me.
Legacy Standard Bible
For I am full of words;The spirit within my belly presses me.

Contextual Overview

15 They were amazed, they answered no more: they left off speaking. 16 When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more;) 17 I said, I will answer also my part, I also will shew mine opinion. 18 For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me. 19 Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles. 20 I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer. 21 Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man. 22 For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

matter: Heb. words

the spirit: Psalms 39:3, Jeremiah 20:9, Ezekiel 3:14-27, Acts 4:20, 2 Corinthians 5:13, 2 Corinthians 5:14

within me: Heb. of my belly

Reciprocal: Job 4:2 - withhold himself from speaking Job 26:4 - whose spirit Psalms 45:1 - is inditing Proverbs 22:18 - within thee Isaiah 42:14 - long time Jeremiah 6:11 - Therefore Ezekiel 3:3 - and fill Amos 3:8 - who can Micah 3:8 - I am John 7:38 - out Acts 6:10 - the spirit Acts 17:16 - his spirit Acts 18:5 - was

Cross-References

Genesis 32:4
And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
Genesis 32:5
And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For I am full of matter,.... Or "full [of] words" y; not of mere words, such that have nothing solid and substantial in them; this is the character of a fool, Ecclesiastes 10:14; nor was Elihu a loquacious talkative man, as Job is charged to be, a man full of talk, Job 11:2; but he was full of words, which had fulness of matter in them, which were to the purpose, and contained strong reasonings and solid arguments; his mind was full of them, and he could easily fill his mouth with them, and was not easy until he had uttered them: so an able minister of the word may be said to be full of words, of the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus, of useful doctrines, when the word of Christ dwells richly in him, and he has a rich treasure in an earthen vessel, is full of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ; has a large knowledge of Gospel truths, a real experience of them in the heart, great gifts to express them to others, and is full of power and of the Spirit of God to declare them, as this good man was:

the spirit within me constraineth me, or "the spirit of my belly" z; alluding to wind pent up therein, which, unless expelled, gives great uneasiness and pain: he either means the Spirit of God within him, as in Job 32:8, by whom the prophets were inspired and spoke, by whom ordinary ministers of the word are qualified for their work, and by whom they are led into all truth, and who presses and obliges them to speak what they know; there is a necessity upon them to preach the Gospel wholly and faithfully, and a woe unto them if they do not: or else his own spirit, influenced and actuated by the Spirit of God; as the spirit of the Apostle Paul was stirred up in him to speak, when he saw the idolatry and superstition of the people of Athens, Acts 17:16; so love to God and Christ, and the souls of men, the honour of God, and interest of religion, constrain the ministers of Christ to speak in his name, notwithstanding all the opposition made unto them, and reproach cast upon them.

y מלתי מלים "plenus sum sermonibus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Beza, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. z רוח בטני "spiritus ventris mei", Beza, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For I am full of matter - Margin, as in Hebrew words.” The three friends of Job had been silenced. They had not one word more to say. Elihu says that the reverse was true of him. He was full of words, and felt constrained to speak. It was not because he forced himself to do it, nor because he did it as a mere matter of duty, but he was so impressed with the subject that it would be a relief for him to give utterance to his views.

The spirit within me - Referring, probably, to the conviction that it was the divine Spirit which urged him to speak; see the notes at Job 32:8; compare Job 33:4. A similar constraint in regard to the necessity of speaking, when under the influence of the Holy Spirit, is expressed in Jeremiah 20:9, “His word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay;” compare Introduction to Isaiah, Section 7. The phrase “within me” is in the margin, as in Hebrew my belly - where the belly is spoken of as the seat of the mind; see Job 15:2. We speak of the head as the seat of the intellect, and the heart as the seat of the affections. The Hebrews were much in the habit of representing the region of the heart as the seat of all mental operations.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 32:18. I am full of matter — מלים millim, "I am full of WORDS," or sayings; i.e., wise sentences, and ancient opinions.

The spirit within me constraineth me. — How similar to the words of St. Paul! The love of Christ constraineth us. Elihu considered himself under the influence of that Spirit of God which gives understanding, and felt anxiously concerned for the welfare both of Job and his friends.


 
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