Job 32
The full text of Job 32 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.
3 He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong.
4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he.
5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger.
6 And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said:
"I am young in years,
and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.
7 I said, 'Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.'
8 But it is the spirit in man,
the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
9 It is not the old who are wise,
nor the aged who understand what is right.
10 Therefore I say, 'Listen to me;
let me also declare my opinion.'
11 Behold, I waited for your words;
I listened for your wisdom,
while you searched out what to say.
12 I gave you my attention,
and behold, there was none among you who refuted Job,
or who answered his words.
13 Beware lest you say, 'We have found wisdom;
let God, not man, drive him from us.'
14 He has not directed his words against me,
and I will not answer him with your speeches.
15 They are dismayed; they answer no more;
they have not a word to say.
16 And shall I wait, because they do not speak,
because they stand there, and answer no more?
17 I also will answer with my part;
I also will declare my opinion.
18 For I am full of words;
the spirit within me compels me.
19 Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent;
like new wineskins ready to burst.
20 I must speak, that I may find relief;
I must open my lips and answer.
21 I will not show partiality to anyone;
nor will I flatter any man.
22 For I do not know how to flatter;
my Maker would soon take me away.
Translation notes (8)
- Job 32:2a Buz was a son of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Genesis 22:21), making Elihu, like Job's other companions, a kinsman of the patriarchal line rather than an Israelite; Uz, the name of Job's homeland, was Buz's brother. The family of Ram is otherwise unknown, though some ancient interpreters connected the name with Aram.
- Job 32:3a Jewish scribal tradition lists this verse among the tiqqune sopherim, 'emendations of the scribes': the original reading is said to have been that the friends had condemned God, altered to "Job" to avoid the irreverent expression. The Masoretic Text as it stands reads Iyyov, 'Job', and this translation follows it, though the older reading would sharpen the charge against the three friends.
- Job 32:4a The Hebrew zeqenim (זקנים), 'elders', can denote both advanced age and recognized leadership. In ancient Israelite settings, deference to elders in counsel and debate was customary, which explains Elihu's delay. The Septuagint likewise has presbyteroi, 'elders'.
- Job 32:8a Elihu pairs two Hebrew terms: ruach (רוּחַ), 'spirit', and neshamah (נְשָׁמָה), 'breath', the word used of God breathing life into the first man in Genesis 2:7. His claim is that understanding comes not from accumulated years but from this divinely given breath, preparing his rebuttal of the elders in the next verse.
- Job 32:9a Hebrew rabbim, 'great (ones)' (רבים), contrasts with zeqenim, 'elders' (זקנים); the line may distinguish social prominence from age. The Septuagint likewise has hoi megaloi, 'the great' (οἱ μεγάλοι). The noun mishpat, 'justice' (משפט), can denote a legal decision or the practice of what is right.
- Job 32:13a The Hebrew is difficult here. The verb yidenū (יְדִנּוּ) can be understood as 'drive him from us' or 'vindicate us'. The Septuagint renders it as 'we will learn wisdom from him'.
- Job 32:19a Fermenting new wine releases gas, so a sealed skin bottle would swell until it split; the Hebrew says literally that the wine 'is not opened' (lo yippateach), that is, given no vent. Elihu's image differs from the saying in Matthew 9:17, where old skins burst: here even 'ovot chadashim, 'new wineskins', fail when the pressure within is unrelieved.
- Job 32:21a The phrase 'show partiality' reflects Hebrew nasa panim, 'lift up the face' (נasa panim נשא פנים), an idiom for judicial favoritism. 'Flatter' translates kinnah, 'assign honorific titles' (כנה), the vocabulary of formal court address. The line evokes ancient courtroom decorum while pledging impartial speech.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is a new translation of the Bible prepared by Trinity Bible — rendered from the original Hebrew and faithful to the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. Finished in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation you can read today, and it is available only through Trinity Bible. All 66 books, including Job, are free to read on this site.
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