Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Job 32:2
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, etc.] Both against Job and his three friends, for reasons after given; who this person was is not easy to say; they debase him too much, who make him to be Balaam the soothsayer, according to the tradition of the Jews f1158; for neither the time he lived in, nor his character, will agree with him; this man living before the times of Balaam; and being also a holy good man, which all his discourses show: and they too much exalt him who make him to be Christ; for though some phrases, being strained, may seem to agree with him, and some things in the signification of his name, and the names of his ancestors, may be thought to answer to him; Elihu signifying, “my God is he”; the son of Barachel, “the son of the blessed God”; of the kindred of Ram, of the high and holy line; the Buzite, one “despised” and reproached; yet there are other things that cannot be said of him, as particularly in (<183222>Job 32:22); besides, the Messiah seems to be spoken of by him as another person, (<183323>Job 33:23,24); it is very probable that he was one of Job’s relations that was come to visit him in his melancholy circumstances, had been a bystander, and an hearer of the whole dispute between Job and his friends, with the management of which he was not a little displeased; he is described by his descent, when Job’s other three friends are not, because he was a young man, and not known as they were: and this serves to show the truth of this history, that it is not a mere apologue, or moral fable, but a real fact; though who his father Barachel the Buzite was cannot easily be determined; it is probable he was a descendant of Buz, the son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, (<012220>Genesis 22:20,21); of this opinion are Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom; unless it can be thought he was so called from the city Buz, of which he might be an inhabitant, mentioned along with Dedan and Tema, (<242523>Jeremiah 25:23), places in Edom or Idumea, where or near to which Job lived: of the kindred of Ram; according to the Targum, of the kindred of Abraham, in which it is followed by other Jewish writers f1159; and some even take him to be Isaac, the son of Abraham f1160; Aben Ezra thinks he is the same with Ram the father of Amminadab, (<080419>Ruth 4:19); but he is abundantly too late for this man to be of his kindred; others take him to be the same with Aram, the son of Kemuel, a brother of Buz, (<012221>Genesis 22:21); these names being used for one another, either by adding or removing a letter; (see <400103>Matthew 1:3); compared with (<080419>Ruth 4:19); against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God; not that he made himself more just than God, he could never think or say so, (see <180417>Job 4:17); nor that he was just before him or by him; for he was so in an evangelic, though not in a legal sense; and Elihu would not have been displeased with him for asserting that; he did not deny that Job was a righteous man in the sight of God; nor that he was righteous, and in the right in the sight of God, with respect to the controversy between him and his friends; nor did he blame him for justifying himself from their charges; but that he justified himself “more” than God; so the Jewish writers f1161 generally render it: he spent more time, and insisted longer on his own justification than upon the justification of God in the dealings of his providence with him; he was more careful of…
This public page shows a contextual excerpt from the locally available source text.
How to use this source
This excerpt is attributed to its named commentary. It is included as a historical study resource and should be evaluated in light of Scripture and other relevant evidence.
