Job 32:8

“But [there is] a spirit in man, etc.] 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,…”

“Elihu claims inspiration, as a divinely commissioned messenger to Job (Job 33:6, Job 33:23); and that claim is not contradicted in Job 42:4-5. Translate: "But the spirit (which God puts) in man, and the inspiration . . . is that which giveth," &c.; it is not mere "years" which give understanding (Pro 2:6; Joh 20:22).”

“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…”

“Spirit - The spirit of God. Giveth - To whom he pleaseth. Job 32:9”

“32:8-9 The spirit within people might not be the prophetic Spirit that Elihu later appeals to (33:14-15), as Eliphaz had done (4:12-17; cp. 32:18-20). This spirit might simply exist by virtue of creation (33:4; Gen 2:7; Acts 17:25).”

“the inspiration: Job 4:12-21, Job 33:16, Job 35:11, Job 38:36; Gen 41:39; Kg1 3:12, Kg1 3:28, Kg1 4:29; Pro 2:6; Ecc 2:26; Dan 1:17, Dan 2:21; Co1 2:10-12, Co1 12:8; Ti2 3:16; Jam 1:5 Job 32:9”

“8 Still the spirit, it is in mortal man, And the breath of the Almighty, that giveth them understanding. 9 Not the great in years are wise, And the aged do not understand what is right. 10 Therefore I say: O hearken to me, I will declare my knowledge, even I. The originally affirmative and then (like אוּלם) adversative אכן also does not occur elsewhere in the book of Job. In contradiction to biblical psychology, Rosenm. and others take Job 32:8 as antithetical: Certainly there is spirit in man, but ... . The two halves of the verse are, on the contrary, a synonymous ("the spirit, it is in man, viz., that is and acts") or progressive parallelism) thus according to the accents: "the spirit,…”