I said, ‘Let days speak, and many 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?
The Rule Elihu Honoured
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.
C. H. MackintoshThis 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.
The Rule Put to the Test
Elihu gave the older men the floor and waited for the wisdom he expected. Their answers left the rule standing and the question open.
Leslie M. GrantElihu 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?
Years Are No Guarantee
Old age can fail, and this writer says so plainly. That failure does not cancel Elihu's restraint.
C. H. MackintoshNo 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.
Silence That Was Not Weakness
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.
William KellyCompared 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.
Deference With a Limit
Elihu's silence gave age its due. It did not hand age the last word.
J. G. BellettHis 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.
The Better Source
So where does real wisdom come from? One writer points past age altogether.
C. H. MackintoshThe 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.
Summary
- 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."