Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job 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.
Waiting Until Both Sides Were Finished
Elihu's silence was not shyness but deliberate restraint. He let every speaker run out of arguments before he offered one of his own.
C. H. MackintoshElihu 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.
Respect That the Spirit Strengthens
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.
William KellyHe 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.
Where Wisdom Comes From
The verse gives age as the reason Elihu held back. Yet these older men, as the book shows, had nothing to offer.
C. H. MackintoshNo 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.
Samuel RidoutHe 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.
Honour Without Surrender
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.
J. G. BellettHis 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.
What Broke the Silence
The turning point was not impatience but a vacuum. Nobody had an answer.
C. H. Mackintosh"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.
A Picture of the Mediator
Some writers see a larger pattern in Elihu's late arrival. It matches the long wait before the true Mediator came.
Leslie M. GrantElihu 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.
Summary
- 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.