Job 32:9

Job 32:9 Great men are not [always] wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.

Ver. 9. Great men are not always wise] Rabbis are not the grandees of the earth; they who seem to be somewhat, Gal 2:6, and take it ill if they be not so accounted, these are not always wise, or these are none of the wisest. Non sunt sapientes magistri, so Brentius reads it. Our masters ( ut sunt magistri nostri Parisienses) have not engrossed all the wisdom. And why? Spiritus non est alligatus Rabbinorum authoritati, et magistrorum nostrorum capitiis, &c.: the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord, is in nowise bound to such, nor are his gifts held captive by any, but freely distributed according to the good pleasure of his will, who worketh all, and in all. Paphnutius was wiser than the whole council; John Wycliffe, than the University of Oxford; Daniel, than all the magicians of Babylon, Patres legendi cum venia. Fathers of reading with favour. Augustine, being oppressed with the authority of the Fathers, saith, he regardeth not Quis, but Quid; who speaketh a thing, but what he speaketh.

Neither do the aged understand judgment] Prudence is not proper to old age; and though knowledge be the daughter of time, it doth not always happen that the most aged are the most learned. Wisdom doth not ever lean upon a staff nor look through spectacles. Experience giveth us to see both old fools and young wise men, some of each sort. When the State of Venice once sent two young men ambassadors to the Emperor Frederick IV, and he, being offended at their age, refused to admit them; they bid him to know, That if the Venetians had valued men by their gravity and well grown beards as the only wise men, they would, doubtless, have sent on their embassy a pair of well bearded goats: for,

Si prolixa facit sapientem barba, quid obstat

Barbatus possit quin caper esse Plato?

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 32:9-10. Great men are not always wise — That is, men of eminence for age, or learning, or dignity and power, such as Job’s three friends seem to have been; neither do the aged (always) understand judgment — What is just and right; or the judgment of God, and the methods and reasons of his administrations. Therefore I said — Within myself, and I now say it with my mouth; Hearken to me — Thou Job especially, who art more nearly concerned, and thy friends with thee. I also will show my opinion —

I will tell you what I think about this matter.

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

Great--rather, "old" (Job 32:6). So Hebrew, in Gen 25:23. "Greater, less" for the older, the younger.

judgment--what is right.

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 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.

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

(9) Great men are not always wise.—That is, old men. He had just before said that he was “little in days” (Job_32:6); or it may be used in the sense of number, many, or multitudes. (Comp. what Job himself said, Job_12:2 : “No doubt because ye are a people wisdom will die with you.”)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. Great men] Or, old men—great in age, as the parallel in the second clause explains; cf. Gen_25:23 (lit. the greater shall serve the less).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Co1 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) Sept. "longaevi", V. L. Mr. Broughton renders it, "as men of not great time may be wise, as the old understand the right."

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

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.

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

Aged: Greek: poluchronioi. Septuagint Rabbim, "the Rabbins," (Haydock) the "great ones," placed in authority. These are not always the wisest, as understanding is the gift of God, and not attached to rank. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Great men, i.e. men of eminency for age or learning, or dignity and power, such as Job’s three friends seem to have been.

Judgment; what is just and right; or the judgment of God, and the methods and reasons of his administrations.

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

9. Great men are not… wise — Literally, not the great are wise, that is, (according to the Septuagint,) “the great in years.” Old age does not necessarily imply wisdom.

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

Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged (always) understand judgment. Elihu lays down the universal law, before applying it to the particular instance. True wisdom is from God, not from observation and experience. Therefore many aged men are not wise; many experienced men, great in position, versed in affairs, do not possess understanding. It is a trite remark, "With how little wisdom the world is governed!"

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

Judgment - What is just and right.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.