Job 32:4

4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were 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 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

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

Job 32:4 In-Context

2 Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God;
3 he was angry also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong.
4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he.
5 But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.
6 Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered: "I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.