Job 32:4

4 Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he.

Job 32:4 Meaning and Commentary

Job 32:4

Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken
Made an end of speaking, until he had thus expressed himself, "the words of Job are ended", ( Job 31:40 ) : and waited likewise until his three friends had said all they had to say, and which is here supposed and implied, as appears by what follows:

because they [were] elder than he;
it may be added, from the original text, "in", or "as two days" ^F12; they had lived longer in the world than he, and therefore did not take upon him to speak till they had done; he, as became a young man, was swift to hear, and slow to speak; that they were old men, appears from what Eliphaz says, ( Job 15:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (Mymyl) "diebus", Beza, Montanus, Mercerus; "quod ad dies", Schultens.

Job 32:4 In-Context

2 Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God's.

3 He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong.

4 Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he.

5 But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.

6 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said: "I'm a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That's why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion.