Job 32:1-6

Introduction in Prose accounting for the intervention of Elihu, Job 32:1-6 a.

The sacred writer proceeds to apologize for the intervention of Elihu, and more especially for the imperfections of his first address; not only for the impetuosity and conceit which it betokened, but for its painful embarrassment and the obvious inadequacy of its exordium the former of which were unbecoming a young man, and the latter of which should seemingly have led him to keep his silence. (See note on Job 32:6.) The introduction, however, quietly assures us in advance of the noble character of the speaker and of the fitness of his speech, notwithstanding adverse appearances; and prepares us to coincide with the estimate of Lowth: “The lenity and moderation of Elihu serve as a beautiful contrast to the intemperance and asperity of the other three. He is pious, mild, and equitable; equally free from adulation and severity; and endued with singular wisdom, which he attributes entirely to the inspiration of God; and his modesty, moderation, and wisdom are the more entitled to commendation when we consider his unripe youth. As the characters of his detractors were in all respects calculated to inflame the mind of Job, that of this arbitrator is admirably adapted to soothe and compose it. To this point the whole drift of the argument tends, and on this the very purport of it seems to depend.” Hebrew Poetry, sec. 34.