Job 34:3
in Job 34For the ear tests words as the mouth tastes food.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the ear trieth words, As the palate tasteth food.
KJV
For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
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This verse in Job 34
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor the ear trieth words,.... Not only the musical sound of them, the goodness of the language and diction, and the grammatical construction of them, but the sense of them, and whether the matter of them is good or not; that they are sound speech, which cannot be condemned, or unsound; whether they are right or wrong, agreeably to right reason, sound doctrine, and the word of God; for there are words and words, some the words of men, others the words of God.
This site's exposition
Then Elihu continued
on Job 34:1-4
“Then Elihu continued” opens his second speech, addressed to a wider audience. His maxim, “the ear tests words as the mouth tastes food”, weighs speech by discernment whatever the speaker's age, as he claimed at 32:9. His appeal, “let us learn together what is good”, asks for a shared verdict.
This site's exposition
the ear tests words
Albert Barnes reads the ear here as the whole power of hearing, which weighs what words mean as the mouth judges food. Adam Clarke adds that Eastern poets prized sound joined to sense. He suspected Elihu worked for both.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXIV · Written before 604.
proposed
Hear my words, O ye wise men, and listen to me, ye learned. For the ear trieth words, and the throat discerneth meats by the taste. As if he were to say, as the ear does not discern meats, nor the throat words, so a fool does not understand the sentence of the wise. Hear therefore what I say, ye wise and learned, who can understand the meaning of what has been said. Let us see then how great is his pride, who imagines that his words can be fitly heard only by the wise.
He shows why he invites others to listen saying, "for the ear proves the argument," as if to say: I invite you to listen so that after you have heard my words you judge them. He introduces this as a comparison when he says, "and …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The ear of the judicious tries words, whether what is said be true or false, right or wrong, and he that speaks must stand the test of the intelligent.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the ear trieth words - Ascertains their meaning, and especially determines what words are worth regarding. The object of this is, to fix the attention on what he was about to say; to get the ear so that every word should make its proper impression. The word ear in this place, however, seems not to be used to denote the external organ, but the whole faculty of hearing. It is by hearing that the meaning of what is said is determined, as it is by the taste that the quality of food is discerned.
The ear trieth words - I do not think, with Calmet, that the inward ear, or judgment, is meant simply. The Asiatics valued themselves on the nice and harmonious collection of words, both in speaking and in writing; and perhaps it will be found here that Elihu labors as much for harmonious versification as for pious and weighty sentiments. To connect sense with sound was an object of general pursuit among the Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian poets; and so fond are the latter of euphony, that they often sacrifice both sense and sentiment to it; and some of the Greek poets are not exempt from this fault.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֹ֭זֶן | ʾozen | [the] ear | H241 → | 187 times |
| מִלִּ֣ין | milin | words | H4405 → | 38 times |
| תִּבְחָ֑ן | tivchan | it tests | H974 → | 29 times |
| וְ֝חֵ֗ךְ | vechekh | and [the] palate | H2441 → | 18 times |
| יִטְעַ֥ם | yitam | it tastes | H2938 → | |
| לֶאֱכֹֽל׃ | leekhol | to eat | H398 → | 810 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֹ֭זֶן[the] ear
ʾozenH241 →187 times
מִלִּ֣יןwords
milinH4405 →38 times
תִּבְחָ֑ןit tests
tivchanH974 →29 times
וְ֝חֵ֗ךְand [the] palate
vechekhH2441 →18 times
יִטְעַ֥םit tastes
yitamH2938 →
לֶאֱכֹֽל׃to eat
leekholH398 →810 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
Hebrews 5:14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14–15
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Philippians 1:9–10
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
- 1 Corinthians 2:6
Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
- Isaiah 7:15
By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Through
1 Corinthians 2:15The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.
it leads to
- Hebrews 5:14
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 28:5
Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD comprehend fully.
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Hebrews 5:14
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.