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Read the Bible

New American Standard Bible (1995)

Job 32:9

"The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.

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.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Great men are not alway wise, neither doe the aged alway vnderstand iudgement.
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.

Contextual Overview

6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, "I am young in years and you are old; Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. 7 "I thought age should speak, And increased years should teach wisdom. 8 "But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. 9 "The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.10 "So I say, 'Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.' 11 "Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, While you pondered what to say. 12 "I even paid close attention to you; Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words. 13 "Do not say, 'We have found wisdom; God will rout him, not man.' 14 "For he has not arranged his words against me, Nor will I reply to him with your arguments.

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
"I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
Genesis 28:13
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
Genesis 31:3
Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."
Genesis 31:13
'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'"
Genesis 31:29
"It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.'
Genesis 31:42
"If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night."
Genesis 31:53
"The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.
Genesis 32:4
He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now;
Genesis 32:6
The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."
Genesis 32:7
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds 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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