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Monday, July 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Geneva Bible

Job 32:9

Great men are not alway wise, neither doe the aged alway vnderstand iudgement.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Old Age;   Pride;   Wisdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - Great;   Honour-Dishonour;   Men;   The Topic Concordance - Greatness;   Wisdom;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Man;  

Dictionaries:

- Easton Bible Dictionary - Age;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Age, Aged, Old Age;   Ethics;   Wisdom;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Rab;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Age;   Wisdom;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Age old;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Age, Old;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
It is not only the old who are wiseor the elderly who understand how to judge.
Hebrew Names Version
It is not the great who are wise, Nor the aged who understand justice.
King James Version
Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
English Standard Version
It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.
New Century Version
It is not just older people who are wise; they are not the only ones who understand what is right.
New English Translation
It is not the aged who are wise, nor old men who understand what is right.
Amplified Bible
"Those [who are] abundant in years may not [always] be wise, Nor may the elders [always] understand justice.
New American Standard Bible
"The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.
World English Bible
It is not the great who are wise, Nor the aged who understand justice.
Legacy Standard Bible
The abundant in years may not be wise,Nor may elders understand justice.
Berean Standard Bible
It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
Contemporary English Version
Age is no guarantee of wisdom and understanding.
Complete Jewish Bible
it isn't [only] the great who are wise or the aged who know how to judge.
Darby Translation
It is not the great that are wise; neither do the aged understand judgment.
Easy-to-Read Version
Old men are not the only wise people. They are not the only ones who understand what is right.
George Lamsa Translation
It is not age that makes men wise; nor do the aged always understand judgment.
Good News Translation
It is not growing old that makes us wise or helps us to know what is right.
Lexham English Bible
It is not the aged who are wise, or it is not the elders who understand justice.
Literal Translation
It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged who perceive justice;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All men are not wyse, nether doth euery aged man vnderstonde the thinge that is laufull.
American Standard Version
It is not the great that are wise, Nor the aged that understand justice.
Bible in Basic English
It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged that discern judgment.
King James Version (1611)
Great men are not alwayes wise: neither doe the aged vnderstand iudgement.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Great men are not alway wyse, neither doth euery aged man vnderstande the thing that is lawfull:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The long-lived are not wise as such; neither do the aged know judgment.
English Revised Version
It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged that understand judgment.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Men of long lijf ben not wise, and elde men vndurstonden not doom.
Update Bible Version
It is not the great that are wise, Nor the aged that understand justice.
Webster's Bible Translation
Great men are not [always] wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
New King James Version
Great men [fn] are not always wise,Nor do the aged always understand justice.
New Living Translation
Sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice.
New Life Bible
The old may not be wise. They may not understand what is right and fair.
New Revised Standard
It is not the old that are wise, nor the aged that understand what is right.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Great men, may not be wise, nor, elders, understand justice.
Douay-Rheims Bible
They that are aged are not the wise men, neither do the ancients understand judgment.
Revised Standard Version
It is not the old that are wise, nor the aged that understand what is right.
Young's Literal Translation
The multitude are not wise, Nor do the aged understand judgment.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.

Contextual Overview

6 Therefore Elihu the sonne of Barachel, the Buzite answered, & sayd, I am yong in yeres, and ye are ancient: therefore I doubted, and was afraide to shewe you mine opinion. 7 For I said, The dayes shall speake, and the multitude of yeeres shall teach wisedome. 8 Surely there is a spirite in man, but the inspiration of the Almightie giueth vnderstanding. 9 Great men are not alway wise, neither doe the aged alway vnderstand iudgement. 10 Therefore I say, Heare me, and I will shew also mine opinion. 11 Behold, I did waite vpon your wordes, and hearkened vnto your knowledge, whiles you sought out reasons. 12 Yea, when I had considered you, lo, there was none of you that reproued Iob, nor answered his wordes: 13 Lest ye should say, We haue found wisedome: for God hath cast him downe, and no man. 14 Yet hath he not directed his words to me, neyther will I answere him by your wordes.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Great: Jeremiah 5:5, Matthew 11:25, John 7:48, 1 Corinthians 1:26, 1 Corinthians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 2:7, 1 Corinthians 2:8, James 2:6, James 2:7

neither: Job 12:20, Ecclesiastes 4:13

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 3:38 - a prince 2 Kings 4:8 - a great woman 2 Kings 5:13 - his servants Job 17:10 - for I Proverbs 28:11 - the poor

Cross-References

Genesis 17:7
Moreouer I wil establish my couenant betweene me and thee, and thy seede after thee in their generations, for an euerlasting couenant, to be God vnto thee and to thy seede after thee.
Genesis 28:13
And behold, the Lord stoode aboue it, & sayd, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Izhak: the land, vpon the which thou sleepest, wil I giue thee and thy seede.
Genesis 31:3
And the Lorde had said vnto Iaakob, Turne againe into the lande of thy fathers, and to thy kinred, and I wilbe with thee.
Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anoyntedst the pillar, where thou vowedst a vowe vnto me. Nowe arise, get thee out of this countrey and returne vnto ye land where thou wast borne.
Genesis 31:29
I am able to do you euill: but the God of your father spake vnto me yesternight, saying, Take heed that thou speake not to Iaakob ought saue good.
Genesis 31:42
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the feare of Izhak had bene with me, surely thou haddest sent me away nowe emptie: but God behelde my tribulation, & the labour of mine hads, & rebuked thee yester night.
Genesis 31:53
The God of Abraham, and the God of Nabor, and the God of their father be iudge betweene vs: But Iaakob sware by the feare of his father Izhak.
Genesis 32:4
To whom he gaue commandement, saying, Thus shall ye speake to my lorde Esau: thy seruant Iaakob sayeth thus, I haue bene a stranger with Laban, and taried vnto this time.
Genesis 32:6
So ye messengers came againe to Iaakob, saying, We came vnto thy brother Esau, and hee also commeth against thee and foure hundreth men with him.
Genesis 32:7
Then Iaakob was greatly afraid, and was sore troubled, and deuided the people that was with him, and the sheepe, and the beeues, and the camels into two companies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Great men are not [always] wise,.... Men of grandeur and dignity, as Job's friends might be, the rich, the honourable, and noble; the apostle is thought to refer to this, at least to express the sentiment contained in it, 1 Corinthians 1:26; or the great in quantity, the many, the multitude; and therefore are not to be followed in principle or practice; or that are great in years, well stricken in age, have lived long in the world, so some versions q; or are doctors, teachers of others, masters in Israel, as Nicodemus, and yet ignorant; all these may be wise in natural, civil, and worldly things, though this is not always the case; but not wise and knowing in divine and spiritual things, particularly in those respecting the causes and reasons of God's providential dealings with men, afflicting the righteous, and suffering the wicked to prosper, which is more fully explained in the next clause:

neither do the aged understand judgment; what is right and wrong, the difference between truth and error, and particularly the judgments of God, which are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out; even so to understand them as to observe and acknowledge his sovereignty, wisdom, truth, and faithfulness in them.

q רבים πολυχρονιοι, Sept. "longaevi", V. L. Mr. Broughton renders it, "as men of not great time may be wise, as the old understand the right."

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Great men are not always wise - Though wisdom may in general be looked for in them, yet it is not universally true. Great men here denote those who are distinguished for rank, age, authority.

Neither do the aged understand judgment - That is, they do not always understand it. The word judgment here means right, truth. They do not always understand what is the exact truth in regard to the divine administration. This is an apology for what he was about to say, and for the fact that one so young should speak. Of the truth of what he here said there could be no doubt, and hence, there was a propriety that one who was young should also be allowed to express his opinion on important subjects.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 32:9. Great men are not always wise — This is a true saying, which the experience of every age and every country increasingly verifies. And it is most certain that, in the case before us, the aged did not understand judgment; they had a great many wise and good sayings, which they had collected, but showed neither wisdom nor discretion in applying them.


 
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