Ayub 32:6

Elihu Claims Wisdom

32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: ¹ 

“I am young, ²  but you are elderly;

that is why I was fearful, ³ 

and afraid to explain ⁴  to you what I know.

Ayub 33:26

33:26 He entreats God, and God ⁵  delights in him,

he sees God’s face ⁶  with rejoicing,

and God ⁷  restores to him his righteousness. ⁸ 

Ayub 34:33

34:33 Is it your opinion ⁹  that God ¹⁰  should recompense it,

because you reject this? ¹¹ 

But you must choose, and not I,

so tell us what you know.

[32:6]  ¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[32:6]  ² tn The text has “small in days.”

[32:6]  ³ tn The verb זָחַלְתִּי (zakhalti) is found only here in the OT, but it is found in a ninth century Aramaic inscription as well as in Biblical Aramaic. It has the meaning “to be timid” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 208).

[32:6]  ⁴ tn The Piel infinitive with the preposition (מֵחַוֹּת, mekhavvot) means “from explaining.” The phrase is the complement: “explain” what Elihu feared.

[33:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “his face”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  sn This is usually taken to mean that as a worshiper this individual comes into the presence of the Lord in prayer, and in the sanctuary he sees God’s face, i.e., he sees the evidence of God’s presence.

[33:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ⁸ tc Many commentators think this line is superfluous and so delete it. The RSV changed the verb to “he recounts,” making the idea that the man publishes the news of his victory or salvation (taking “righteousness” as a metonymy of cause).

[34:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “is it from with you,” an idiomatic expression meaning “to suit you” or “according to your judgment.”

[34:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:33]  ¹¹ tn There is no object on the verb, and the meaning is perhaps lost. The best guess is that Elihu is saying Job has rejected his teaching.