Matthew 11:25(v9)At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding,…
Job 12:20(v9)He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
Ecclesiastes 4:13(v9)Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more.
Jeremiah 9:23(v13)Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his…
1 Corinthians 1:26-27(v9)For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the…
Show all 39 cross-references
1 Corinthians 2:7-8(v9)But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, which none…
Job 32:3(v12)Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
Isaiah 5:21(v13)Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
John 7:48(v9)Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees?
1 Corinthians 1:27-29(v13)but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he…
1 Corinthians 3:18(v13)Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.
James 2:6-7(v9)But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? Don’t they blaspheme the…
Genesis 14:23(v13)that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Judges 7:2(v13)Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel brag against…
Job 1:21(v13)He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s…
Job 2:10(v13)But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not…
Job 4:9(v13)By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.
Job 5:27(v11)Look at this. We have searched it. It is so. Hear it, and know it for your good.”
Job 6:4(v13)For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Job 12:2(v13)“No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
Job 15:8-10(v13)Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? What do you know that we don’t know? What do you understand…
Job 19:6(v13)know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.
Job 19:21(v13)“Have pity on me. Have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.
Job 29:21(v11)“Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel.
Job 29:23(v11)They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.
Job 32:4(v11)Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were elder than he.
Proverbs 18:17(v11)He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.
Proverbs 28:11(v11)The rich man is wise in his own eyes; but the poor who has understanding sees through him.
Ecclesiastes 12:9-10(v11)Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.…
Isaiah 48:5(v13)therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them. My…
Isaiah 48:7(v13)They are created now, and not from of old. Before today, you didn’t hear them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
Jeremiah 5:5(v9)I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord…
Ezekiel 28:3(v13)behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you;
Zechariah 12:7(v13)Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be…
John 19:11(v13)Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you…
1 Corinthians 1:19-21(v13)For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.” Where is the wise?…
1 Timothy 1:7(v12)desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.
1 Corinthians 7:25(v10)Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be…
1 Corinthians 7:40(v10)But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv11, 13To prove that Job’s affliction came for his sins.
To prove that Job’s affliction came for his sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv9–13Job 32:9 Great men are not [always] wise: neither…
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.
Read full note →
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.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv9–13Great men, i.e. men of eminency for age or…
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.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv9–13Great men are not always wise,.... Men of grandeur…
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.
Read full note →
(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.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv9, 12, 13Judgment - What is just and right.
Judgment - What is just and right.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv9, 11, 12, 13Verse 9. Great men are not always wise] This…
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.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv9, 11, 12Job 32:9-10. Great men are not always wise —…
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.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv9, 11, 12, 13Great men are not always wise - Though wisdom…
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.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv9, 11, 12, 13Aged: Greek: poluchronioi. Septuagint Rabbim, "the Rabbins," (Haydock) the…
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv9, 10, 11, 13Great--rather, "old" (Job 32:6). So Hebrew, in Gen 25:23.…
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.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv9, 10, 139. Great men are not… wise — Literally, not…
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv9, 11, 139. Great men] Or, old men—great in age, as…
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv9, 10, 12, 13(9) Great men are not always wise.—That is, old…
(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.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv9–13Great men are not always wise: neither do the…
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv11, 13Elihu uses this word here to draw the mens'…
See
Elihu uses this word here to draw the mens' attention to what he says next. AT: "Listen"
Read full note →
I waited for your words
"I waited to hear what you would say." The word "your" refers to Job's friends. (See: Forms of You)
who could respond to his words
Here the word "respond" does not just mean to answer, but to answer with a helpful response.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 To prove that Job’s affliction came for his sins.
To prove that Job’s affliction came for his sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–13 Job 32:9 Great men are not [always] wise: neither…
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.
Read full note →
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–13 Great men, i.e. men of eminency for age or…
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–13 Great men are not always wise,.... Men of grandeur…
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.
Read full note →
(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.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 13 Judgment - What is just and right.
Judgment - What is just and right.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12, 13 Verse 9. Great men are not always wise] This…
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.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12 Job 32:9-10. Great men are not always wise —…
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.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12, 13 Great men are not always wise - Though wisdom…
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.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12, 13 Aged: Greek: poluchronioi. Septuagint Rabbim, "the Rabbins," (Haydock) the…
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13 Great--rather, "old" (Job 32:6). So Hebrew, in Gen 25:23.…
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.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 13 9. Great men are not… wise — Literally, not…
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13 9. Great men] Or, old men—great in age, as…
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 12, 13 (9) Great men are not always wise.—That is, old…
(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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–13 Great men are not always wise: neither do the…
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13 Elihu uses this word here to draw the mens'…
See
Elihu uses this word here to draw the mens' attention to what he says next. AT: "Listen"
Read full note →
I waited for your words
"I waited to hear what you would say." The word "your" refers to Job's friends. (See: Forms of You)
who could respond to his words
Here the word "respond" does not just mean to answer, but to answer with a helpful response.
translationWords
word
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.