Great men are not always wise, Nor do the aged always understand justice.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is not the great who are wise, nor the aged who understand justice.
- KJV Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
- BSB It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
- NASB “The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.
- NLT Sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Elihu asserts that it is not the great or the aged who are necessarily wise or just in understanding. Wisdom is not guaranteed by status or years.
Overview
Elihu corrects the assumption that the prominent and elderly automatically possess wisdom and discernment of justice. While age and rank often bring experience, they do not by themselves confer the understanding that comes from God. This humbling truth levels the ground, reminding all that wisdom must be sought from the Lord, who gives it generously and supremely in Christ, whom God made our wisdom and righteousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Job 12:20He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
- Eccl 4:13Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more.
- 1 Cor 1:26–27For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;
- 1 Cor 2:7–8But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory,
- John 7:48Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees?
- Jas 2:6–7But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
- Jer 5:5I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 32:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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