Job 34:2

Job 34:2 Hear my words, O ye wise [men]; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.

Ver. 2. Hear my words, O ye wise men] And those are not many, Hos 14:9. He excludeth poor Job, whom yet he had promised to teach wisdom, Job 33:33. And that he spoke not to the many it is probable, for they have not those auras perpargatas, that he calleth for in the next verse. Bοιωτες fere sunt, they are heavily eared for the most part, and of dull apprehension;

Boeotum in patria, crassoque sub acre nati.

To the other three then of Job’s friends he applieth himself; whom because he had sharply reproved before, and that they may not think that he held himself the only wise man among them, he thus bespeaketh to get audience, and makes them judges of his discourse. Men may be wise in some things that have carried the matter foolishly enough in other, ουδεις ανθρωπων αυπος απαντα σοφος (Theog.).

And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge] It is a happiness to have such hearers. "I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say," 1Co 10:15. Jovianus the emperor was wont to wish, That he might govern wise men, and that wise men might govern him. But as it was once said, That there was never less wisdom in Greece than in the days of the seven wise men; so may we now well complain, that there is a very great want of sound and saving knowledge in this great abundance of helps thereunto; so that we may cry out, with the prophet Isaiah, Whom shall we teach knowledge, and whom shall we make to understand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts; q.d. We have to do with very babes, children in understanding, but not in malice.

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 34:2-4. Hear my words O ye wise men — Who are here present: do you judge whether what I have said, and have still further to say, be not reasonable and true. For the ear trieth words — Man’s mind judgeth of the truth and propriety of things spoken and heard; as the mouth tasteth meat — And distinguishes what is sweet and palatable from what is otherwise. The ear is put for the mind, to which things are conveyed by it. Let us choose to us judgment — Let us agree to examine the business, that we may be able to pronounce a righteous judgment. Let us not contend for victory, but for truth and justice. Let us know among ourselves what is good — Let us show one another who hath the best cause.

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

PROOF FROM THE NATURE AND ADMINISTRATION OF GOD THAT MAN HAS NO RIGHT TO DOUBT GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS OR JUSTICE. Chap. 34.

EXORDIUM, Job_34:2-9. a. An appeal to the wise that they shall hearken with the ear of the understanding, and subject his argument to the ordeal of reason, Job_34:2-4.

2. O ye wise — Other listeners than Job and the three were probably present; and either to them or an imaginary audience he now makes his appeal. This circuitous mode of address helps to relieve the severity of the chastisement he is about to administer to Job.

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

Which are esteemed wise of the world.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

This chapter is addressed also to the "friends" as the thirty-third chapter to Job alone.

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

2. The wise men are not the three friends, but the bystanders who hear Elihu; cf. Job_34:34.

2–4. Elihu invites the wise among those who listen to him to attend to what he further says, and to unite with him in seeking to discover the right in this cause between Job and God.

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.

For the ear trieth words,.... Not only the musical sound of them, the goodness of the language and diction, and the grammatical construction of them, but the sense of them, and whether the matter of them is good or not; that they are sound speech, which cannot be condemned, or unsound; whether they are right or wrong, agreeably to right reason, sound doctrine, and the word of God; for there are words and words, some the words of men, others the words of God. A sanctified ear tries these; but then men must have such ears to hear, and be attentive to what they hear, and retain it; hear internally as well as externally; and which a man does when his ears are opened by the Lord, from whom are the hearing ear and seeing eye; and such try what they hear, distinguish between good and bad, approve truth and receive it, and retain and hold it fast:

as the mouth tasteth meat; words and doctrines are like meat, some good and some bad; and such that have a good taste try them, either a rational or rather a spiritual discernment: some have no spiritual taste, their taste is not changed, and therefore cannot distinguish, nor make any good judgment of things; but others have, and these discern the difference, relish truth, savour the things that be of God, taste the good word of God, and esteem it more than their necessary food; and it is sweeter to them than the honey or the honeycomb. Such Elihu judged these men to be he addressed, and therefore desired their attention to what he had to say.

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

Hear my words, O ye wise men - Addressing particularly the three friends of Job. The previous chapter had been addressed to Job himself. He had stated to him his views of the design of affliction, and he had nothing to reply. He now addresses himself to his friends, with a particular view of examining some of the sentiments which Job had advanced, and of showing where he was in error. He addresses them as “wise men,” or sages, and as endowed with “knowledge,” to conciliate their attention, and because he regarded them as qualified to understand the difficult subject which he proposed to explain.

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

O ye wise men, who are here present, do you judge of the truth and reason of what I have said, and am further to say; for I am willing to submit all to the judgment of the truly wise.

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

Ear - The ear, is put for the mind to which things are conveyed by it.

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