“What is happening to our youth? They disrespect their elders.…They riot in the streets…” —Socrates
So “the words of Job are ended” (Job 31:40). Now what? To our shock we discover that there were four interlocutors with Job, not just three. It seems, because of his youth, a man named Elihu has been patiently waiting for the others to finish before he says his piece. That took some monumental patience! Elihu (meaning “He is my God”) is introduced as “the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram” (v 2). While the three others may have been well-known in their own right, and therefore given no listing of their ancestry, Elihu—perhaps because of his youth—has some of his parentage listed. Being a “Buzite,” he would probably be in the line of Abraham’s brother, Nahor, whose second son was Buz (Gen 22:20-21). Now evidently the young fellow is quite upset. There are two reasons for his fervor. As he explains, “his wrath was aroused because he [ Job] justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job” (Job 32:2-3). These are the two fronts where Job has been battling all along— his two-fold objection to the way he has been treated, by his friends but more importantly by God. Elihu thinks they have all been wrong on both accounts. Job has been self-righteous, and his friends self-deluded. Now the young man is about to straighten them all out! This certainly is a plucky thing to do. The times have dramatically changed. In Job’s day, it was assumed that “wisdom is with aged men, and with length of days, understanding” (12:12). Today old age is seen as a liability, making you obsolete. Yet it is neither true that all aged ones are wise nor that wisdom ever goes out of date. Now what will Elihu say?