Job 32:17

Job 32:17 [I said], I will answer also my part, I also will shew mine opinion.

Ver. 17. I said, I will answer also my part] It is a virtue to be forward and forth putting in that which is good; and a vice to be shy and shame faced. A Christian should catch at opportunities of doing and receiving good, he should be ready to every good work; as the busy bee, so soon as ever the sun breaks forth, gets abroad to gather honey and wax.

I also will show my opinion] Heb. my knowledge, as Job 32:6, and so the Vulgate readeth it. Hereupon Gregory taking Elihu (but not well) for an arrogant person, showeth that such love to vaunt themselves, and out of ostentation to set forth their good parts to public view; and are therein like unto a vessel without a cover, touching which the law saith that it shall be counted unclean. Thus he. But to utter a man’s knowledge for the benefit of others, as good Elihu did, is not pride, but zeal, however the world censure it. And they have, doubtless, a heavy account to make who hide their talents; and, having a great treasure of rare abilities, will not be drawn to impart them; the canker of these men’s great skill shall be a swift witness against them. Vile latens virtus … worthless hidden virtue.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job_32:17

I also will show mine opinion.

The spirit and message of Elihu

This is the beginning of Elihus declaration. It is quite a new voice. We have heard nothing like this before. So startling indeed is the tone of Elihus voice that some have questioned whether iris speech really forms part of the original poem, or has been added by some later hand. We deal with it as we find it here. It is none the less welcome to us that it is a young voice, fresh, charmful, bold, full of vitality, not wanting in the loftier music that is moral, solemn, deeply religious. It appears, too, to be an impartial voice; for Elihu says--I am no party to tiffs controversy: Job has not said anything to me or against me, and therefore I come into the conference wholly unprejudiced: but I any bound to show mine opinion: I do not speak spontaneously; I am forced to this; I cannot allow the occasion to end, though the words have been so many and the arguments so vain, without also showing what I think about the whole matter. Such a speaker is welcome. Earnest men always refresh any controversy into which they enter: and young men must speak out boldly, with characteristic freshness of thought and word; they ought to be listened to; religious questions are of infinite importance to them: sometimes they learn from their blunders; there are occasions upon which self-correction is the very best tutor. It is well for us to know what men are thinking. It is useless to be speaking to thoughts that do not exist, to inquiries that really do not excite the solicitudes of men. Better know, straightly and frankly, what men are thinking about, and what they want to be at, and address oneself to their immediate pain and necessity. Elihu will help us in this direction. There comes a time when the old way of putting things must give way to some new method. But if the old are not always wise, the young are not always complete. We live in a time of doctrinal change. There is now an opportunity for an Elihu, whose wrath is divinely kindled, to make the great progress in attempting the higher education of the soul. Elihu must come; when he does come he will be killed: but another Elihu must take his place, and go forward with the work until the enemy is tired of blood, and lets the last Elihu have a hearing. We may change forms without changing substances. Let us allow that new methods of stating old truths are perfectly legitimate. Nor let us condemn a man who resorts to novel expressions, if he do not injure the substance of the thing which he intends to reveal. Take, for example, the doctrine of prayer. The doctrine of prayer has been mocked, or misunderstood, or imperfectly stated. Every man must state this doctrine for himself. Only the individual man knows what he means by prayer. There is no generic and final definition which can be shut up within the scope of a lexicon. Who can define prayer once for all? Only the Almighty. Every suppliant knows what he means when he prays to his Father in heaven. He must not be overloaded with other mens definitions; they will only burden his prayer; they will only stifle the music of his supplication. Suppose we say, Prayer is good in cases of sickness, but it stops short at surgery. What a wonderful thing to say--wonderful because of its emptiness and vanity. Yet how inclined we are to smile when we are told that prayer is exceedingly good in the removal of nervous or imaginary diseases, but prayer always stops short at surgery; prayer never prayed a mans limb hack again to him when he had once lost it. As well say, Nursing is very good, but it always stops short at death. So it does; so it must. As well say, Reaping is very good, but reaping always stops short at winter. That is true, and that is right. That which is lacking cannot be numbered. Law must have some reasonableness, or it ceases to be law: when it loses its reasonableness it loses its dignity and the power of getting hold upon the general judgment and the personal trust of man. Even miracles themselves might be played with, turned into commonplaces, debased into familiarities utterly valueless. Prayer may and does stop short at surgery, but love itself has a point at which it stops short; the living air has a point at which it falls back, so to speak, helplessly; all the ministries of nature stop short at assignable points, saying that without assent and consent and cooperation on the other side no miracle can be done. In all these cases consider reasonableness and law, and the necessity of boundary and fixture in the education and culture of mankind. Then again, others would deprive prayer of what many have considered to be an essential feature. In order to maintain what doctrine of prayer they may have, they are only too glad to eviscerate it of the element of petition. They are not unwilling to have aspiration, a species of poetical communion with the invisible, but they would complete a great work of evacuation in the direction of request, petition, solicitation; they would dismiss the beggar from the altar, and admit only the poetic contemplatist, or the spiritual enthusiast, or the mystic communicant. For this I see no reason. I hold to the old doctrine of Ask, and ye shall receive: ye have not, because ye ask not: if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God. That there may be abuses in the direction of solicitation is obvious; but we must never give up the reality; because it can be abused. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 32:17-18. I will answer also my part — I will take my turn and speak what they have omitted. I am full of matter — I have many things to say in this cause; the spirit within me constraineth me — My spirit, or soul, is so entirely dissatisfied with what hath hitherto been spoken, and so clearly apprehends what may silence Job and end the dispute, that it forceth me to speak. Or rather he means, that God’s Spirit had so enlightened his understanding by discovering the truth of the matter to him, and had so inspired him with zeal, that he was constrained thereby to plead God’s cause against Job. “As he was a young man,” says Heath, “he dared not claim much authority from his own sayings; but he claims it from the inspiration of the Almighty, by whose Spirit he was actuated, and whose oracles he was delivering.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

my part--for my part.

opinion--knowledge.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. I will answer also my part] אענה חלקי aaneh chelki, "I will recite my portion." We have already seen that the book of Job is a sort of drama, in which several persons have their different parts to recite. Probably the book was used in this way, in ancient times, for the sake of public instruction. Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad, had recited their parts, and Job had responded to each: nothing was brought to issue. Elihu, a bystander, perceiving this, comes forward and takes a part, when all the rest had expended their materials: yet Elihu, though he spoke well, was incapable of closing the controversy; and God himself appears, and decides the case.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I said, I will answer also my part,.... Or take his turn in giving an answer to Job; what they had given being quite insufficient and unsuitable:

I also will show mine opinion; knowledge, or sentiment; this for a while he was fearful of doing, but, upon a thorough and serious consideration of things, he determined upon it, and now repeats it, to assure he would do it; the reasons of which follow.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I also will show mine opinion - In this language, as in Job 32:6, there is a delicate expression of modesty in the Hebrew which does not appear in our translation. It is אף־אני 'aph 'ănı̂y - even I. “Even one so young, and so humble as I, may be permitted to express my sentiments, when the aged and the great have nothing more to say. It will be no improper intrusion for even me to speak when no other one more aged and honorable desires to.” In all this we may discern a degree of courtesy, and a delicate sense of propriety, which may be commended to the imitation of all, and especially to the young. In the manners of the pious men whose biography is recorded in the Bible, there is a degree of refinement, delicacy, and courtesy, in their treatment of others, such as will seldom be found even in the most elevated walks of life, and such as religion only can produce. The outward form may be obtained by the world; the living principle is found only in the heart which is imbued with love to God and man.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I will take my turn, and speak what they have omitted.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. Mine opinion — Rather. My knowledge. “Elihu speaks more in the scholastic tone of controversy than the three.” — Delitzsch.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I said, I will answer also my part, I also will show mine opinion. The initial "I said" is superfluous. Elihu, having asked himself the question, "Shall I wait?" in ver. 16, here gives the answer. He will not wait any longer, he will take the word, he will set forth his conviction.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Elihu continues speaking using parallelisms.

I also will answer on my part

"I will now take my turn to answer"

I am full of words

Elihu speaks of having a lot to say as being full of words. AT: "I have so much to say" (See: Metaphor)

the spirit in me compels me

"my spirit forces me to say it"

my breast is like fermenting wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst

While wine is fermenting, gas collects in the container. If the gas is not let out the container will burst. Elihu means that he has so much to say that if he does not speak he feels like he will burst. Also, these two phrases are parallel and have the same meaning. AT: "I feel like my breast is about to burst, like a container of fermenting wine that has no vent" (See: Simile and Parallelism)

my breast is

This represents Elihu, specifically his spirit. AT: "my spirit is" or "I am" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

spirit

wine

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.