Job 32:4

4 Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the three friends were older than he was.

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 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Job 32:4 In-Context

2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, from the family of Ram, became very angry with Job, because Job claimed he was right instead of God.

3 Elihu was also angry with Job's three friends who had no answer to show that Job was wrong, yet continued to blame him.

4 Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the three friends were older than he was.

5 But when Elihu saw that the three men had nothing more to say, he became very angry.

6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said this: "I am young, and you are old. That is why I was afraid to tell you what I know.