And these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Then was kindled the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram against Job was his anger kindled, because he justified himself rather than God;
After twenty-nine chapters of argument, Job's three friends fall silent, and a fourth man speaks at last — in anger. His wrath burns two ways at once, and the first reason sums up the whole book: Job put his own case above God's.
The long debate had reached a dead end. One writer traces the deadlock to two fixed positions:
He could see nothing wrong in himself; and they could see nothing right. He was determined to maintain his integrity. They were just as determined to pick holes and find flaws. There was no point of contact at all — no common ground of understanding... In short, a completely different kind of ministry was needed, and Elihu is the one who brings it.
The verse gives Elihu's family line, and each name carries a meaning:
His name is full of meaning. Elihu means "my God is He." Barachel means "the Blessed God." Buzite means "the rejected One." Ram means "exalted." These names find their fullest application in our Lord, whom Elihu represents in his work as mediator.
His family puts him just outside the chosen line, yet near it:
He belonged to the family of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. He was not strictly part of the chosen family, but he was closely connected to it, like Laban and others.
Elihu names one fault on each side. One writer notes how much ground his few words cover:
Here Elihu, with remarkable force and clearness, seizes upon the very root of the matter on each side. In two short sentences he sums up the whole long discussion of twenty-nine chapters. Job justified himself instead of justifying God. They condemned Job instead of leading him to condemn himself.
Another writer weighs the two charges side by side:
Elihu's anger is stirred in two directions. He is angry with Job for failing to glorify God by owning His righteousness, and with the friends for clinging to their accusations when they could not give a single proof.
The words "rather than God" set up a choice that reaches far past Job:
Nothing matters more morally than to see this. Whenever we justify ourselves, we condemn God. And when we condemn ourselves, we justify God... The moment the soul breaks down in true self-judgment, God rises before it as a Justifier, in all the majesty of His grace. But as long as self-defence or self-satisfaction rules us, we stay complete strangers to that blessing. It is the deep blessedness of the person to whom God credits righteousness without works. The greatest folly anyone can commit is to justify himself, since God must then charge sin against him. But the truest wisdom is to condemn yourself completely, for then God becomes the Justifier.
Job's facts were right. His self-defence was still the wrong move, and the same root held his friends back:
He did justify himself. The chapter we have just read is self-justification from beginning to end. What he said was true as a matter of fact. But it was completely out of place in a question about God's dealings, and about why this great affliction had come upon him... What was it that hindered these three friends from understanding him? The same thing that hindered Job — self. Self was not judged. Self is one of the greatest difficulties in the way of a Christian.
Elihu's anger targets something in Job, not Job himself. One writer compares it to the anger of Jesus:
Elihu was for Job; but he was not for his self-righteousness. This is what he was angry at. When the blessed Jesus walked this earth, nothing made Him as angry as the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. It filled Him with indignation... Yet though Elihu was so grieved at Job's great mistake, his heart still yearned over him.
Another writer reads Elihu's late entrance as a picture of Christ:
So the Lord Jesus did not come on the scene until late in the world's history. Men were first given time to state all their opinions about why God allows suffering, even in people who were not guilty of wrongdoing... Now the true Mediator between God and men has come, and every question is resolved in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Self — the root problem in all four men was self unjudged. Job defended himself, and his friends defended their accusations.
- Swap — Job justified himself instead of justifying God. The friends condemned Job instead of leading him to condemn himself.
- Cost — whoever justifies himself condemns God, and God must then charge sin against him.
- Exchange — whoever condemns himself justifies God, and God then becomes the Justifier.
- Mediator — Elihu's anger is against self-righteousness, not against Job. His name and his timing point to the one Mediator who answers every question.
and against his three friends was his anger kindled, because they found no answer, and [yet] condemned Job.
Elihu's anger flares in two directions at once. It burns at Job. It also burns at the three friends who had argued with him for chapter after chapter. Verse 3 explains the second half of that anger. The friends had condemned a man without ever answering him. So what makes a rebuke worthless, even when the speaker means well?
The three friends have run out of words. Job still stands on his own innocence. One writer sets out what stirs Elihu on each side:
The three friends have been silenced, and Job is left entrenched in his self-righteousness. So Elihu's anger is stirred two ways. He is angry at Job for failing to glorify God by acknowledging His righteousness. He is angry at the friends for holding on to their accusations when they could not give a single proof.
This is not a man taking sides in a quarrel. Having heard everything, he finds fault everywhere:
So we can understand why Elihu's anger burned against Job. He was entirely on God's side. Job was not. We hear nothing of Elihu until chapter 32, yet he had clearly listened closely to the whole discussion. He gave a patient hearing to both sides, and he found that both were wrong. Job was wrong in trying to defend himself, and the friends were wrong in trying to condemn him.
The charge in verse 3 is precise. The friends had a verdict but no case. One writer weighs their speeches one by one and finds the complaint fair:
He had listened carefully to all they had said, and not one of them had convinced Job or given him a satisfactory answer. Look back at the speeches of Eliphaz. They begin in a lofty, dignified way and end in the most brutal charges. Bildad's words are similar, though not so harsh. Zophar's declarations are fierce. Look at all this, and you see how fully Elihu was right in what he said. He could truly add that they had no right to claim they had found wisdom. It was God, he declares, not man, who had thrust Job down and made him feel his own helplessness.
The words "found no answer" reach further than these three men. Their failure shows a limit no human argument can cross:
Note this: there was "no answer." In all their reasoning, in all their arguments, in all their appeals to experience, tradition, and law, there was "no answer." This is very instructive. Job's friends had covered a very wide range. They had said many true things. They had attempted many replies. But note it well: they found "no answer." Earth and nature hold no answer for a self-righteous heart. God alone can answer it.
Why could three thoughtful men produce nothing? The obstacle in them turns out to be the very thing they were attacking in Job:
What was it that kept these three friends from understanding him? The same thing that held Job back — self. Self was not judged. Self is one of the greatest difficulties in the way of a Christian — it stood in the way of a sinner long ago, and it still does among Christians today.
Elihu is not alone in this judgement. God Himself later rebukes the three friends — and their whole aim had been to defend His righteousness:
So we need not be surprised that God turns to Eliphaz and his friends with a stern rebuke for their part in the argument, which has now closed so happily for Job. He speaks to Eliphaz as the leader of the three. He declares His anger against them all, because they had not spoken what is right about Him, as His servant Job had. And yet their whole case had seemed to be for God's righteousness! Had they not pinned the charge of wickedness on Job with no proof at all, and against well known facts to the contrary?
Elihu's anger did not make him interrupt. One writer sees a larger pattern in that delay:
Elihu knew their accusations against Job were unjust. But since he was younger than they were, he waited. He gave them time to say all they had to say before he spoke. In the same way, the Lord Jesus did not come on the scene until late in the world's history. First men had time to declare all their opinions about why God allows suffering, even the suffering of people who had done no wrong. Many, including philosophers, had raised questions about God's dealings. They discussed them from many angles, and the questions were left without any answer. Now the true Mediator between God and men has come, and every question finds its answer in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Two targets. Elihu is angry at Job for justifying himself. He is angry at the friends for condemning Job with no proof. Both sides were wrong.
- One root. What blocked the friends is what blocked Job: self, unjudged.
- No answer. Nothing in experience, tradition or law can reach a self-righteous heart; God alone can.
- Zeal misfires. The friends set out to defend God's honour, yet God rebuked them for not speaking rightly of Him.
- Waiting first. Elihu let every voice finish before he spoke. In the same way the true Mediator came when every other answer had run out.
But Elihu had waited till Job had finished speaking, because they were older than he.
Elihu enters the story in chapter 32, after Job and his three friends have argued each other to a standstill. Verse 4 explains why he stayed quiet so long — and the chapter goes on to show what finally made him speak.
Elihu's silence was not shyness but deliberate restraint. He let every speaker run out of arguments before he offered one of his own.
Elihu had patiently listened to the arguments on both sides. He had heard both parties out. He had allowed them to exhaust themselves — to say all they had to say. This was in lovely moral order. It was, most surely, the way of the Spirit of God. Modesty, in a young man, is most graceful.
One might expect a man moved by God to override social custom. The opposite happened. Elihu's spiritual insight made him more careful about what was fitting, not less.
He was relatively young, and in those days people were governed by different feelings from those of today. People had a strong sense of the respect that younger people owed to their elders. Being a believer strengthened this instead of weakening it... But until they were fully silenced, until they had not a word more to say against Job or for themselves, Elihu stays in the background... Does not all this show us something? The power of the Spirit does not destroy proper respect for others. It displays that respect with greater force than natural reverence does, because it judges self in the presence of God.
The verse gives age as the reason Elihu held back. Yet these older men, as the book shows, had nothing to offer.
No doubt, it may often happen, as in the case of Job and his friends, that old men say very foolish things. Grey hairs and wisdom do not always go together... All this is perfectly true... But it leaves wholly untouched the fine moral sentiment in Elihu's opening address: "I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you." This is always right.
Wisdom, Elihu argues, has a different source than the passing of years.
He explains this silence now, in courteous words. However, it is not mere age which gives wisdom, but the spirit which comes from God — the breathing of God, which has made mortal man different from the beasts. So he, if he speaks the wisdom of God, is entitled to be heard.
Elihu's waiting honoured the older men; it did not hand them the final word. Once they had spoken and failed, their seniority no longer bound him.
His silence had recognised what was due to years, or to the elders, or the ancients. He did not in pride, or in an insubordinate, rebellious spirit, refuse the claims which they might naturally put forward. But he would not sacrifice the truth or the rights of the Spirit to anyone, and if the elders did not speak according to truth, they were not to be regarded.
The turning point was not impatience but a vacuum. Nobody had an answer.
"And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger." Note this, "no answer." In all their reasonings, in all their arguments, in all their references to experience, tradition, and legality, there was "no answer."... It is not in the range of earth or of nature to find an answer for a self-righteous heart. God alone can answer it.
Some writers see a larger pattern in Elihu's late arrival. It matches the long wait before the true Mediator came.
Elihu knew their accusations against Job were unjust. But he was younger than they were, so he had waited. He gave them time to say all they had to say before he would speak. In the same way, the Lord Jesus did not come on the scene until late in the world's history. Men had first been given time to declare all their opinions about why God allows suffering, even for those not guilty of wrongdoing... Now the true Mediator between God and men has come, and every question is found resolved in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Waited. Elihu heard both sides out before he said a word. That patience gave his later speech its weight.
- Deferred. His silence honoured age. The Spirit at work in him sharpened his sense of what was fitting instead of dissolving it.
- Distinguished. Years and wisdom are not the same thing — real wisdom comes from the breath of God, not from a long life.
- Spoke. When the older men proved to have no answer, respect had done its work. Truth then outranked age.
- Pointed. The young man came last, after every human opinion had failed. He pictures the Mediator in whom every question is resolved.
And Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, and his anger was kindled.
Elihu has listened in silence through almost thirty chapters of argument, and the three older men have now run out of answers. The first thing Scripture tells us about him is his anger — so what was he angry about, and was he right to be?
The verse does not call the friends defeated. It says they had no answer left. One writer presses on that exact phrase:
Note this: "There was no answer." In all their reasoning, in all their arguments, in all their appeals to experience, tradition, and law, there was "no answer." This is very instructive. Job's friends had covered a very wide range. They had said many true things and tried many replies. But note it carefully: they found "no answer." Nothing on earth or in nature can answer a self-righteous heart. God alone can answer it.
Verse 5 repeats what verses 2 and 3 already said: the anger burned. It burned in two directions at once.
The three friends had been silenced, and Job was left entrenched in his self-righteousness. So Elihu's anger was stirred twice over: against Job, for failing to glorify God by acknowledging His righteousness, and against the friends, for holding on to their accusations when they could not give a single proof.
His anger lands on the real fault in each party:
Here Elihu, with remarkable force and clearness, seizes the very root of the matter on each side. He condenses, in two brief sentences, the whole of the long discussion contained in twenty-nine chapters. Job justified himself instead of justifying God; and they had condemned Job instead of leading him to condemn himself.
Verse 4 gives the reason for the delay: the others were older. Verse 5 gives the reason the delay ends.
Elihu speaks of being young in contrast to his four hearers, who were "very old" (v.6). For this reason he had not spoken before, thinking the others would see him as an immature upstart if he dared to speak. For it is perfectly right that "age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom" (v.7). However, these old men had every chance to speak, and none of them found the answer. Must the question therefore remain unanswered?
His right to speak rests on something other than his years. Wisdom does not come from age. One writer points instead to "the spirit which comes from God — the breathing of God, which has made mortal man different from the beasts" (Samuel Ridout).
The debate had not just failed to help Job. It had left God misrepresented, and that is what stirs Elihu most.
The opening verses of Job 32 show Elihu's deep emotion and displeasure at how unsatisfying the discussion turned out. It did no good to man, and it did not honour God. Young as he was, he could not help feeling a burning desire to reprove what was rash and wrong on man's part, and to defend God's character and glory. Elihu feels forced to speak, and he speaks unwillingly. These are men he would gladly have learned from, if they could have taught him the mind of God. Yet he is careful to stand only for what comes from God.
His anger has a target, and a yearning heart behind it.
Elihu was for Job; but he was not for his self-righteousness. Against this he was angry. When the blessed Jesus walked this earth, nothing made Him so angry as the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. It filled Him with indignation. Perhaps you have grieved deeply because you could not be self-righteous enough to justify yourself. The attempt itself grieved Him more. But though Elihu was so grieved at Job's great mistake, still, how his heart yearned over him.
Elihu finally stands up, and the order of his concern matters:
He rises up to speak on behalf of God, who had been dishonoured by their speeches. He waited until all the others had said all they had to say, and then he lifts up his voice on behalf of God. He would have Job justified, but he must first justify God.
- Silence — Elihu held back out of respect for age. His anger burns only after the older men have had every chance to answer.
- Deadlock — the friends ran out of words and found "no answer." Experience, tradition and law could not answer a self-righteous heart.
- Double anger — it burns at Job for justifying himself instead of God, and at the friends for condemning without proof.
- God's honour — injured pride is not what stirs him. The discussion had left God misrepresented, so he speaks only what comes from God.
- Order — he is for Job, but against Job's self-righteousness. He wants Job justified, and God justified first.
And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are aged; wherefore I was timid, and feared to shew you what I know.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
I said, Let days speak, and multitude of years teach wisdom.
Elihu has stayed silent through the long argument between Job and his three friends. When he speaks at last, he explains the rule he had been living by: let the older men speak, because years carry wisdom. This chapter tests that rule to breaking point. Where does real understanding come from?
Elihu is not attacking respect for age. One writer calls this the way things are meant to run, and says what it asks of a younger man.
This is the natural order. We expect grey heads to hold wisdom. So it is right and fitting for young men to be quick to hear and slow to speak in front of their elders. We may set it down as an almost fixed principle: a forward young man is not led by the Spirit of God. He has never measured himself in the Divine presence. God has never broken him down completely.
Elihu gave the older men the floor and waited for the wisdom he expected. Their answers left the rule standing and the question open.
Elihu speaks of being young next to his four hearers, who were "very old" (v.6). That is why he had not spoken before. He thought they would treat him as an immature upstart if he dared to speak. For it is right that "days speak, and many years teach wisdom" (v.7). But they had every chance, and none of these old men had found the answer. Must the question stay unanswered?
Old age can fail, and this writer says so plainly. That failure does not cancel Elihu's restraint.
No doubt it may often happen, as with Job and his friends, that old men say very foolish things. Grey hairs and wisdom do not always go together. Old men often lean on the mere fact of their years and take a place they have no power to fill — moral, intellectual, or spiritual. All this is true... But it leaves untouched the fine moral sentiment in Elihu's opening address... A man with inward moral power is never in a hurry to push himself forward. Yet when he does come forward, people hear him with respect and attention. Modesty joined to moral power gives a character an irresistible charm, but a self-confident style spoils the finest abilities.
Elihu's waiting was not timidity or lack of insight. He understood God's mind better than the older men did, and still stayed out of sight until they had finished.
Compared with Eliphaz and the rest, Elihu could enter much more into the mind of God. It seems clear that he did — more than Job himself, let alone the three friends, these "very old" men he mentions. But Elihu stays in the shade until they fall completely silent, with not one more word to say against Job or for themselves... Does not all this show us that even in these earliest days men understood what was fitting? The power of the Spirit does not destroy proper respect. It sets that respect off with greater force than natural reverence does, because it judges self in the presence of God.
Elihu's silence gave age its due. It did not hand age the last word.
His silence had owned what was due to "years," to the elders, to the ancients. He did not refuse the claims they might naturally make; there was no pride in him, and no rebellious spirit. But he would not sacrifice the truth or the rights of the Spirit to anyone. If the elders did not speak according to truth, no one had to heed them. If the natural mind, however honoured by years or by position in the church, does not find the path of understanding, Elihu will not give it flattering titles or bow before it.
So where does real wisdom come from? One writer points past age altogether.
The moment the Spirit of God enters the scene, it ceases to be a question of youth or old age, since He can speak by old or young. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." This holds good always. It was true for the patriarchs, true for the prophets, true for apostles, true for us, true for all.
- Order — Years teaching wisdom is the natural order. A young person who is slow to speak before elders shows the mark of someone God has worked on.
- Test — Elihu let the order run its full course. Only when the older men had nothing left to say did he speak.
- Gap — Grey hairs and wisdom do not always travel together; age can claim a place it has no power to fill.
- Limit — Elihu gave age its full due. He would not surrender truth to anyone's seniority.
- Source — Once God's Spirit enters, age stops deciding the matter: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit."
But there is a spirit which is in man; and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Elihu is the youngest man in the debate, and the older men have already had their say. Now he speaks, and he gives his reason. What lets a person speak about God is not his years, but something God has put inside him.
The argument so far had turned on age and experience. Then Elihu brings in a factor that changes the whole basis of the discussion. The writer quotes the verse from an older translation.
"But," Elihu continues, "there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty gives him understanding." This introduces another element altogether. The moment the Spirit of God enters the scene, it ceases to be a question of youth or old age, since He can speak by old or young. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." This holds good always. It was true for the patriarchs; true for the prophets; true for apostles; true for us; true for all.
Elihu is not describing a rare gift given to a few. He is talking about something in every person, and one writer traces it back to the moment God formed man.
And so then we can understand that there is a spirit in man. Spirit means spiritual capacity, and experience is not the measure of it. A man might have much more spiritual capacity who was young. That was the case with Elihu. And he says, "The inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding." It was God who breathed into man the breath of life. That breath of life held not only the soul but the spirit. That is why man alone has an immortal soul. God never breathed into a horse or a dog, or any other animal on the earth, but only into man.
So what marks a human off from an animal? One writer points not to thinking alone, but to thought that can turn back on itself — and on God.
Being conscious of "I" belongs to the soul, and personal identity hangs on that soul really existing. But the power to reflect and reason on that consciousness, as on everything else, is in the spirit of man... Reflective self-consciousness sets man apart; being conscious of God sets him apart still more. "There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding" (Job 32:8).
Each of Job's older friends had leaned on a different human resource, and all three had come up empty. Elihu's opening line quietly explains why.
"There is a spirit in man, and the breath (or Spirit) of the Almighty gives him understanding" (v.8). Eliphaz had appealed to his own observation (ch.4:8). Bildad had appealed to tradition (ch.8:8-9). Zophar was still more ignorant in appealing to his own intuition (ch.11:5,6). 1 Corinthians 2:9 refers to all three — what no eye has seen (observation), nor ear heard (tradition), nor the heart of man imagined (intuition). Then it adds, "these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit" (v.10). Elihu recognised this: if man is to know the truth, God Himself must reveal it by His Spirit. As Elihu said, "there is a spirit in man." God has given man a spirit. And God's Spirit can speak to man's spirit, if only man's spirit is subject to God.
Older translations read "the inspiration of the Almighty." That word carries a much heavier meaning elsewhere in the Bible, and one writer warns against reading it back into Elihu's claim.
We must not be misled by the word "inspiration" here. Elihu does not claim it in the same sense in which the apostle Paul applies it to all Scripture. He uses it only for the source of the understanding God gives to man. He makes no claim to the unfailing, absolute, perfectly delivered word of God... Does Elihu claim any such thing here? Would he talk about his opinion if it were so?
So where does a young man's power to speak come from?
Here lay the deep secret of Elihu's quiet power. He was filled with the Spirit. So we forget his youth as we listen to the words of spiritual weight and heavenly wisdom that come out of his mouth... There is a striking difference between a man who speaks as an oracle of God and one who speaks in mere official routine. One speaks from the heart, by the Spirit's holy anointing. The other speaks from the intellect, by human authority.
- Breathed — God breathed into man alone, and in that breath came both soul and spirit; no animal received it.
- Capacity — the spirit is spiritual capacity, and years do not measure capacity. A young man may have more of it than an old one.
- Understanding — that same breath lets a person reflect, reason, and be conscious of God, not just of himself.
- Revelation — observation, tradition and intuition all failed Job's friends. Understanding comes when God's Spirit speaks to a spirit that is subject to Him.
- Limit — the "inspiration" Elihu claims is the source of human understanding, not the perfect inspiration of Scripture. He still calls what follows his opinion.
It is not the great that are wise; neither do the aged understand judgment.
Elihu is the youngest man in the room. He has kept quiet while Job's older friends argued, and now he challenges what they all assumed: that a long life is the same thing as insight into what is right.
Elihu held back because the men in front of him were older. One writer admits that old age often does fail — and says Elihu's caution was still right.
No doubt, it may often happen, as in the case of Job and his friends, that old men say very foolish things. Grey hairs and wisdom do not always go together. It often happens that aged men, relying on the mere fact of their years, take a place for which they have no power at all, whether moral, intellectual, or spiritual. All this is completely true... But none of it touches the fine moral feeling in Elihu's opening address: "I am young, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and did not dare to show you my opinion." This is always right.
The verse cuts both ways. If age is no guarantee, neither is youth, and one writer points to a king who thought he knew better than his father.
He thought that he knew better than his father and made a fool of himself, and wrecked his kingdom... Neither are the young always wise, as in Rehoboam's case.
Commentators differ on the word "great." One reads it as greatness in years, so that both halves of the verse say the same thing:
Surely the spirit it is in mortal man, and the breath of Shaddai gives them wit. Not the great [in years] are wise, nor do the aged understand judgment.
(Shaddai is another name for the Almighty. The ESV reads "the old" here rather than "the great.")
Another writer takes it as greatness in the world, and points to where knowledge of God must come from:
A man may attain greatness in the world, and yet be ignorant of his Creator, or one may have years of experience in the world and still be without the knowledge of God. "The flesh profits nothing." If God is to be understood, this can only be by God revealing Himself.
The verse before gives the reason: there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives understanding. So understanding is not something a person piles up over time.
Spirit means spiritual capacity, and experience is not the measure of it. A young man might have far more spiritual capacity. That was the case with Elihu. And he says, "The breath of the Almighty gives them understanding." It was God who breathed the breath of life into man. That breath of life carried not only the soul but the spirit.
One writer lines up the three friends and names what each of them relied on.
Eliphaz had appealed to his own observation (ch. 4:8). Bildad had appealed to tradition (ch. 8:8-9). Zophar was still more ignorant in appealing to his own intuition (ch. 11:5, 6). 1 Corinthians 2:9 covers all three: "What no eye has seen (observation), nor ear heard (tradition), nor the heart of man imagined (intuition), what God has prepared for those who love Him." Then it adds, "these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit" (v. 10). Elihu recognised this — that God Himself must reveal the truth by His Spirit if man is to know it.
Once the Spirit is the source, the argument about who is older loses its ground.
The moment the Spirit of God enters the scene, it ceases to be a question of youth or old age, since He can speak by old or young. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." This holds good always. It was true for the patriarchs, true for the prophets, true for apostles, true for us, true for all.
- Rule — Elihu stayed quiet because the men in front of him were older. One writer calls that caution always right, even though those older men had spoken foolishly.
- Exception — Grey hairs and wisdom do not always go together. A man can gain greatness or long experience and still not know his Creator.
- Source — Understanding is breathed, not stored up. There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives it understanding.
- Reach — Because the source is the Spirit, He can speak by old or young; the age question drops out.
- Result — Observation, tradition and intuition all fall short. Only God can reveal Himself, and He does it by His Spirit.
Therefore I say, Hearken to me; I also will shew what I know.
Job's three friends have run out of answers, and a younger man named Elihu asks for a hearing. His "therefore" points back to what he has just said: understanding comes from the spirit in man.
So the question is no longer how old a speaker is, but who gives him understanding.
"But," continues Elihu, "it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand." That brings in something entirely new. The moment the Spirit of God enters the scene, it ceases to be a question of youth or old age, since He can speak by old or young. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." This holds good always. It was true for the patriarchs; true for the prophets; true for apostles; true for us; true for all. It is not by human might or power, but by the eternal Spirit.
The older men had each leaned on a different source of wisdom.
Eliphaz had appealed to his own observation (ch. 4:8). Bildad had appealed to tradition (ch. 8:8-9). Zophar was still more ignorant in appealing to his own intuition (ch. 11:5,6)… Elihu recognised this, that God Himself must reveal the truth by His Spirit if man is to know it; and as Elihu said, "it is the spirit in man." God has given man a spirit, and God's Spirit is able to communicate with man's spirit, if only man's spirit is subject to God.
Elihu does not brush his elders aside. He stayed quiet while they spoke, and stepped forward only when they had nothing left to say.
Compared with Eliphaz and the rest, Elihu could enter much further into the mind of God. It seems clear that he did — further than Job himself, and certainly further than the three friends, those "very old" men he speaks of. But until they fell completely silent, until they had not one word more to say against Job or for themselves, Elihu stays in the shade. He introduces himself with a good deal of preface. He apologises for giving his opinion while still young. But when he does speak, wisdom from God is in it. Does not all this show us that even in those earliest days men were taught what was fitting? The power of the Spirit does not destroy proper respect. It shows that respect off with greater force than natural reverence, because it judges self in the presence of God.
The English word "opinion" can sound like a private preference. Another rendering of the verse ends differently:
Surely it is the spirit in mortal man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. Not the great in years are wise, nor do the aged understand judgment. Therefore I say, Listen to me; I will declare my knowledge, even I.
He also refuses to flatter anyone in the room.
Nor will he use flattering words. He has no respect of persons, and this qualifies him to be the spokesman for God. All is most excellent. There is a tone of authority — "and not as the scribes" — that tells of one who knows what he is speaking about.
Elihu asks for a hearing because the long debate settled nothing.
He had listened closely to all they said. Not one of them had convinced Job or answered him properly. Just look back at their speeches. Eliphaz began in an elevated, dignified way and ended in the most brutal charges. Bildad's words were similar, though not so harsh. Zophar made fierce declarations. All of it shows how right Elihu was in what he said. Truly he could add, they had no right to claim they had found out wisdom. It was God, he declares, not man, who had thrust Job down, and made him realise his helplessness.
What moves him is pressure from inside.
He now will speak — even he. For he is full, and must let out the spirit stirring inside him, like new wine looking for a way out. He is constrained; necessity is laid upon him. How different this is from the scholarly, deliberate arguments Job has had to listen to until now. How different, too, from heated words with little wisdom or justice in them. We are reminded of the apostle's word "necessity is laid upon me" (1 Cor. 9:16).
- Source. His right to speak rests on the breath of the Almighty, not on the years he has lived.
- Silence. He waited while the older men spoke. The Spirit strengthened that respect instead of destroying it.
- Failure. He speaks only when observation, tradition and intuition have all been tried and none of them convinced Job.
- Substance. Another rendering has him declare "my knowledge," not "my opinion" — he reports what he knows.
- Constraint. He is full and must speak. Necessity is laid on him, and he will flatter no one.
Lo, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasonings, until ye searched out what to say.
Elihu has sat through the whole argument between Job and his three friends without saying a word. His first words tell them what he was doing all that time — waiting and listening — and why he held back so long.
Elihu does not interrupt the debate. He waits until it runs out.
Elihu waited patiently while Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar worked through their arguments. He paid close attention to everything they said. He would not speak at all until the three friends had fallen silent and Job too had finished his words. And it was true: not one of the three could convince Job or answer the problems he had raised.
He did not only wait for the three friends. He waited for Job as well.
He had, as we say, heard both sides out. He let them wear themselves out and say everything they had to say. Elihu had waited until Job had spoken, because the others were older than he was. This was lovely moral order. It was surely the way of the Spirit of God.
Elihu's silence was not shyness. It was respect for men older than himself.
In those days people felt strongly that younger men owed respect to older ones. Being a man of God strengthened that sense instead of weakening it. Compared with Eliphaz and the rest, Elihu may have entered much further into the mind of God. It seems clear that he did — further than Job himself, and further still than the three friends, the "very old" men he speaks of. But until they had fallen completely silent, with not one word left to say against Job or for themselves, Elihu stayed in the background.
But his respect had a limit. It ended where truth was at stake.
His silence acknowledged what was owed to age, to the elders, to the older men. He did not refuse their natural claim out of pride or a rebellious spirit. But he would not sacrifice the truth, or the rights of the Spirit, to anyone. If the elders did not speak according to truth, no one owed their words any regard.
So what qualifies a man to speak? Not his years.
The moment the Spirit of God enters the scene, age stops being the question, because He can speak through the old or the young. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." This is always true. It was true for the patriarchs; true for the prophets; true for apostles; true for us; true for all.
Elihu listened closely, so his verdict is not a vague dismissal. He can name each speaker and where each one failed.
He had listened carefully to everything they said, and not one of them had convinced Job or given him a real answer. Just look back at the speeches of Eliphaz. They begin in a lofty, dignified way and end in brutal accusations. Bildad's words run the same way, though not as harsh. Zophar makes fierce declarations. All of this shows how right Elihu was in what he said.
The collapse of the debate was not only poor arguing. God had a reason for silencing the three.
Why did God silence them? So that they could not say, "We have found wisdom." God would humble them for their pride in thinking they held the answer that escaped Job. They could not defeat Job, for Elihu says, "God may vanquish him, not a man." Elihu knew Job needed defeating, but no man could do it — neither the three friends nor Elihu himself. Whether we realise it or not, we all need God to gain the victory over us.
- Waited — Elihu let the others say everything, and spoke only when Job and his friends had finished.
- Listened — he weighed every word, so his verdict later carries weight.
- Deferred — his silence honoured age, but honouring age never became a reason to let error stand.
- Found nothing — not one of the three answers convinced Job. Age by itself had produced no wisdom.
- Left room for God — the debate had to fail so no man could claim the wisdom. God, not man, wins the victory over a soul.
Yea, I gave you mine attention, and behold, there was none of you that confuted Job, that answered his words;
Elihu has sat through the whole debate between Job and his three friends, and now he explains why he waited. His verdict on the older men is blunt: they gave Job their best arguments, and Job walked away unmoved.
Elihu's first claim is that he heard everyone out before he spoke:
Elihu had waited patiently while Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar made their arguments. He paid close attention to everything they said. He would not speak at all until the three friends had fallen silent and Job too had finished his words. Clearly it was true that not one of the three could convince Job or answer the problems he had raised (vv.11-12).
Look back over the speeches, and Elihu's complaint matches the record:
He had listened closely to all they had said, and not one of them had convinced Job or answered him properly. We need only look back at the speeches of Eliphaz. They begin in such a lofty, dignified way and end in the most brutal accusations. Bildad's words are similar, though not so harsh. Zophar's declarations are fierce. Put them together, and we see how fully Elihu was justified in what he said. Truly he could add that they had no right to claim they had found out wisdom.
One writer notes what the friends left out, and why their speeches had no power:
"I gave you my attention, and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job or who answered his words." And that was perfectly true. He saw that it was a question of God. They had not really brought in the true God as He is. ... Their speeches were entirely powerless. He was full of indignation that they went on still blaming Job, and could not convince him of anything wrong. They had entirely missed their way.
One commentator names the kind of heart that no argument on earth can reach:
Note this: "There was no answer." They reasoned, they argued, they appealed to experience, tradition, and law. Still there was "no answer." ... Job's friends had covered a very wide range and said many true things. They tried many replies. But note it carefully: they found "no answer." Nothing on earth or in nature can find an answer for a self-righteous heart. God alone can answer it, as we shall see later on. The unbroken heart has a ready reply for everyone except God.
Worse, the arguments did damage. Each new one reached deeper into Job:
"There was none among you who refuted Job." This was clear enough. Job was as far from being convinced at the end of the discussion as he was at the start. Indeed, each fresh argument drawn from the store of experience, tradition, and law only stirred up something fresh and deeper in Job's nature — a nature he had never judged, never subdued, never put to death.
Elihu waited because he expected long life to produce the answer. It did not, and he would not pretend otherwise:
Elihu was silent for a long time, and at last he speaks. In this we see the modesty, and yet the holy confidence, of a man who knows the Spirit is in him and with him. He waits until "years" have spoken, fully allowing that "years" should know wisdom and speak with understanding. But he finds it is not so at all. Their answers to Job only made bad worse, and that proved it. ... His silence had given "years," the elders, the men of old, their due. He did not refuse their rightful claims out of pride or a rebellious spirit. But he would not sacrifice the truth, or the rights of the Spirit, to anyone.
If no man could answer Job, the ground is cleared for one who can:
Elihu is a name with a meaning, and the meaning given to us is "God Himself." Keep that in mind, then read verse 6 of Job 33. We shall see that he stepped in to play the part of a mediator. So he becomes a picture — though a faint one — of the true Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God Himself. Elihu was truly a man, formed out of the clay, and he stood before Job on God's behalf, which is just what Job had asked for in Job 9:33.
- Listened. Elihu earned his verdict. He heard every word out and refused to speak until both sides had finished.
- Verdict. His finding was true. Job stood where he had at the start, unconvinced and unanswered.
- Reason. No argument from experience, tradition, or law can answer a self-righteous heart. Every try only stirred deeper resistance in Job.
- Age. Long life had its full chance to answer Job and failed. Elihu would not hand the truth over to age once it had.
- Answer. No man could supply the answer, so God would. Elihu, whose name means "God Himself," steps in as a faint picture of the true Mediator.
That ye may not say, We have found out wisdom; God will make him yield, not man.
Elihu has listened to the whole long argument between Job and his three friends. Now he tells them why it came to nothing, and warns them against claiming the wisdom that settled it.
The verse follows on from Elihu's claim that he listened carefully to every word. Commentators point out that the record of the debate backs him up.
He had listened closely to all they said. Not one of them had convinced Job, or answered him properly. Just look back at their speeches. Eliphaz began in an elevated, dignified way and ended with the most brutal charges. Bildad's words were much the same, though less harsh. Zophar made his vehement declarations. That shows how fully Elihu was right in what he said. Truly he could add that they had no right to claim they had found out wisdom. It was God, he declares, not man, who had thrust Job down, and made him realise his helplessness.
The failure was not a matter of the three men being slow or short of arguments. One writer draws out how wide their range had been, and where the real limit lay.
Note this: "There was no answer." They reasoned, they argued, they appealed to experience, tradition, and law. Still there was "no answer." This is very instructive. Job's friends had covered a very wide range. They had said many true things. They had attempted many replies. But note it well: they found "no answer." Nothing on earth or in nature can find an answer for a self-righteous heart. God alone can answer it.
Elihu gives a reason for their defeat, and it is a reason found in God rather than in their poor performance.
But how instructive the reason for all this! "Lest you should say, We have found out wisdom; God thrusts him down, not man." No flesh shall glory in the presence of God. Outside His presence it may boast. It may parade its pretensions, glory in its resources, and be proud of its projects, as long as no one thinks of God. But bring Him in, and in a moment it all withers — the bragging, the boasting, the empty glorying, the lofty pretensions, the self-satisfaction and the self-conceit.
The same writer applies this to both sides of the dispute.
Reader, let us remember this. "Boasting is excluded." Yes, all boasting — the boasting of Job, the boasting of his friends. If Job had succeeded in establishing his case, he would have boasted. If, on the other hand, his friends had succeeded in silencing him, they might have boasted. But no: "God thrusts him down, not man."
Elihu's words reach past Job and his friends to every reader.
Why had they been silenced? "Lest you say, We have found wisdom" (v.13). God would humble them because of their own pride in thinking they had the answer that escaped Job. They could not vanquish Job. As Elihu says, "God will vanquish him, not man." Elihu knew Job needed to be vanquished — but by God, not by man, and not by the three friends or himself. Whether we realise it or not, we all need to have God gain the victory over us. Only when we allow God this place of absolute authority will our own hearts find true joy and rejoicing.
Because the friends' method had failed, Elihu refuses to borrow it. He also sees what was missing from everything they said.
He saw that it was a question of God. They had not really brought in the true God as He is. "God thrusts him down, not man." That is what Job had said. So far, Job was far more right than his friends.
- Failure — Three men argued for many chapters. Not one of them convinced Job or answered his words.
- Reason — Experience, tradition and law cannot answer a self-righteous heart. God alone can.
- Guard — God let them win nothing, so they could not say, "We have found wisdom."
- Claim — Boasting is shut out on both sides. Had Job won, he would have boasted. Had his friends won, they would have boasted.
- Victory — Job needed to be defeated, but by God, not by man. Every heart needs the same before it finds real joy.
Now he hath not directed [his] words against me; and I will not answer him with your speeches. ...
Elihu is a young man who has stood by listening to the whole debate. Now Job and his three friends have all fallen silent. He gives two reasons why he should speak: Job never aimed a word at him, and he will not repeat arguments that have already failed.
Elihu's first reason concerns his own place in the dispute. Job never attacked him, so no one can dismiss his words as payback.
"He has not directed his words against me." So he says — I am in a position to speak calmly and without personal feeling. If he had attacked me because of anything I had said, it might look like I was only defending myself. But here I must speak for God, young as I am. "I will not answer him with your speeches." They were entirely powerless.
The others had turned the debate into a contest. Elihu refuses to enter it.
Job has had no argument with him, and he will not step down into the arena of the others to fight with useless words. Their silence now shows how completely they had been beaten.
The second half of the verse is a refusal. Elihu will not pick up the arguments the three men have just dropped. They never worked.
He had listened carefully to all they had said. Not one of them had convinced Job or gave him a satisfying answer... He could truly add that they had no right to claim they had found wisdom. It was God, he declares, not man, who had thrust Job down, and made him realize his helplessness.
Setting the old speeches aside clears the ground. One writer says what that clearing makes room for.
Experience, tradition, and legality are all swept off the platform. That leaves room for the "inspiration of the Almighty" — for the direct and powerful ministry of the Spirit of God.
Elihu refuses more than these three men. He will not lean on any respected name or tradition.
He will not, like the others, draw on himself, or on the elders or fathers. Human religion bows to names and traditions, however respected, but he will not. Led by the Spirit, he presses on in the path where the light of God shines.
He drops their manner along with their arguments.
We notice a marked change in the way he handles the subject, compared with the method of the three friends... So his speeches are not a grand statement of his own principles. They are an appeal to Job's conscience and reason. The abusive and insulting manner of the friends is entirely absent. Yet he uncovers Job's faults faithfully and without sparing him, and he does it without stirring up opposition.
Elihu had heard enough. One writer describes what he had been listening to, and what moved him to stand up.
He had listened until he was tired of it, to men talking a lot of powerless talk — saying a few obvious truths — drawing from their own experience, or from the stale stores of human tradition. He was almost worn out by all this. So he stands up, in the mighty energy of the Spirit, to speak to his hearers as a man fit to speak like God's own mouthpiece.
Another writer describes the pressure Elihu felt inside.
He is full, and must let out the spirit stirring within him, which is like new wine looking for a way out. He is under constraint; he has no choice but to speak.
Elihu is free in one more way. He owes no one a compliment.
A vital matter is involved in this: he must not show partiality to anyone. If he flattered anyone, he thought that would be reason for his Maker to take him away. He must give the truth simply and clearly as from God, who shows no favouritism.
- Waited. Elihu listened to the whole debate first. He was ready to speak when everyone else had run out of words.
- Clear. Job had aimed nothing at him, so his words cannot be self-defence dressed up as concern for God.
- Unborrowed. He refuses the friends' speeches because they convinced nobody. It was God, not man, who had brought Job down.
- Fresh. Elihu clears away experience, tradition and legality, so the Spirit of God can speak directly.
- Free. Owing no grudge and no flattery, he can appeal to Job's conscience instead of shouting him down.
They were amazed, they answered no more; words failed them.
Elihu is a younger man who has listened to the whole debate between Job and his three friends. Now he reports what he saw at the end of it: three counsellors with nothing left to say. That raises two questions: what does such silence prove, and who may speak once human wisdom runs dry?
The verse describes a breakdown, not a graceful conclusion. One rendering of Elihu's words brings out how completely the three had been emptied:
But at me he directed no word, and with your words I answer him not. They broke down, they answer not again, words are fled away from them; and I waited, but they did not speak, for they ceased, they answered no more.
William Kelly (the writer's own translation of verses 14-16)
Stopping an argument is not the same as settling it. The three men ran out of replies but kept their view. That left the real problem untouched:
The friends had fallen silent, but they were apparently not convinced. Job came out on top, as far as defending himself could put him there. And yet the dark riddle was still unsolved, and worse, a cloud hung over God's character. If the book had closed at this point, we would have had more difficulties raised than settled. On the other hand, if God had spoken directly, showing Himself in majesty and power, the change would have been too sudden. Job's fear of being terrified by His glory might then have been justified.
Another writer sees in their silence a habit many people share:
They felt now that they were out of the debate for good. They began with great energy, full of confidence that their judgment was sound. But Job had answered all their foolish talk in full, and there they were, silent. It is not that they were convinced yet that they were wrong. They do what many people do: they go quiet, they have not a word to say, and they still hold the same opinion. But God would not let it rest there.
Elihu does not cut in. He treats their collapse as the moment when a younger man may speak:
Elihu reminds them that Job had not aimed his words at him, as he had aimed them at his three friends (v.14). And he would not use their arguments against Job. He could see that they were dismayed to the point of having nothing more to say. So it was entirely fitting for the younger man to speak now, after waiting until everyone else had run out of words.
His indignation is not at Job's suffering but at counsel that wounded without convincing:
He was full of indignation that they went on still blaming Job, and could not convince him of anything wrong. They had entirely missed their way.
The emptying of the three men clears ground for something better. What had been driving their speeches is named plainly, and it is shown the door:
"Now he has not directed his words against me: neither will I answer him with your speeches. They were amazed; they answered no more; they left off speaking." Experience, tradition, and legality are all swept off the platform to leave room for the "inspiration of the Almighty" — for the direct and powerful ministry of the Spirit of God.
What fills the cleared space is not a better human opinion. Elihu says why he must speak at all:
Then, in case anyone should think he was speaking his own words, he adds, "For I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me." This is the true source and power of all ministry, in every age. It must be "the inspiration of the Almighty," or it is worth nothing at all.
One writer sees more than awkwardness in the sudden hush. He reads Satan himself behind the voices of the three friends:
It is remarkable that the moment Elihu spoke, Satan is silenced in Job's three friends. "They were amazed; they answered no more; they left off speaking."
Charles Stanley (quoting the older wording of the verse)
- Silence one: collapse. The three counsellors never finished their case. Their words ran out and left them silent.
- Silence two: not surrender. They stopped speaking but kept the same opinion. Their silence left the riddle unsolved and a cloud over God's character.
- Silence three: courtesy. Elihu waited until everyone else had run out of words. Even then he refused to use their arguments.
- Silence four: cleared ground. Out go experience, tradition and legality. Only what comes from God is worth anything.
- Silence five: the accuser. The moment Elihu spoke, Satan was silenced in the three friends.
And I waited, for they spoke not, but stood still, and answered no more; --
The three friends have stopped speaking, and Elihu asks whether their silence should now become his own. He had waited out of respect for their age, and now that human argument has run out, he will speak.
One writer traces Elihu's silence to his age and to the customs of his day:
He was younger than they were, and people in those days felt differently about this than people do now. They had a strong sense of what was proper in the respect that younger people owed to their elders. Being a saint strengthened this instead of weakening it. Compared with Eliphaz and the rest, Elihu might enter much more into the mind of God. It seems clear that he did so — more than Job himself, and far more than the three friends, these "very old" men he speaks of. But Elihu stays in the shade until they fall completely silent, until they have not a word more to say against Job or for themselves.
Their silence is not a pause for breath. One writer reads it as defeat, and as the reason Elihu no longer needs to argue on their terms:
Job has had no controversy with him, and he will not go down into the arena of the others to fight with useless words. Their present silence shows how complete their defeat is. He will now speak — even he. For he is full, and must give voice to the spirit stirring within him, which is like new wine looking for a vent. He is constrained; necessity is laid upon him. How different this is from the careful, studied arguments Job has had to listen to so far! It is different too from a heat that had little wisdom or justice in it. This reminds us of the apostle's word, "Necessity is laid upon me" (1 Cor. 9:16).
Elihu does not fill the gap with his own opinions. One writer points to what pushes Elihu to speak, and makes it the mark of all real ministry:
Elihu's opening words had a striking effect on Job's three friends… Then, in case anyone thought he was speaking his own words, he adds, "For I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me." This is the true source and power of all ministry, in every age. It must be "the inspiration of the Almighty," or it is worth nothing at all.
(This quote uses an older translation. The ESV reads "I am full of words" and "the breath of the Almighty.")
Elihu's waiting honoured age, but it was never a promise to stay quiet forever. Once the elders had spoken and failed, their seniority no longer carried weight:
He waited until "years" had spoken, fully allowing that "years" should know wisdom and speak of understanding. But he finds it far otherwise. Their answers to Job only made bad worse, and that proved it. His silence had acknowledged what was due to "years," or to the elders, or the ancients. He did not refuse the claims they might naturally make, either in pride or in a rebellious, revolutionary spirit. But he would not sacrifice the truth or the rights of the Spirit to anyone. If the elders did not speak according to truth, they deserved no regard. The natural mind may be honoured by years, or by church position and authority. But if it does not find the path of understanding, Elihu will not give it flattering titles or bow before it.
One writer sees Elihu as a picture of Christ, and reads his timing the same way on the scale of all history:
Elihu was a type of Christ, the true Mediator. Man had hard thoughts of God; Satan had misrepresented Him in the thoughts of His creature. But Jesus came into this world to speak on God's behalf, when everyone was speaking on behalf of sinful man. And Christ waited until everyone else had spoken. Sage, philosopher, law and prophet each had their turn before Christ came to set God forth in His true light.
- Wait rightly. Elihu held back because the others were older. Faith made him more careful about that respect, not less.
- Wait fully. He stayed in the shade until the three had nothing left to say. Their silence was defeat, not a pause.
- Wait, then speak. Their emptiness sets him free. He will not fight with useless words, and he speaks because he must.
- Speak from God. His words carry weight from the breath of the Almighty, not from his own opinion. Ministry without that source is worth nothing.
- Christ waited too. Sage, philosopher, law and prophet each had their turn. Then He came to set God forth in His true light — Elihu's waiting on the largest scale.
I will answer, I also in my turn, I also will shew what I know
Elihu has listened while three older men argued with Job and finally ran out of words, and now the youngest person present claims his turn to speak. His "I also," said twice, raises a question: what gives anyone the right to speak into another person's pain?
Elihu speaks last. One writer traces that to the respect a younger man owed to older men.
He was fairly young, and in those days feelings were different from today. There was a strong sense of what was proper in the deference owed by younger people to their elders. Being a saint strengthened this instead of weakening it… Elihu stays in the shade until they fall completely silent, until they have not a word more to say against Job or for themselves. He does introduce himself with a long preface, and he apologises that so young a man should give his opinion. But when he does speak, wisdom from God is in it.
What qualifies a young man to take his own share? One writer points to where wisdom comes from, and to Elihu's distance from the quarrel.
He agreed that men should normally grow in wisdom and understanding as they grow older. But neither a great reputation nor age guarantees this, since wisdom really comes to a man through his spirit, as the fruit of the "inspiration," or "breath," of the Almighty. Elihu also had the advantage he mentioned in verse 14. He had not been drawn into the war of words, so he could look at it all impartially, and speak in a way that would flatter neither side. What is more, having listened to everything that had been said, he was so full of matter that it had to find an outlet and burst out of him.
Some read Elihu as a figure of Christ. One writer says no, and points to the word "opinion" itself.
Elihu takes particular pains to insist that he claimed no higher ground than this. If this were some early appearance of the Lord Jesus, He could not speak of His "opinion" and the like. Notice how often Elihu talks about giving his opinion. The Lord Jesus took the lowest place, yet He never spoke as the scribes did. He always spoke as One giving out the word of God and the words of the Father.
Commentators differ here. Others see in Elihu the very mediator Job had been crying out for:
This Elihu is a wonderful person — the very one Job had wanted — the arbiter between God and man, a picture of our Great High Priest.
Elihu gives his reason in the next verse. One writer makes it the measure of all ministry.
The effect of Elihu's opening words on Job's three friends was striking: they were amazed, and they answered no more. Then, in case anyone should think he was speaking his own words, he adds, "For I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me." This is the true source and power of all ministry, in every age. It must be "the inspiration of the Almighty," or it is worth nothing.
(Older translations read "I am full of matter"; the ESV has "I am full of words.")
That fullness has a visible effect.
Now he will speak, not because he thinks himself wiser than they are, but because, being full of words, the spirit within him compelled him to speak out. If someone is led by the Spirit of God to speak, God will give him the words that will reach others. He will not need to grope for words, because he will be so full inside that he feels ready to burst. When a person is sure he has the message of God, the power of the Spirit of God will fully enable him to deliver it.
That pressure also sets Elihu apart from the speeches Job had been hearing.
He is full, and must give voice to the spirit stirring inside him, which is like new wine looking for a vent. He is constrained; necessity is laid on him. How different this is from the scholarly, careful arguments Job has had to listen to so far! How different, too, from a heat that had little wisdom or justice in it.
- Waited. Elihu stays in the shade until every older man has run dry. The delay is respect, not fear — and when he speaks, wisdom from God is in it.
- Detached. He had no share in the war of words, so he can take up his own share without taking sides — flattering neither Job nor the three.
- Modest. He calls it his "opinion." One writer takes that word as proof he claims no higher ground than any other man. Others see in him the mediator Job longed for.
- Full. He speaks because he is full and constrained — necessity is laid on him, like new wine looking for a vent.
- Enabled. Anyone sure he carries God's message will not grope for words. All real ministry springs from the inspiration of the Almighty, or it is worth nothing.
For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
Elihu has listened in silence while Job and his friends argued. When he speaks at last, he starts with his reason for speaking at all: he is full, and something inside him leaves him no choice. What makes a man fit to speak for God, and what makes him unable to stay quiet? Older translations read "full of matter" here, and the writers below quote it that way.
Elihu would rather have learned from the older men than answer them. He speaks because he must, not because he thinks himself wise.
Young as Elihu was, he could not help feeling a burning desire to reprove what was rash and wrong on man's part, and to defend God's character and glory. He feels forced, against his own wish, to speak in front of men he would gladly have learned from, if only they could have taught him the mind of God. Even so, he is careful to stand only for what comes from God. He learns, as never before, that spiritual wisdom comes from God's Spirit, not from a man's age. This is the very opposite of self-confidence or boasting, though his mouth speaks out of the fullness of his heart.
"Constrains" is the key word. Elihu is no volunteer. He describes a pressure he cannot hold in.
Now he will speak — even he. He is full, and he has to let out the spirit stirring inside him, which is like new wine looking for a way out. He is constrained; necessity is laid upon him. How different this is from the studied, careful arguments Job has had to listen to so far, or from a heat of feeling with little wisdom or justice in it. We are reminded of the apostle's word, "Necessity is laid upon me" (1 Cor. 9:16).
Commentators differ over whose spirit Elihu means. Some link this verse with Job 32:8 and take the spirit as the thinking part of man:
Job 32:8 and 18 may be taken as typical passages showing that the spirit is the rational part of man.
Others take the pressure to be God's own. One writer connects Elihu's fullness with a promise Jesus made long after:
If any man is to speak with power and practical effect, he must be able, in some measure, to say, "I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me." … Elihu's glowing words remind us strongly of that memorable passage in John 7: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" True, Elihu did not know this glorious truth of our Lord, since it was not made good until fifteen centuries after his time. But he knew the principle — he had the seed of what was afterwards to come out in full flow and rich, mellow fruit. He knew that a man, if he is to speak with point, sharpness and power, must speak by the inspiration of the Almighty. He had listened until he was tired of men talking a quantity of powerless matter.
A man who is full does not have to hunt for something to say.
If the Spirit of God leads someone to speak, God will give him the words that will affect others. He will not need to grope for words, because he will be so full inside that he will feel ready to burst. When someone is sure he has the message of God, the power of the Spirit of God will fully enable him to give that message.
Elihu's claim is about where his words come from, not just whether they are correct.
A man may stand up and speak to others for an hour, and from beginning to end of his talk he may not say a single unscriptural sentence. Yet all that time he may not have been speaking for God; he may not have been God's mouthpiece, or the present expression of His mind to the souls in front of him.
The same pressure works in anyone whose heart the Word of God's grace has filled.
When the fullness and blessedness of the Word of God's grace gets into our hearts our mouths must speak, and we shall be like Elihu, who said, "I am full of matter, the Spirit within me constrains me." … We shall not wait until we are sent to some place of service 5,000 miles away to pass on what fills our hearts; we shall find those who need the Word close at hand.
- Filled — Elihu burns for God's honour, and that fullness, not his age, is what qualifies him to speak.
- Constrained — What fills a man presses for a way out. He speaks under necessity, not by choice.
- Sourced — Commentators differ over whose spirit this is: man's own thinking spirit, or the inspiration of the Almighty. Either way, his words come from within, not from the arguments already made.
- Distinguished — Fullness is not the same as being correct. A whole talk can be scripturally sound and still not be God's message for those hearers.
- Overflowing — The test of fullness is the nearest person who needs the Word, not a distant field of service.
Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; like new flasks, it is ready to burst.
Elihu has sat in silence while Job and his three friends argued for chapter after chapter. Now he says why he cannot stay quiet, and his picture of sealed wine asks where real speaking for God comes from.
Elihu does not claim the fullness is his own cleverness. He credits the spirit within him.
And in case anyone should think he was speaking his own words, he adds, "For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me." This is the true spring and power of all ministry, in all ages. It must be the inspiration of the Almighty, or it is worth nothing at all.
Older translations read "new bottles," but these were not glass.
Then, as now in the East, people used skins especially for larger vessels and for ones they carried about (Joshua 9:4, 13). They make them from goats' skins: they cut off the head, the legs and the tail, and draw out the body. In the New Testament the word is askos, and means a "wineskin," or "skin-bag." So new wine has to go into new skins, which can stretch.
Elihu is describing something he cannot hold back. That sets him apart from the men who have been speaking.
Their present silence shows how completely beaten they were. He now will speak — even he. For he is full, and must let out the spirit that stirs within him, which is like new wine looking for a vent. He is constrained; necessity is laid upon him. How different this is from the studied, careful arguments Job has had to listen to so far. And how different from the heated speech that had little wisdom or justice in it. The apostle's word comes to mind: "necessity is laid upon me" (1 Cor. 9:16).
Elihu never says he has prepared an answer. He says he is too full to hold it in.
If the Spirit of God leads someone to speak, God will give him the words that will reach others. He will not need to grope for words, for his inward parts will be so full that he will feel ready to burst (v. 19). When someone is sure he has the message of God, the power of the Spirit of God will enable him to give that message.
Elihu is close to bursting, but not with contempt for Job.
Elihu was for Job; but he was not for his self-righteousness. That is what made him angry. And though Elihu was so grieved at Job's great mistake, how his heart yearned over him! He says he is ready to burst, and that he will speak so that he may be refreshed.
One writer hears in Elihu's words the seed of something the Lord Jesus said much later. Older translations read "belly" in John's words too, which is where the echo is clearest. He also separates saying true things from speaking for God.
Elihu's principle must always hold good. Anyone who is to speak with power and real effect must be able to say, in some measure, "I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me." … Elihu's glowing words strongly remind us of that memorable passage in John chapter 7: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." True, Elihu did not know the glorious truth set out in these words of our Lord. It was not made good until fifteen centuries after his time. But he knew the principle — he had the seed of what was afterwards to come out in full flow and rich mellow fruit. … The secret of power in ministry is not merely speaking according to Scripture — that is all-important and essential, most surely. It is more. A man may speak to others for an hour and never say one unscriptural sentence, and all the while he may not have been God's mouthpiece at the time, or the present expression of His mind to the souls in front of him.
And what fills a person will find an outlet close to home.
When the fullness and blessedness of the Word of God's grace gets into our hearts, our mouths must speak. We shall be like Elihu, who said, "I am full of words, the Spirit within me constrains me." … We shall not wait until someone sends us to a field of work 5,000 miles away to pass on what fills our hearts. We shall find people who need the Word close at hand.
- Filled. Elihu's readiness to speak came from being full. He credits the spirit within him, not his own store of arguments.
- Sealed. The picture is a goatskin of fermenting wine with no way out. Skins had to be new, because only new ones could stretch.
- Constrained. Fullness became necessity. He had to speak, and one writer ties this to Paul's "necessity is laid upon me."
- Released. God gives the words to the one He leads to speak. But saying true things is not the same as being God's mouthpiece at that moment.
- Refreshed. Elihu was angry at Job's self-righteousness, yet his heart went out to him. He spoke to be refreshed, and that same fullness looks first for people close at hand.
I will speak, that I may find relief; I will open my lips and answer.
Elihu has sat through the whole long argument between Job and his three friends. Now the friends have run out of words, and he speaks — not because Job needs it, but because he cannot hold it in any longer.
By this point the whole controversy has failed. One writer contrasts Elihu's urgency with the careful speeches Job has endured:
Job has had no controversy with him, and he will not go down into the arena of the others, to fight with words that achieve nothing. Their present silence shows how completely defeated they were. He now will speak — even he. For he is full, and must give utterance to the spirit that stirs within him, which is like new wine looking for a vent. He is constrained; necessity is laid upon him. How different this is from the careful, studied arguments Job has had to listen to so far. It is different too from a heated outburst with little wisdom or justice in it. We are reminded of the apostle's word, "necessity is laid upon me" (1 Corinthians 9:16).
The odd part of the verse is Elihu's reason: speaking will do him good. Another writer explains it from a prophet who tried the opposite:
When someone is sure he has God's message, the power of the Spirit of God will fully enable him to give that message… Jeremiah's own people mocked and ridiculed him for declaring the word of the Lord. It affected him so much that he said, "I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His name. But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with holding it in, and I could not" (Jeremiah 20:9). So it is clear that God had given Elihu a message and would not let him hold it back. He would find relief only by speaking.
Several writers quote this verse from an older translation, where "find relief" reads "be refreshed." One writer makes this inward pressure the test of anyone who speaks for God:
Still, Elihu's principle must always hold good. If any man is to speak with power and practical effect, he must be able, in some measure, to say, "I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me… I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer." … Elihu's glowing words remind us of that memorable passage in John 7: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Elihu did not know the glorious truth our Lord set out in these words. They were not made good till fifteen centuries after his time. But he knew the principle… He knew that a man who is to speak with point, sharpness and power must speak by the inspiration of the Almighty. He had listened until he was tired to men talking a quantity of powerless matter — saying some truisms, drawing from their own experience, or from the musty stores of human tradition.
Where does such fullness come from? Another writer traces it to time spent before God:
It is right to be careful about our doctrine, but our danger lies in being correct and cold. When the love of God to a guilty world is our theme, it must burn in our souls as a fire. The bearer of such a message must be like Elihu, who said, "I am full of matter, the spirit within me constrains me… I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer" (Job 32:18). Only musing in the presence of God produces this state of heart, for it was "as I mused, the fire burned; my heart became hot within me; then I spoke with my tongue" (Psalm 39:3).
One writer looks at the heart behind the urgency:
Though Elihu was so grieved at Job's great mistake, yet how his heart yearned over him. He says, "I will speak, that I may be refreshed."
A full heart does not wait for a platform. The same writer turns to the people already within reach:
When the fullness and blessedness of the Word of God's grace gets into our hearts, our mouths must speak. We shall be like Elihu… We shall not wait until someone sends us to a field of labour 5000 miles away to share what fills our hearts. We shall find those who need the Word close at hand… If we are not interested in the souls of those close beside us, our interest in work abroad is of very little value.
- Fullness — Elihu speaks because he is full, like new wine looking for a vent. The talk around him had no power in it.
- Constraint — he is not picking his moment; necessity is laid on him, as it was on the apostle.
- Relief — God gave him a message and would not let him keep it back. He found relief only by speaking.
- Power — anyone who speaks with real effect must speak by the inspiration of the Almighty, not from experience or tradition.
- Reach — a heart that full does not wait for a distant field; it turns first to those close at hand.
Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person; neither will I give flattery to man.
Elihu has listened in silence while Job and his three friends argued. Now he opens his own speech with an oath: he will show no partiality and use no flattery, whoever he is speaking to.
Elihu speaks because he cannot hold it in. One writer contrasts that pressure with the speeches Job had listened to so far:
He now will speak — even he. For he is full, and must give utterance to the spirit that stirs within him, which is like new wine seeking a vent. He is constrained; necessity is laid upon him. This is very different from the learned, deliberate arguments Job had to listen to up to now. It is just as different from heated speech that had little wisdom or justice in it.
Another writer traces that constraint back to its source:
He does not want anyone to suppose that he was speaking his own words. So he adds, "For I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me." This is the true spring and power of all ministry, in all ages. It must be "the inspiration of the Almighty," or it is worth absolutely nothing.
Older versions read "accept any man's person." It means judging a man by who he is. Elihu refuses, and he roots that refusal in God's own character:
Something vital is at stake here. He must not show partiality to anyone. And if he flattered anyone, he considered that this would be cause for his Maker to take him away (vv. 21-22). He must give the truth simply and clearly as from God, who is no respecter of persons.
Elihu also promises to give no flattering titles. One writer shows what truth does instead:
He tells Job and his friends very plainly that he does not know how to give flattering titles to man. Here the voice of "truth" falls with great clearness on the ear. Truth puts everyone in his right place. And just because it does, it cannot hand out titles of flattery to a poor guilty mortal, however much that mortal might enjoy them. Man must be brought to know himself, to see his true condition, to confess what he really is. This was exactly what Job needed. He did not know himself, and his friends could not give him that knowledge.
Elihu is not speaking for either side in the dispute. He rises for God, whom their speeches had dishonoured:
He is angry with the three friends because they had condemned Job without being able to enlighten him. He is angry with Job too, because, instead of justifying God, he had justified himself... He rises up to speak on behalf of God, who had been dishonoured by their speeches. He waited until all the others had said everything they had to say, and then he lifts up his voice on behalf of God. He would have Job justified, but he must first of all justify God.
This freedom from men has a source. One writer names it:
If we only live in the Lord's presence, with a constant sense of our own nothingness and of His all-sufficiency, we shall know the precious secret of all effective ministry. We shall know how to lean on God alone, and so be independent of men in the right sense.
- Constrained — Elihu speaks because he is full and must; speech that is not drawn from God is worth nothing.
- Impartial — to accept a man's person is to judge by rank; Elihu will not, because God is no respecter of persons.
- Truthful — truth puts everyone in his right place, so it cannot hand a guilty man flattering titles. It brings him to know himself.
- God-centred — he rises for God's honour, not for either side. He would have Job justified, but he justifies God first.
- Free — leaning on God alone makes a speaker independent of men. The fear of his Maker keeps flattery off his lips.
For I know not how to flatter; my Maker would soon take me away.
Elihu ends his opening speech by ruling out flattery, and he ties that refusal to his Maker. Older translations read "flattering titles," so the writers below speak of titles where the verse speaks of flattery.
Elihu speaks for God, and that decides how he must speak.
A vital matter is at stake here. He must not show partiality to anyone. If he flattered anyone, he believed this would be cause for his Maker taking him away (vv.21-22). He must give the truth simply and clearly as from God, who shows no partiality.
The pressure behind his speech was not ambition but constraint, the same kind Jeremiah described when he tried to stop preaching.
Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones: I was weary of holding it back, and I could not (Jer. 20:9). So it is clear that Elihu, being given a message from God, was not allowed to hold it back. He would find relief only by speaking (v.20).
Elihu says he does not know how to flatter. Flattery belongs with lying.
Accepting flattery is accepting falsehood. Flattery is deceit. It is not even honestly meant, and it is not sober, real fact. Satan is extremely skilled in such methods.
Elihu had to deal with Job, and dealing with a man means showing him what he really is.
As we study Elihu's ministry, we find two great elements in it: "grace and truth." Both were essential in dealing with Job... He tells Job and his friends very distinctly that he does not know how to give flattering titles to man. Here the voice of "truth" falls with great clearness on the ear. Truth puts everyone in his right place. Just because it does so, it cannot hand out flattering titles to a poor guilty mortal, however much that mortal might enjoy them. Man must be brought to know himself, to see his true condition, to confess what he really is.
Elihu had stayed silent while older men spoke. His refusal to flatter marks the limit of that respect.
His silence had acknowledged what was due to "years," to the elders, to the older generation. He did not refuse their natural claims out of pride or a rebellious spirit. But he would not sacrifice the truth or the rights of the Spirit to anyone. If the elders did not speak according to truth, no one should heed them. The natural mind may be honoured by age, or by church position and authority. But if it does not find the path of understanding, Elihu will not give it flattering titles or bow before it.
Elihu answers to his Maker, not to his listeners. That kind of dependence can sound like a hard demand.
Some may feel inclined to say it is a difficult lesson — a hard saying. But no. If we only live in the Lord's presence, with a settled sense of our own nothingness and of His all-sufficiency, we shall know the precious secret of all effective ministry. We shall know how to lean upon God alone, and so be independent of men, in the right sense.
Paul refused the same tools, and for the same reason.
If we bear this in mind, we shall of course avoid flattering words, the cloak of covetousness, and the seeking of glory from men... Whether men pursue possessions or glory, they find flattering words a useful weapon. With flattery they can often win favour with the influential. Paul utterly refused all these things. As a servant of God, with God for his Judge and God for his Witness, they were altogether beneath him.
One writer applies Elihu's words to the titles Christians give their leaders.
It is surely out of place for followers of the rejected and crucified Saviour to bear flattering titles. We are rather to expect to receive abusive titles from the world as did our Lord.
- Maker first. Elihu refuses flattery in the same sentence where he names God as his Maker. The One who formed him is the One he answers to.
- Titles refused. Respect for age and office is right, but it stops where truth stops; followers of a rejected and crucified Saviour have no business carrying flattering titles.
- Flattery deceives. It is not merely excessive praise but deceit — words that are not "sober, real fact."
- Truth places. Truth puts every person in his right place. So it cannot hand out titles a guilty man would enjoy but does not deserve.
- Dependence frees. Leaning on God alone makes a servant independent of men. Paul stood on that same ground when he refused flattering words, with God as his Judge and Witness.