Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins 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.
The Source of the Pressure
Elihu does not claim the fullness is his own cleverness. He credits the spirit within him.
C. H. MackintoshAnd 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.
Wine with No Vent
Older translations read "new bottles," but these were not glass.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThen, 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.
Samuel RidoutTheir 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).
When the Words Come
Elihu never says he has prepared an answer. He says he is too full to hold it in.
Leslie M. GrantIf 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.
Anger and Affection Together
Elihu is close to bursting, but not with contempt for Job.
Charles StanleyElihu 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.
A Principle That Outlives Elihu
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.
C. H. MackintoshElihu'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.
J. T. MawsonWhen 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.
Summary
- 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.