Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 32:13

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 32:13. We have found out wisdom — We by dint of our own wisdom and understanding, have found out the true system of God's providence; and have been able to account for all the sufferings and tribulations of Job. Had they been able to confute Job, they would have triumphed over him in their own self-sufficiency.

God thrusteth him down, not man. — This is no accidental thing that has happened to him: he is suffering under the just judgments of God, and therefore he must be the wicked man which we supposed him to be.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

32:1-37:24

ELIHU’S ARGUMENTS

Reasons why Elihu must speak (32:1-22)

People came for various reasons to see Job. Many were merely curious, wanting to see the former leading judge, honoured citizen and respected wise man who was now decaying at the city garbage dump. Some came to mock, others to listen to the debate. Among this latter group was an intelligent young man named Elihu.
As the debate progressed, Elihu grew restless and angry. He was angry at Job for his self-righteous assertions, and angry at the three friends for their failure to prove Job wrong. He had remained silent while the more learned men spoke, but now that he sees they are either unable or unwilling to argue with Job further, he can keep quiet no longer (32:1-5).
Elihu begins by explaining that he has kept quiet out of respect for the three older men; but, he quickly adds, God gives wisdom to young men as well (6-10). He then rebukes the three friends. He has listened carefully to their speeches and has found that none has answered Job satisfactorily. He warns them against giving up the debate by thinking that further argument with Job is useless. If they think that only God can answer Job, then Elihu is the one through whom God will speak! But Elihu will answer Job with arguments different from theirs (11-14).
The friends may have been silenced, but Elihu feels that he must speak. He is like a wine bottle ready to burst (15-20). He will speak fairly and flatter no one (21-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, Whilst ye searched out what to say. Yea, I attended unto you, And, behold, there was none that convinced Job, Or that answered his words among you. Beware lest ye say, We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him, not man: For he hath not directed his words against me; Neither will I answer him with your speeches."

"God may vanquish him, not man" Contrary to what Elihu seems to imply here, "Job's friends did not come to a conclusion that Job had a wisdom that only God could handle."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 247.

This verse is disputed, as regards its exact meaning; but Elihu apparently is saying here that, "God (speaking through Elihu) will drive him away, not man";International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 281. and again we have a suggestion that Elihu thought

"Neither will I answer him with your speeches" "The irony of this is that Elihu's position was much the same as that of the three friends."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 247.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom - That is, this has been permitted and ordered in such a manner that it might be manifest that the truths which are to convince him come from God and not from man. You were not permitted to refute or convince him, for if you had been you would have been lifted up with pride, and would have attributed to yourselves what belongs to God. This is in accordance with the entire drift of the book, which is to introduce the Almighty himself to settle the controversy when human wisdom failed. They could not arrogate to themselves the claim that they had found out wisdom. They had been completely silenced by Job; they had no power to drive him from his positions; they could not explain the divine dealings so as to settle the great inquiry in which they had been engaged. Elihu proposes to do it, and to do it in such a way as to show that it could be accomplished only by that wisdom which is from above.

God thrusteth him down, not man - These are the words of Elihu. The meaning is, “God only can drive Job from his position, and show him the truth, and humble him. The wisdom of man fails. The aged, the experienced, and the wise have been unable to meet his arguments and bring him down from the positions which he has taken. That work can be done only by God himself, or by the wisdom which he only can give.” Accordingly Elihu, who proposes to meet the arguments of Job, makes no appeal to experience or observation; he does not ground what he says on the maxims of sages or the results of reflection, but proposes to adduce the precepts of wisdom which God had imparted to him; Job 33:4, Job 33:6. Other interpretations have, however, been given of this verse, but the above seems to me the most simple, and most in accordance with the scope of the passage.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 32

So sitting nearby was a young man whose name was Elihu.

So these three men [Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz] cease to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu against Job and his wrath was kindled, because he justified himself rather than God ( Job 32:1-2 ).

Now Job, in all of his complaints, was saying, "I am just in this. I am innocent." And he was justifying himself rather than God. Now, we oftentimes do this. It is important, though, that we justify God. I know that God is good. I know that God is righteous. I know that God is fair. I don't understand why God is doing this. You see, Job did not justify God in the issues by declaring, "Well, God is fair." He was actually saying, "God is unfair. He is unfair to me because I haven't done anything to deserve all of this." So Elihu, standing by, really became angry with Job because he sought to justify himself rather than to justify God. And he was also angry with Job's friends because they could not answer Job. They couldn't really pin anything on him, and yet, they were condemning him without being able to pin anything directly on him.

So he waited until Job had spoken, because they were older than he was. And when he saw that they were not answering, his wrath was kindled. And he said, I am young, and you're very old; wherefore I was afraid, and I dared not to show you my own opinion. I said, Days should speak, and the multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding. And great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment ( Job 32:4-9 ).

So far you're batting a thousand, Elihu. He's made some interesting observations. There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding. He could see the anointing of God upon a man to give to the man wisdom and understanding. But great men are not always wise. Now you don't have to go very far to illustrate that truth. "And neither do the aged always understand judgment."

Therefore I said, Hearken to me; I'm going to show you my opinion ( Job 32:10 ).

And he spends a lot of time just telling us what he's going to say. He doesn't really say too much, but he spends a lot of time telling you what he's going to say.

"Hearken to my opinion."

Behold, I waited for your words; to give ear to your reasons, while you searched out what to say. Yes, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words: Lest you should say, We have found out wisdom: God thrust him down, not man. Now he hath not directed his words against me: and neither will I answer him with your speeches. They were amazed, and they answered no more: they left off speaking. When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more,) I said, I will answer also my part; I will show you my opinion. For I am full of the matter, the spirit within me is forcing me. Behold, my belly is as wine which has no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles. I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer. Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person; neither let me give flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my Maker would soon take me away ( Job 32:11-22 ).

Oh, I like this. God help me not to give flattering titles unto man. I heard flattering titles for so many years; I'm absolutely sick of flattering titles. "Ladies and gentlemen, let me present unto you, God's man for the hour," you know. And all of these flattering things that we say concerning man. He said, "Hey, I respect you fellows' age, but I don't respect man as such as far as bowing and catering and giving flattering titles and buttering up people, trying to butter them up with flattering titles. If I'm guilty of this then God's going to take me away, take my place away." My heart has been sickened by the way we have sought to elevate men even in the Christian community by flattering titles, declaring the greatness of their works and all. God help us. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Elihu’s reasons for speaking 32:6-22

Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job’s three friends (Job 32:6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason, he said, he had refrained from speaking until now. However, he had become convinced that advancing age does not always bring wisdom with it. Rather, wisdom comes from God. "A spirit in man" and "the breath of the Almighty" (Job 32:8) evidently refer to the Spirit of God (cf. Genesis 41:38-39; Exodus 31:3; Numbers 27:18-21; Isaiah 11:2; Daniel 5:11-12). Elihu was saying that Job’s three friends were not wise. To get them to listen in spite of what he had just said, he asked ten times that they pay attention to his words (Job 32:10; Job 32:20; Job 33:1; Job 33:12; Job 33:31; Job 33:33; Job 34:2; Job 34:10; Job 34:16; Job 37:14). He set himself up as still another wise man, wiser than his elders.

"Almost all modern interpreters have found Elihu to be insufferably wordy. . . . This loquacious style to some degree makes all the speeches in chapter 3-41 difficult for the modern reader to appreciate." [Note: Smick, "Job," p. 1002.]

"His professed modesty is belied by his self-importance and pomposity." [Note: Rowley, p. 207.]

The ancients in the Near Eastern world esteemed rhetoric and elaborate wording.

Elihu proceeded to evaluate these three men further (Job 32:11-14). They had failed to refute Job. They believed they were right, and that since Job had failed to repent, God was the only Person who could convince him that he was a sinner (Job 32:13). However, Job had not refuted Elihu, who planned to use different arguments to persuade his hearers (Job 32:14). Finally, Elihu explained to Job why he wanted to speak (Job 32:15-22). Among other reasons, he was going to talk because his elders had fallen silent. The "spirit within" (Job 32:18) Elihu was probably his own human spirit, not the Holy Spirit, in view of what follows (Job 32:19-20).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Lest ye should say, we have found out wisdom,.... They were left to themselves, and not directed to take the proper methods of convincing Job, and answering his arguments; lest they should be wise in their own conceits, and attribute too much to themselves; or Elihu told them this, that they had not convicted Job, though they had condemned him, nor answered his arguments, though they had left off speaking; and this he was obliged to say, and that for the reason before observed: for all wisdom is of God, and not to be found out or acquired by men; not natural wisdom, that is not of men, but of God, and especially supernatural wisdom, or the knowledge of divine and spiritual things, and the reason of God's dealings with the sons of men in the different manner he does, see Job 28:12;

God thrusteth him down, not man: some think Elihu says this in reference to himself, whom God would make use of as an instrument to convince Job and answer his arguments; and that he would ascribe this not to himself, but to God; they took a natural way to convince Job, which failed, that they might not be proud of their own wisdom; he should take a more divine and spiritual method, and, if he succeeded, he should give all the glory to God, and ascribe nothing to himself: as in the conviction and conversion of a sinner, though ministers are instruments, it is not by might or power of men, but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts; it is God that thrusts down man from a vain opinion he has of himself; that convinces him of sin, that takes him off of his own righteousness, and humbles him, and lays him low at his feet: but they rather seem to be the words of Job's friends, as related by Elihu; and the sense is in connection with the former, either that they found it was the wisest method they could take with Job to be silent, and leave him to himself, lest they should add to his afflict; on; to which Jarchi inclines, who paraphrases it,

"we found wisdom by our silence, that we may not provoke him any more;''

which, if their sense, shows more tenderness and compassion than they had hitherto expressed, and answers pretty much to the advice given 2 Corinthians 2:6; or else their meaning is, that they found it the best and wisest way to leave him with God, he being so obstinate and incorrigible that none but God could move him; it was not in the power of men, or of words used by men, to make him sensible of things; or rather the meaning is, Elihu was obliged to tell them, that none of them had convinced Job, or answered his arguments, lest they should say, we have found out a wise and strong argument, proving the charge brought against him, that he must be a wicked man and an hypocrite, since God has so sorely afflicted him, and thrust him down from all his grandeur and dignity; which no man could ever have done, and God would not, if he had not been the man we suppose him to be; now Elihu's view is to observe to them, that there was nothing in this argument convincing, in which they imagined so much wisdom lay. Job's afflictions, indeed, were of God, and not men; and which he often owns himself; but this was no proof or argument of his being a wicked man: Mr. Broughton renders the words,

"the Omnipotent doth toss him, not man.''

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not show you mine opinion.   7 I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.   8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.   9 Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.   10 Therefore I said, Hearken to me; I also will show mine opinion.   11 Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.   12 Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words:   13 Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom: God thrusteth him down, not man.   14 Now he hath not directed his words against me: neither will I answer him with your speeches.

      Elihu here appears to have been,

      I. A man of great modesty and humility. Though a young man, and a man of abilities, yet not pert, and confident, and assuming: his face shone, and, like Moses, he did not know it, which made it shine so much the brighter. Let it be observed by all, especially by young people, as worthy their imitation, 1. What a diffidence he had of himself and of his own judgment (Job 32:6; Job 32:6): "I am young, and therefore I was afraid, and durst not show you my opinion, for fear I should either prove mistaken or do that which was unbecoming me." He was so observant of all that passed, and applied his mind so closely to what he heard, that he had formed in himself a judgment of it. He neither neglected it as foreign, nor declined it as intricate; but, how clear soever the matter was to himself, he was afraid to deliver his mind upon it, because he differed in his sentiments from those that were older than he. Note, It becomes us to be suspicious of our own judgment in matters of doubtful disputation, to be swift to hear the sentiments of others and slow to speak our own, especially when we go contrary to the judgment of those for whom, upon the score of their learning and piety, we justly have a veneration. 2. What a deference he paid to his seniors, and what great expectations he had from them, (Job 32:7; Job 32:7): I said, Days should speak. Note, Age and experience give a man great advantage in judging of things, both as they furnish a man with so much the more matter for his thoughts to work upon and as they ripen and improve the facilities he is to work with, which is a good reason why old people should take pains both to learn themselves and to teach others (else the advantages of their age are a reproach to them), and why young people should attend on their instructions. It is a good lodging with an old disciple,Acts 21:16; Titus 2:4. Elihu's modesty appeared in the patient attention he gave to what his seniors said, Job 32:11; Job 32:12. He waited for their words as one that expected much from them, agreeably to the opinion he had of these grave men. He gave ear to their reasons, that he might take their meaning, and fully understand what was the drift of their discourse and what the force of their arguments. He attended to them with diligence and care, and this, (1.) Though they were slow, and took up a great deal of time in searching out what to say. Though they had often to seek for matter and words, paused and hesitated, and were unready at their work, yet he overlooked that, and gave ear to their reasons, which, if really convincing, he would not think the less so for the disadvantages of the delivery of them. (2.) Though they trifled and made nothing of it, though none of them answered Job's words nor said what was proper to convince him, yet he attended to them, in hopes they would bring it to some head at last. We must often be willing to hear what we do not like, else we cannot prove all things. His patient attendance on their discourses he pleads, [1.] As that which entitled him to a liberty of speech in his turn and empowered him to require their attention. Hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim--This liberty we mutually allow and ask. Those that have heard may speak, and those that have learned may teach. [2.] As that which enabled him to pass a judgment upon what they had said. He had observed what they aimed at, and therefore knew what to say to it. Let us be thoroughly apprized of the sentiments of our brethren before we censure them; for he that answers a matter before he hears it, or when he has heard it only by halves, it is folly and shame to him, and bespeaks him both impertinent and imperious.

      II. A man of great sense and courage, and one that knew as well when and how to speak as when and how to keep silence. Though he had so much respect to his friends as not to interrupt them with his speaking, yet he had so much regard to truth and justice (his better friends) as not to betray them by his silence. He boldly pleads,

      1. That man is a rational creature, and therefore that every man has for himself a judgment of discretion and ought to be allowed a liberty of speech in his turn. He means the same that Job did (Job 12:2; Job 12:2, But I have understanding as well as you) when he says (Job 32:8; Job 32:8), But there is a spirit in man; only he expresses it a little more modestly, that one man has understanding as well as another, and no man can pretend to have the monopoly of reason or to engross all the trade of it. Had he meant I have revelation as well as you (as some understand it), he must have proved it; but, if he meant only I have reason as well as you, they cannot deny it, for it is every man's honour, and it is no presumption to claim it, nor could they gainsay his inference from it (Job 32:10; Job 32:10): Therefore hearken to me. Learn here, (1.) That the soul is a spirit, neither material itself nor dependent upon matter, but capable of conversing with things spiritual, which are not the objects of sense. (2.) It is an understanding spirit. It is able to discover and receive truth, to discourse and reason upon it, and to direct and rule accordingly. (3.) This understanding spirit is in every man; it is the light that lighteth every man,John 1:9. (4.) It is the inspiration of the Almighty that gives us this understanding spirit; for he is the Father of spirits and fountain of understanding. See Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Zechariah 12:1.

      2. That those who are advanced above others in grandeur and gravity do not always proportionably go beyond them in knowledge and wisdom (Job 32:9; Job 32:9): Great men are not always wise; it is a pity but they were, for then they would never do hurt with their greatness and would do so much the more good with their wisdom. Men should be preferred for their wisdom, and those that are in honour and power have most need of wisdom and have the greatest opportunity of improving in it; and yet it does not follow that great men are always wise, and therefore it is folly to subscribe to the dictates of any with an implicit faith. The aged do not always understand judgment; even they may be mistaken, and therefore must not expect to bring every thought into obedience to them: nay, therefore they must not take it as an affront to be contradicted, but rather take it as a kindness to be instructed, by their juniors: Therefore I said, hearken to me,Job 32:10; Job 32:10. We must be willing to hear reason from those that are every way inferior to us, and to yield to it. He that has a good eye can see further upon level ground than he that is purblind can from the top of the highest mountain. Better is a poor and wise child then an old and foolish king,Ecclesiastes 4:13.

      3. That it was requisite for something to be said, for the setting of this controversy in a true light, which, by all that had hitherto been said, was but rendered more intricate and perplexed (Job 32:13; Job 32:13): "I must speak, lest you should say, We have found out wisdom, lest you should think your argument against Job conclusive and irrefragable, and that Job cannot be convinced and humbled by any other argument than this of yours, That God casteth him down and not man, that it appears by his extraordinary afflictions that God is his enemy, and therefore he is certainly a wicked man. I must show you that this is a false hypothesis and that Job may be convinced without maintaining it." Or, "Lest you should think you have found out the wisest way, to reason no more with him, but leave it to God to thrust him down." It is time to speak when we hear errors advanced and disputed for, especially under pretence of supporting the cause of God with them. It is time to speak when God's judgments are vouched for the patronizing of men's pride and passion and their unjust uncharitable censures of their brethren; then we must speak on God's behalf.

      4. That he had something new to offer, and would endeavour to manage the dispute in a better manner than it had hitherto been managed, Job 32:14; Job 32:14. He thinks he may expect a favourable hearing; for, (1.) He will not reply to Job's protestations of his integrity, but allows the truth of them, and therefore does not interpose as his enemy: "He hath not directed his words against me. I have nothing to say against the main scope of his discourse, nor do I differ from his principles. I have only a gentle reproof to give him for his passionate expressions." (2.) He will not repeat their arguments, nor go upon their principles: "Neither will I answer him with your speeches--not with the same matter, for should I only say what has been said I might justly be silenced as impertinent,--nor in the same manner; I will not be guilty of that peevishness towards him myself which I dislike in you." The controversy that has already been fully handled a wise man will let alone, unless he can amend and improve what has been done; why should he actum agere--do that which has been done already?