^32:1 But these three men ceased to answer Job, because he seemed just to himself.
^32:2 And Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram, was angry and indignant. Now he was angry against Job because he said that he was just before God.
^32:3 Moreover, he was indignant against his three friends because they had not found a reasonable answer but had only condemned Job.
^32:4 Therefore Elihu waited while Job was speaking, because those who were speaking were older than he.
^32:5 But when he had seen that the three could not answer, he was very angry,
^32:6 and Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, answering, said: I am younger in time, but you are more ancient; therefore, with head lowered, I was afraid to reveal my opinion to you.
^32:7 For I hoped that greater age would speak and that the multitude of years would teach wisdom.
^32:8 But as I see, there is a spirit in men, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives understanding.
^32:9 The long-lived are not wise, nor do the old understand judgment;
^32:10 therefore I will say: Hear me; I too will show you my knowledge.
^32:11 For I awaited your speeches; I heard your prudence, until you disputed in your words,
^32:12 and while I thought you were saying something, I waited. But as I see, there is no one among you who can refute Job and answer his words.
^32:13 Lest perhaps you should say: We have found wisdom; God has cast him down, not man.
^32:14 He has spoken nothing to me, and I will not answer him according to your words.
^32:15 They were afraid; they answered no more, and they took eloquence away from themselves.
^32:16 Since, therefore, I waited and they did not speak, they stood and answered no more,
^32:17 I too will answer my part and show my knowledge.
^32:18 For I am full of words, and the spirit of my womb constrains me.
^32:19 Behold, my belly is like new wine without a vent, which bursts new wineskins.
^32:20 I will speak and breathe a little. I will open my lips and answer.
^32:21 I will not accept the person of a man, and I will not equate God with man.
^32:22 For I do not know how long I shall subsist, and whether after a little while my Maker may take me away.

425. But these three men ceased, etc. When the disputation of Job and his three friends had been finished, there follows the disputation of Elihu against Job; indeed, he uses more acute reasons against Job than the former speakers and approaches more closely to the truth, whence Job also does not answer him, although he nevertheless deviates from the truth in some respect and interprets Job’s words unfavorably, as will be clear below.

426. Now the cause by which he was moved to speak is first set forth, namely, from indignation against Job and against his friends. Therefore the silence of the friends is first set forth when it says: But these three men ceased, namely, those of whom there has been discussion above, to answer Job. Here it should be noted that he would not name them men if this had not been a thing done but a fictitious parable. But he shows the cause of their silence, adding: because he seemed just to himself: for Job had said many things that pertained to the showing of his justice, which the aforesaid three men were unable to contradict. And from both of these things, namely, from the silence of the friends and from the fact that Job seemed just to himself, Elihu, who was standing by, was moved to anger, and therefore there is added: And he was angry, namely, in heart, and indignant, showing signs of anger exteriorly, Elihu, by which he is described by name, the son of Barachel, by which he is described by origin, the Buzite, by which he is described by country, of the kindred of Ram, by which he is described by family; this whole description serves to show that it pertains to a thing done.

427. But he consequently explains the cause of his anger, and first indeed against Job when he says: he was angry against Job because he said that he was just before God, that is, according to divine testimony, which can especially be taken from what he had said above in 23:10, he knows my way, and afterwards adds: my foot has followed his footsteps. But with respect to his friends he adds: Moreover, he was indignant against his three friends because they had not found a reasonable answer, namely, with which they might answer his words by which he asserted himself to be just, but had only condemned Job, namely, saying that he was unjust.

428. He consequently shows the reason why Elihu had not answered Job before in anything, when he adds: Therefore Elihu waited while Job was speaking, namely, contradicting his speeches in nothing, because those who were speaking were older than he, namely, deferring to them as to the wiser, as the age of old men required. But because it did not seem to him that reverence should be shown to anyone to the prejudice of truth, angered against the three elders, he himself, the younger man, began to answer, whence it is said: But when he had seen that the three could not answer, namely, Job’s arguments, he was very angry, as though judging that through their sloth the truth was perishing; and therefore in their place he wished to defend the truth, as he believed, and this is what is added: and Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, answering, namely, the speeches and arguments of Job.

429. But in this answer of his, he first excuses his former silence, both from his own age, whence there follows: he said: I am younger in time, and also from their antiquity, whence he adds: but you are more ancient. Now young men ought to show reverence to elders, whence there follows: therefore, with head lowered, namely, as a sign of reverence and humility, I was afraid to reveal my opinion to you, lest, namely, I seem presumptuous by impeding, with my speeches, the words of those who were wiser. But it seems probable that old men speak more wisely for two reasons:

first indeed because young men, from fervor of spirit, frequently propose many things and in a disorderly way, but old men, because of the gravity of age, speak more maturely, whence he adds: For I hoped that greater age would speak, namely, more weightily and effectively;

second, because old men, through the experience of a long time, could have known many things and consequently speak more wisely, whence there follows: and that the multitude of years, because, namely, experience can be received through it, would teach wisdom, namely, received from experience.

430. Consequently, he excuses why he now begins to speak: because, namely, he has experienced that age is not a sufficient cause of wisdom, but rather divine inspiration, whence he adds: But as I see, that is, I consider from the effect, there is a spirit, namely, of God, in men, insofar, namely, as he works in them; and this is what he adds: and the inspiration of the Almighty, by which, namely, he inspires men with the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of wisdom and understanding, gives understanding, namely, of truth, which is the principle of wisdom for those to whom it is inspired. But that this inspiration is the chief cause of wisdom he shows from the fact that age does not perfectly cause wisdom, whence he adds: The long-lived are not wise, namely, with respect to the knowledge of divine truth, nor do the old understand judgment, namely, with respect to the ordering of human acts; and because, although he was not old, he nevertheless trusted that he had been inspired by God, he therefore dared to speak, whence he adds: therefore I will say.

431. But in this speech of his, he first induces them to listen from the authority of God, by whose inspiration he was speaking, whence he says: Hear me, namely, so that they would not interrupt his speech. But to those listening he promises the teachings of knowledge, whence he adds: and I too will show you, namely, although I am young, my knowledge, from which, namely, I will answer Job’s arguments. But it was just that they should hear him, because he too had heard them, whence he adds: For I awaited, namely, for a long time, your speeches, namely, those that you brought forth against Job. And because he thought himself able to discern what had been well said by them and what had not been well said, he adds: I heard your prudence, as though saying: by hearing, I judged what in your words pertained to prudence. But he had waited not a little, but for a long time;

and he determines the end of his waiting from two things:

first indeed from their will, whence he adds: until you disputed in your words, that is, until it pleased you to dispute against Job;

second, from the hope that he had concerning their wise teaching, whence he adds: and while I thought you were saying something, I waited. But one ought not to listen further to someone from whom it is not hoped that he will say anything useful; and he saw that the words they used against Job were not effective,

first indeed because they could not convict him by arguments, whence he adds: But as I see, there is no one who can refute Job, namely, by convicting him with arguments;

second, because they could not meet his arguments, whence he adds: and answer, namely, sufficiently, from among you, that is, from your understanding—or there is no one able from among you, that is, from your number—his words, namely, those that he uses against you. But their principal arguments against Job were founded on this, that they attributed Job’s adversities to divine judgment, which cannot err. He consequently shows that this answer is insufficient, saying: Lest perhaps you should say: We have found wisdom, that is, this suffices for a wise answer: God has cast him down, namely, into adversities, he who cannot err, not man, who can be deceived and can deceive. But he intended to answer more effectively, whence he adds: He has spoken nothing to me, from which, namely, he wishes to show that he is not speaking as one provoked, and I will not answer him according to your words, that is, I will not follow your ways in answering, but I will find other more effective ways for answering.

432. Now he intends to excuse himself concerning his future answer not only before them but also before others, and therefore he turns his speech to others, saying: They were afraid, namely, to speak further lest they be more manifestly convicted, and answered no more, namely, the arguments of Job. And to show that this was because of their sloth, not because of the effectiveness of Job’s arguments, he adds: and they took eloquence away from themselves, namely, by negligently keeping silence: but when a man is convicted by an effective argument, he does not take eloquence away from himself; rather, it is taken away from him by another. Therefore, because they had failed, he says that he wishes to supply for their defect, whence he adds: Since, therefore, I waited, namely, for a long time, so that I might defer to them, and they did not speak, namely, by answering the speeches of Job, I too will answer my part, because, namely, the defense of truth pertains to all, and each one ought there to set down, as though for his own part, what he can.

433. But he was moved not only by zeal for defending the truth, but also by empty glory, whence he adds: and I will show my knowledge: for one desirous of empty glory seeks to make manifest whatever is excellent in himself. And therefore he consequently shows that a very great capacity for answering is present to him when he adds: For I am full of words, as though saying: what I may answer occurs to me abundantly; and because capacity does not suffice for acting unless a man is incited by something, he therefore adds: and the spirit of my womb constrains me. The womb is the place of conception, and therefore by womb here the intellect is metaphorically signified, conceiving diverse intelligible things; therefore the spirit of the womb is the will impelling a man to manifest the conceptions of the heart through speech. But it is burdensome to a man when he does not fulfill what he desires, and therefore he explains the anxiety that he suffered by keeping silence through a likeness, adding: Behold, my belly, that is, my mind, is like new wine, namely, which ferments, without a vent, which bursts new wineskins: for unless the vapor of fermenting new wine evaporates from some part, the vapor is multiplied within, sometimes even to the breaking of the vessel. So also he compares himself to new wine because of his youth, and therefore, from his great desire to speak, he judges that danger threatens him unless he speaks, whence he adds: I will speak and breathe a little, as though saying: through words I will let the interior fervor evaporate, so that I may rest from the anxiety of desire.

434. But what he wishes to speak he shows, adding: I will open my lips and answer, namely, Job’s words. But what manner he ought to observe in answering he shows, adding: I will not accept the person of a man: for in answering, he accepts the person of a man who abandons truth in order to defer to a man. But why he is unwilling to do this he shows, adding: and I will not equate God with man: for the present disputation seemed to him to be such that, if he deferred to man, he would not preserve the reverence due to the divine excellence. But why he fears to do this he shows, adding: For I do not know how long I shall subsist, namely, in this mortal life, so that I could promise myself long spaces of time for repentance, and whether after a little while my Maker may take me away, namely, assume me through death to his judgment. From this it is clear that in this matter Elihu agreed with Job, that retribution for sins would be after death; otherwise he would seem to have feared in vain to offend God because of the nearness of death.