Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, August 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Green's Literal Translation

Job 32:4

And Elihu had waited for Job with words, because they were older than he in days.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Children;   Humility;   Modesty;   Old Age;   Reverence;  

Dictionaries:

- Easton Bible Dictionary - Age;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Age, Old;   Barethel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ethics;   Job;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Age, Old;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Job, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Age, Old;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he.
Hebrew Names Version
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Iyov, because they were elder than he.
King James Version
Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he.
English Standard Version
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he.
New Century Version
Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the three friends were older than he was.
New English Translation
Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job, because the others were older than he was.
Amplified Bible
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were years older than he.
New American Standard Bible
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he.
World English Bible
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were elder than he.
Geneva Bible (1587)
(Now Elihu had wayted til Iob had spoken: for they were more ancient in yeeres then he)
Legacy Standard Bible
Now Elihu had waited with his words for Job because they were years older than he.
Berean Standard Bible
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he.
Contemporary English Version
Elihu was younger than these three, and he let them speak first.
Complete Jewish Bible
Elihu had waited to speak to Iyov because they were older than he;
Darby Translation
But Elihu had waited till Job had finished speaking, because they were older than he.
Easy-to-Read Version
Elihu was the youngest one there, so he had waited until everyone finished talking.
George Lamsa Translation
Now Elihu had waited to correct Job with words, because the other men were older than he.
Good News Translation
Because Elihu was the youngest one there, he had waited until everyone finished speaking.
Lexham English Bible
Thus Elihu had waited for Job to speak because they were older than he.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now taried Eliu till they had ended their communicacion with Iob, for why? they were elder then he.
American Standard Version
Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were elder than he.
Bible in Basic English
Now Elihu had kept quiet while Job was talking, because they were older than he;
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were older than he.
King James Version (1611)
Now Elihu had waited till Iob had spoken: because they were elder then he.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nowe taried Elihu, till they had ended their comunication with Iob: for why? they were elder then he.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But Elius had forborne to give an answer to Job, because they were older than he.
English Revised Version
Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were elder than he.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Helyu abood Joob spekynge, for thei, that spaken, weren eldere men.
Update Bible Version
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he.
Webster's Bible Translation
Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken because they [were] older than he.
New King James Version
Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. [fn]
New Living Translation
Elihu had waited for the others to speak to Job because they were older than he.
New Life Bible
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he.
New Revised Standard
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, Elihu, had waited for Job with words, because the others were older than he.
Douay-Rheims Bible
So Eliu waited while Job was speaking because they were his elders that were speaking.
Revised Standard Version
Now Eli'hu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he.
Young's Literal Translation
And Elihu hath waited earnestly beside Job with words, for they are older than he in days.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he.

Contextual Overview

1 And these three men rested from answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 And then burned the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram; his wrath burned against Job, because he had justified himself rather than God. 3 Also his wrath burned against his three friends, because they had not found any answer, yet they had condemned Job. 4 And Elihu had waited for Job with words, because they were older than he in days. 5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, then his anger burned.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

waited till Job had spoken: Heb. expected Job in words, Job 32:11, Job 32:12, Proverbs 18:13

elder: Heb. elder for days

Reciprocal: Leviticus 19:32 - General Psalms 119:100 - understand Ecclesiastes 3:7 - and a time to speak

Cross-References

Genesis 4:7
If you do well, is there not exaltation? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is toward you; but you should rule over it.
Genesis 23:6
Hear us, my lord. You are a prince among us. Bury your dead in the best of our burying places. Not a man of us will withhold his burying place from you, from burying your dead.
Genesis 27:29
May the nations serve you and peoples bow to you; be a ruler to your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow to you, and cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.
Genesis 27:37
And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have set him over you as a ruler, and I have given him all his brothers for servants; I have girded him with grain and wine. And what then can I do for you, my son?
Genesis 32:5
And it is mine to have oxen, and asses, flocks, and slaves and slave-girls. And I have sent to tell my lord, to find favor in your eyes.
Genesis 32:18
Then you will say, Your servant Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and, behold, also he is behind us.
Genesis 33:8
And he said, Whose is all this camp which I met? And he said, To find favor in the eyes of my lord.
Exodus 32:22
And Aaron said, Let not anger of my lord glow. You know the people, that it is in evil.
1 Samuel 26:17
And Saul recognized the voice of David, and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, My voice, my lord, O king!
1 Kings 20:32
And they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads. And they came in to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad has said, Please let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? He is my brother.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken,.... Made an end of speaking, until he had thus expressed himself, "the words of Job are ended", Job 31:40: and waited likewise until his three friends had said all they had to say, and which is here supposed and implied, as appears by what follows:

because they [were] elder than he; it may be added, from the original text, "in", or "as two days" l; they had lived longer in the world than he, and therefore did not take upon him to speak till they had done; he, as became a young man, was swift to hear, and slow to speak; that they were old men, appears from what Eliphaz says, Job 15:10.

l לימים "diebus", Beza, Montanus, Mercerus; "quod ad dies", Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now Elihu had waited - Margin, as in Hebrew, expected Job in words. The meaning is plain, that he had waited until all who were older than himself had spoken.

Because they were elder than he - Margin, as in Hebrew, older for days. It appears that they were all older than he was. We have no means of determining their respective ages, though it would seem probable that Eliphaz was the oldest of the three friends, as he uniformly spoke first.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile