Job 32 13

Job 32:13 kjv

Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom: God thrusteth him down, not man.

Job 32:13 nkjv

Lest you say, 'We have found wisdom'; God will vanquish him, not man.

Job 32:13 niv

Do not say, 'We have found wisdom; let God, not a man, refute him.'

Job 32:13 esv

Beware lest you say, 'We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him, not a man.'

Job 32:13 nlt

And don't tell me, 'He is too wise for us.
Only God can convince him.'

Job 32 verses

Job 32 13 Meaning

Job 32:13 conveys Elihu's perception of Job's friends' rationale for their silence: having exhausted their human arguments and failed to refute Job's claims of innocence, they would conclude that only God possesses the wisdom and power to vanquish Job, not human beings. Elihu is criticizing their prideful declaration of having found ultimate "wisdom" (which, in their view, dictates that Job is beyond human refutation) and their pious yet self-serving surrender, masking their intellectual defeat and inability to prove Job guilty.

Job 32 13 Context

Job 32 opens a new section of the book, introducing Elihu, a young man who has been listening silently to the protracted debate between Job and his three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar). Elihu is incensed both at Job for self-justification and at the friends for their failure to provide a conclusive answer to Job's pleas while still condemning him. By Job 32:1, the friends have given up speaking, their arguments exhausted. Verse 13 articulates Elihu's perception of the friends' reasoning for their silence. He fears they might have convinced themselves that they possess profound wisdom, having reasoned themselves into a corner where only God Himself could "vanquish" Job. This statement becomes an indictment of their intellectual pride and their spiritual arrogance, which masks their failure to genuinely address Job's suffering and questions. It also sets the stage for Elihu to step forward, believing he has new, divinely inspired insights that can both vindicate God and bring Job to proper repentance. This transitional verse bridges the human debate to the impending direct divine intervention in Job 38.

Job 32 13 Word analysis

• Lest (פֶּן, pen): A particle expressing fear or negative purpose. Elihu speaks to prevent the friends from adopting this specific, erroneous conclusion. It emphasizes his motive to intervene and correct their misjudgment.
• you should say (תֹאמְרוּ, to'meru): A plural verb, indicating the collective thought or declaration of Job's three friends. It suggests a shared, deliberate intent or a settled conviction among them.
• We (אֲנַחְנוּ, anachnu): An emphatic first-person plural pronoun. This underscores the friends' collective ego and ownership of their perceived wisdom, highlighting their pride.
• have found (מָצָאנוּ, matzanu): From the verb "to find" or "to discover." It conveys a sense of achievement or success, implying they believe they have successfully reached a profound conclusion, specifically concerning the limits of human argument.
• wisdom (חָכְמָה, chokhmah): Refers to insight, skill, sagacity, or understanding. Here, it signifies the friends' own system of knowledge and their traditional theological arguments. Elihu implies that their "wisdom" has ironically led them to a self-congratulatory deadlock. The core meaning of wisdom throughout Job often refers to God's incomprehensible plan versus human finite understanding.
• God (אֵל, El): A general term for God, used here to represent the ultimate divine authority and power. It contrasts the Almightiness of God with the comparative impotence of humanity.
• may vanquish him (יַהְדְּפֶנּוּ, yahd'fenū): From the verb "to thrust down, to overthrow, to vanquish, to reject." This verb choice emphasizes a decisive and overwhelming defeat. The implication is that only such supreme power can bring Job to silence or submission.
• not man (לֹא־אִישׁ, lo-ish): An explicit contrast. Lo ("not") negates ish ("man," "human being"). This phrase starkly highlights their conclusion that human argumentation is utterly inadequate to deal with Job's unique situation or stubbornness; only divine intervention could prevail. This statement, while superficially pious, served as their excuse for their intellectual defeat.

Words-group analysis:

• "Lest you should say, 'We have found wisdom'": This entire clause directly challenges the friends' self-perceived intellectual triumph. Elihu asserts that their silence is not born out of profound discovery, but from a limited, human-centric understanding of wisdom that has proven ineffective and yet remains proud. Their declaration is a facade for their failure.
• "God may vanquish him, not man": This is their core rationalization. While accurate in principle that only God truly can vanquish any human, it's used by the friends to excuse their own inability. They shift the burden of proof to God, absolving themselves of argumentative defeat. Elihu perceives this as intellectual surrender masquerading as profound theological insight.

Job 32 13 Bonus section

• The Problem of Prescriptive Wisdom: This verse highlights a major theme in Job: the inadequacy of human, prescriptive wisdom when confronting the multifaceted and often mysterious nature of God's ways in the world. The friends believed they had a "wisdom" that perfectly mapped divine justice, failing to account for nuances or the testing of the righteous.
• Elihu as a Catalyst for Divine Speech: Elihu's intervention, marked by his rejection of the friends' conclusion in Job 32:13, is crucial. He effectively creates a logical pathway from human dialogue to direct divine revelation. He disputes the idea that humans are incapable of speaking truth from God, thereby paving the way for God Himself to speak with ultimate authority in the latter chapters of Job, fulfilling, in a sense, the friends' declaration (that "God may vanquish him") but demonstrating their flawed reasoning behind it.
• The Polemic against "Found Wisdom": The phrase "We have found wisdom" serves as a direct polemic against the ancient Near Eastern wise men who often prided themselves on their acquired knowledge and definitive understanding of the world's order. Elihu implicitly challenges this self-congratulatory intellectualism, suggesting that such wisdom can lead to error and self-justification rather than humble truth.

Job 32 13 Commentary

Job 32:13 functions as Elihu's pointed critique of Job's friends' exhausted and inadequate approach. Having rigorously applied their traditional wisdom – a rigid retribution theology – they reached a point where their arguments against Job's unwavering claim of innocence crumbled. Their inability to persuade or silence Job led them, in Elihu's view, to a presumptuous conclusion: they must possess the true "wisdom" which reveals that Job is so recalcitrant that only a direct divine intervention, not any human, can prove him wrong or subdue him. This is Elihu's interpretation of their ultimate excuse for their intellectual failure and prolonged silence.

Elihu views this stance as an act of profound spiritual and intellectual arrogance, veiled in piety. They don't genuinely admit error; rather, they credit their flawed human reasoning with achieving a divine-level insight – that only God can deliver the final blow. Ironically, by proclaiming that "man" cannot vanquish Job, they set the stage for precisely what Elihu will attempt, and what God will ultimately do: offer a compelling counter-perspective that both refutes Job's presumptions and challenges his friends' narrow understanding, all outside the rigid confines of their "wisdom." Their statement thus serves not as a surrender to God's majesty, but as a strategic retreat to preserve their own dignity, making Elihu's subsequent intervention critical to expose the true inadequacy of their human-centered wisdom.