Job 32:8

_BUT THERE IS A SPIRIT IN MAN: AND THE INSPIRATION OF THE ALMIGHTY GIVETH THEM UNDERSTANDING._ Elihu claims inspiration, as a divinely commissioned messenger to Job (Job 33:6; Job 33:23); and that claim is not contradicted in Job 42:1. Translate, 'But the spirit (which God puts) in man, and the inspiration, etc., is that which giveth,' etc.: it is not mere "years" which give understanding (Proverbs 2:6; John 8:57; John 20:22)....

6-14 Elihu professes to speak by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and corrects both parties. He allowed that those who had the longest experience should speak first. But God gives wisdom as he pleases; this encouraged him to state his opinion. By attention to the word of God, and dependence upon the Holy Spirit, young men may become wiser than the aged; but this wisdom will render them swift to hear, slow to speak, and disposed to give others a patient hearing....

Verse Job 32:8. _BUT_ THERE IS _A SPIRIT IN MAN_] Mr. _Good_ translates: - "But surely there is an afflation in mankind, And the inspiration of the Almighty actuateth them." Coverdale, thus: - _Every man (no doute) hath a mynde; but it is the inspyracion of_ _the Almightie that geveth understondinge_. I will now offer my own opinion, but first give the original text: רוח היא באנוש ונשמת שדי תבינם _ruach hi beenosh venishmath_ _shaddai tebinem_. "The spirit itself is in miserable man, and the breath of the Almighty causeth them to understand," How true is it that _in God we live, move, and have our being_! The _spirit itself_ is in man as the spring or fountain of his animal

BUT THERE IS A SPIRIT IN MAN - This evidently refers to a spirit imparted from above; a spirit from the Almighty. The parallelism seems to require this, for it responds to the phrase “the inspiration of the Almighty” in the other hemistich. The Hebrew expression here also seems to require this interpretation. It is, הוא רוח _rûach_ _hû'_, the Spirit itself; meaning the very Spirit that gives wisdom, or the Spirit of inspiration. He had said, in the previous verse, that it was reasonable to expect to find wisdom among the aged and the experienced. But in this he had been disappointed. He now finds that wisdom is not the attribute of rank or station, but that it is the gift of God, and therefore it may be found in a youth. All true wisdom, is the sentiment, is from above; and where the inspiration of the Almighty is, no matter whether with the aged or the young, there is understa

EXPOSITION A new personage is now introduced upon the scene, who speaks in a new style and almost in a new language. No previous mention has been made of him; no subsequent notice is taken of his arguments; and nothing is said of him in the historical section wherewith the work concludes (Job 42:7). It is therefore scarcely surprising that some exception has been taken to the genuineness of the entire passage (Job 32-37), or that it has been regarded by many excellent critics as an interpolation into the Book of Job, made by one who was not the original author, at a date considerably later than the rest of tile composition. A modification of this extreme view is suggested by M. Renan, who thinks that the original author may have added the passage in his old age. This view is entitled to consideration. The subject has been discussed at some length in the Introduction, so that no mor

BUT [THERE IS] A SPIRIT IN MAN,.... This seems to be a correction of his former sentiment; the consideration of which gave him encouragement, though young, to declare his opinion, since there is a spirit in men, both young and old; and wherever that be, there is an ability to speak and a capacity of teaching wisdom; which is not tied to age; but may he found in young men as well as in old men: some by this understand the rational soul, or spirit, which is immaterial, immortal, is of God, and is in man; and the rather it is thought this is meant, because it is in every man, whereby he has knowledge of many things, natural and divine, and particularly is capable of trying and judging things, of discerning the difference between one thing and another, and of reasoning and discoursing upon them; and this being observed by Elihu, and he being conscious to himself of having such a spirit in hi...

CHAPTER S 32--33:7 _ 1. Elihu introduced (Job 32:1)_ 2. I waited, but now must speak (Job 32:6) 3. His address to Job (Job 33:1) Job 32:1. As Elihu had listened to the different addresses his wrath was stirred up. His name is very suggestive. Elihu means “my God is He”; Barachel--”the Blessed God”; the Buzite, “the rejected One” of Ram, and Ram means “exalted.” These are names which find their fullest application in the person of our Lord, whom Elihu in his mediatorial work represents. But why was his wrath kindled? Because Job justified himself rather than God and because Job's friends had found no solution of the problem, yet they c

Elihu had remained silent because of his youth. However wisdom is not a matter of age, but of Divine inspiration. Where the friends have failed, Elihu will succeed: there is no need to call in God. Job 32:13 is a direct polemic against the poet, a strong assertion that the Divine speeches which follow had been better omitted (Peake)....

SPIRIT. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. INSPIRATION. Hebrew. _neshamah._ App-16. THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew Shaddai. App-4....

Elihu, being a youth, shrank from interfering in a dispute in which aged men were engaged; but he perceived that wisdom did not always accompany grey hairs; it is a gift of God, and, conscious of possessing it, he desires now to be heard....