Bible Strands
Job 32:9
It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job and his three friends after noting that God’s spirit grants understanding to all people. He speaks at the precise moment he prepares to declare his own perspective on their dispute.
The words — The Hebrew terms רַבִּים (rabim, “many”) and זְקֵנִים (zeqenim, “elderly”) frame the verse’s claim that wisdom and discernment of justice are not exclusive to age. The verb יֶחְכְּמוּ (yekhemku, “they are wise”) directly links to the Spirit’s work described in the preceding verse.
The thread — This concept recurs in Job 12:20, where God strips discernment from elders, and Ecclesiastes 4:13, which favors a wise youth over a foolish old king. Matthew 11:25 parallels this by noting God hides understanding from the learned while revealing it to others.
Why it lands — The text demands readers stop equating chronological age with spiritual or intellectual authority. It requires them to evaluate claims of wisdom based on the Spirit’s work rather than social status or years lived.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
Cross-references
- Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Job 12:20 He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
- Ecclesiastes 4:13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
- 1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.
- 1 Corinthians 2:7 No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.
- John 7:48 “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him?
- James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- Jeremiah 5:5 I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.