August 8, 2022 – Ps 46, Pr 6, Job 32

So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.
Job 32:1‭-‬5 NIV

Elihu is the young one. He has held his tongue and now he cannot help but speak. He is angry at the other 3 as well as at Job. Now his response to Job is different than the others. Different commentaries talk about how God used Elihu to rebuke the others. His response to Job is not about the wrong that Job may have done to cause his suffering but that Job is justifying himself. But the commentary that I included in the link below says this about Elihu’s anger. Check out the commentary.

c. Then the wrath of Elihu… was aroused against Job: Apparently, Elihu was a silent listener at the whole dialogue up to this point. He was angry against Job because he felt that Job justified himself rather than God. Elihu felt that Job was more concerned about being right himself than God being right.

i. We can easily understand how Elihu felt this. Yet what he did not understand was that both Job and God were right. The friends had forced themselves and Job into a false dilemma: either Job is right or God is right. They could not see or understand how both were right.

 

Job Chapter 32