Job 32:2

Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite,.... Both against Job and his three friends, for reasons after given; who this person was is not easy to say; they debase him too

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Prose (poetry begins with "I am young," Job 32:6). Verse 1. Because ... - and because they could not proves to him that he was unrighteous.

The Buzite; of the posterity of Buz, Nahor’ s son, . Of the kindred of Ram, or of Aram; for Ram and Aram are used promiscuously: compare , with . Others, of Abraham, who as he was called Abram, possibly was at first called only Ram. His pedigree is thus particularly described, partly for his honour, because his speech declares him to be both a wise and a good man; and principally to evidence the truth of this history, which otherwise might seem to be but a poetical fiction. He justified himself rather than God; he justified himself, not without reflection upon God, as dealing too severely with him, and denying him that hearing which he so passionately desired. He took more care to maintain his own innocency than God’ s glory.

Job 32:2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.Ver. 2. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu] Or, Then burnt the nose of Elihu; a periphrasis of anger, which appeareth in the nose, eyes, and other parts of the body. Quis enim celaverit ignem? Who can hide fire? The Rabbis have a saying, that a man shows what he is becos, bechis, becagnas, by his purse, his cups, and his anger; which, if it be rash and unadvised, is a mortal sin, and not venial (as the Papists falsely infer from Matthew 5:22), dispossessing a man of his wit and reason, and disfiguring his body with fieriness of the face, swelling of the veins, stammering of the tongue, gnashing of the teeth, and many other impotent and unmanly behaviours. Hence angry men were counselled, in the heat of their fit, to look themselves in a glass, where they may see themselves swollen like a toad, glowing like a devil, &c. But Elihu’ s anger was not of this kind. A fire it was, but the flame of God, as holy zeal is called, Son 8:6, a most vehement flame (as it is there rendered) kindled upon the hearth of his heart by the spirit of judgment and of burning, Isaiah 4:4, and such as many waters could not quench, for the zeal is the extreme heat of all the affections; and the coals thereof are coals of fire, Son 8:6, only we must see that it burns clear and quick, without all smoke of sin; wherein, though Elihu somewhat faulted, yet, because he was right for the main, all was well taken. We are apt to mingle sin with our best actions, and so to plough with an ox and an ass. But God considers whereof we are made, and graciously lays the finger of mercy on the scars of our sins, as that painter in the story. Of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite] Descended he was of good parents ( Fortes creantur fortibus, et bonis) who gave him a good name, signifying, He is my God, or, My God is Jehovah; to remind him of his duty, whereunto we have need of all helps that may be. His father’ s name, Barachel, signifieth, One whom God hath blessed; he hath blessed him indeed in so good a son, as could not but make him a glad father, Proverbs 10:1. The Buzite he is called, either from his progenitor Buz, the son of Nahor, who was the brother of Abraham, and had by Milcah, Huz, his firstborn (of whom some think Job came), and Buz, his brother, Genesis 22:21; or else from his country, the city of Buz, a city of Idumea, Jeremiah 25:23.

(2) Because he justified himself rather than God.—See Job 19:6. Job maintained his innocence, and could not understand how his affliction could be reconciled with the justice of God. Yet, at the same time, he declared that God was his salvation (Job 13:16), and that it was impossible for man to be absolutely just with God (Job 9:2; Job 9:28), though at the same time he might hope in His righteousness (Job 23:3 seqq.).

Verse 2. Then was kindled the wrath] This means no more than that Elihu was greatly excited, and felt a strong and zealous desire to vindicate the justice and providence of God, against the aspersions of Job and his friends. Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite] Buz was the second son of Nahor, the brother of Abram, Genesis 22:21. Of the kindred of Ram] Kemuel was the third son of Nahor; and is called in Genesis (see above) the father of Aram, which is the same as Ram. A city of the name of Buz is found in Jeremiah 25:23, which probably had its name from this family; and, as it is mentioned with Dedan and Tema, we know it must have been a city in Idumea, as the others were in that district. Instead of the kindred of Ram, the Chaldee has of the kindred of Abraham. But still the question has been asked, Who was Elihu? I answer, He was "the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram:" this is all we know of him. But this Scriptural answer will not satisfy those who are determined to find out mysteries where there are none. Some make him a descendant of Judah; St. Jerome, Bede, Lyranus, and some of the rabbins, make him Balaam the son of Beor, the magician; Bishop Warburton makes him Ezra the scribe; and Dr. Hodges makes him the second person in the glorious Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, and supposes that the chief scope of this part of the book was to convict Job of self-righteousness, and to show the necessity of the doctrine of justification by faith! When these points are proved, they should be credited. Because he justified himself rather than God.] Literally, he justified his soul, נפשו naphhso, before God. He defended, not only the whole of his conduct, but also his motives, thoughts, &c.

2–5. Introduction of Elihu, a new speaker, who appears to have been a listener during the progress of the former debate. The descent of Elihu is given with fuller details than in the case of the other speakers. The name Elihu, meaning probably my God is he, occurs elsewhere, 1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 12:20. He is named the Buzite. Buz was brother of Uz, Genesis 22:21, and son of Nahor. In Jeremiah 25:23 Buz is mentioned along with Tema (cf. Job 6:19), and reckoned among the Arab tribes. The name Ram, therefore, which does not occur elsewhere, is scarcely to be taken as a contraction for Aram or Syria (though comp. 2 Chronicles 22:5, where Ramites = Aramites). justified himself rather than God] The meaning appears to be, justified himself as against God, in his plea with God and at the expense of God’s justice. The sense is given in ch. Job 40:8, where the Lord says to Job, “Wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be righteous”? There are two points to be attended to in these passages when the question of right is raised, the one a formal point and the other a material one. God had afflicted Job and thus, in Job’s view and the view of his time, passed a verdict of wickedness on him. Against this verdict Job reclaims, God does him wrong in this. This is the formal question of right between Job and God. But this naturally goes back into the material question of Job’s past life. Elihu, defending the righteousness of God, keeps before him chiefly the formal question. He touches little upon Job’s life and history, differing in this entirely from the three friends. He makes a general, abstract question out of Job’s complaints against God, which he argues on general lines with almost no reference to Job’s particular case. Job’s complaints do little more than suggest to him the question, Can God be justly complained of?

Then was kindled the wrath - Wrath or anger is commonly represented as kindled, or as burning.

2. Elihu — My God is he, (Gesenius.) This name, together with that of his father, Barachel, “May God bless,” points to a religious line of descent, perhaps through Nahor, the brother of Abraham. Genesis 22:21.