He has 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.
No Personal Quarrel
Elihu's first reason concerns his own place in the dispute. Job never attacked him, so no one can dismiss his words as payback.
William Kelly"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.
Samuel RidoutJob 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.
Borrowed Arguments Rejected
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.
Samuel RidoutHe 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.
What Gets Swept Away
Setting the old speeches aside clears the ground. One writer says what that clearing makes room for.
C. H. MackintoshExperience, 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.
J. G. BellettHe 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.
A Different Method Altogether
He drops their manner along with their arguments.
Samuel RidoutWe 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.
Why He Must Speak
Elihu had heard enough. One writer describes what he had been listening to, and what moved him to stand up.
C. H. MackintoshHe 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.
Samuel RidoutHe 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.
Nothing Owed to Anyone
Elihu is free in one more way. He owes no one a compliment.
Leslie M. GrantA 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.
Summary
- 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.