Job 32:11
in Job 32Indeed, I waited while you spoke; I listened to your reasoning; as you searched for words,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I waited for your words, I listened for your reasonings, Whilst ye searched out what to say.
KJV
Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.
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This verse in Job 32
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I gave ear to your reasons - Margin, “understandings.” The meaning is, that he had given the most respectful attention to the views which they had expressed, implying that he had been all along present, and had listened to the debate. Whilst ye searched out what to say - Margin, as in Hebrew, words. It is implied here that they had bestowed much attention on what they had said. They had carefully sought out all the arguments at their command to confute Job, and still had been unsuccessful.
This site's exposition
Listen to me
on Job 32:10-14
Elihu's “Listen to me” comes after he says “I listened to your reasoning”. Barnes reads the friends' fallback, “let God, not man, refute him”, as silencing the question with authority in place of argument. Elihu refuses that shortcut, which claims a different method before any different conclusion.
This site's exposition
I listened to your reasoning
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the verse as proof that Elihu was present from the first. He waited while the friends spoke and searched for words. Clarke records a manuscript variant, your arguments for your reasoning, with nearly the same sense.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Old men are not wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. Therefore I will say, Hearken to me, I will shew you my wisdom. For I waited for your words, I heard your wisdom, whilst ye were disputing in words: and as long as I thought that ye said something, I considered. As far as regards the literal meaning, Eliu proves to us, when he speaks, how proudly he remained silent.
It was just that they listen to him because he had listened to them, and so he continues, "For I have waited," for a long time, "for your discourses," which you pronounced against Job. Since he thought he could discern what had been said well …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That man is a rational creature, and therefore that every man has for himself a judgment of discretion and ought to be allowed a liberty of speech in his turn. He means the same that Job did ( ch. xii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Behold, I waited for your words,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Therefore Elihu was present from the first. reasons--literally, "understandings," that is, the meaning intended by words. whilst--I waited until you should discover a suitable reply to Job.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons - Instead of תבונותיכם tebunotheychem, your reasons, תכונותיכם techunotheychem, your arguments, is the reading of nine of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. The sense, however, is nearly the same. Whilst ye searched out what to say - עד תחקרון מלין ad tachkerun millin; “Whilst ye were searching up and down for words.” A fine irony, which they must have felt.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Yea, I attended to you I attended to you, and I saw that there is no one to convince Job.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֤ן | hen | here! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| הוֹחַ֨לְתִּי | hochalti | I waited | H3176 → | 41 times |
| לְֽדִבְרֵיכֶ֗ם | ledivreikhem | for words your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אָ֭זִין | ʾazin | I gave ear | H238 → | 41 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| תְּב֥וּנֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם | tevunoteikhem | understanding<s> your | H8394 → | 42 times |
| עַֽד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| תַּחְקְר֥וּן | tachkerun | you searched for ! | H2713 → | 27 times |
| מִלִּֽין׃ | milin | words | H4405 → | 38 times |
הֵ֤ןhere!
henH2005 →316 times
הוֹחַ֨לְתִּיI waited
hochaltiH3176 →41 times
לְֽדִבְרֵיכֶ֗םfor words your
ledivreikhemH1697 →1440 times
אָ֭זִיןI gave ear
ʾazinH238 →41 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
תְּב֥וּנֹֽתֵיכֶ֑םunderstanding<s> your
tevunoteikhemH8394 →42 times
עַֽד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
תַּחְקְר֥וּןyou searched for !
tachkerunH2713 →27 times
מִלִּֽין׃words
milinH4405 →38 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 18:17The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:13
He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 24:12–13
Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city.
- 2 Samuel 19:24–27
Then Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the…
- Proverbs 18:13
Through
Job 29:21Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
it leads to
- Job 32:11–12
Indeed, I waited while you spoke; I listened to your reasoning; as you searched for words,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 29:9–10
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
- Job 32:11–12
Through
Job 29:23They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
it leads to
- Hosea 6:3
So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water…
- Psalms 72:6
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
- Zechariah 10:1
Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.
- Hosea 6:3
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.