God’s Word Translation
Job 32:8
8However, there is in humans a Spirit, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
Job 32:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
- New International Version (NIV)But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
Context of Job 32:8
6So Elihu, son of Barachel, the descendant of Buz, replied ⌞to Job⌟, “I am young, and you are old. That’s why I refrained from speaking and was afraid to tell you what I know. 7I thought, ‘Age should speak, and experience should teach wisdom.’ However, there is in humans a Spirit, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. 9People do not become wise merely because they live long. They don’t understand what justice is merely because they’re old. 10“That is why I say, ‘Listen to me! Let me tell you what I know.’
Read all of Job 32Job 32:8 word by word
אָ֭כֵן רֽוּחַ־הִ֣יא בֶאֱנ֑וֹשׁ וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּבִינֵֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 32:8
- Job 4:12“I was told something secretly and heard something whispered in my ear.
- Job 33:16he opens people’s ears and terrifies them with warnings.
- Job 35:11who teaches us more than he teaches the animals of the earth, who makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’
- Job 38:36Who put wisdom in the heart or gave understanding to the mind?
- Genesis 41:39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has let you know all this, there is no one as wise and intelligent as you.
- 1 Kings 3:12So I’m going to do what you’ve asked. I’m giving you a wise and understanding heart so that there will never be anyone like you.
- 1 Kings 4:29God gave Solomon wisdom—keen insight and a mind as limitless as the sand on the seashore.
- Proverbs 2:6The Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to anyone who pleases him. But to the person who continues to sin, he gives the job of gathering and collecting ⌞wealth⌟. The sinner must turn his wealth over to the person who pleases God. Even this is pointless. ⌞It’s like⌟ trying to catch the wind.
- Daniel 1:17God gave these four men knowledge, wisdom, and the ability to understand all kinds of literature. Daniel could also understand all kinds of visions and dreams.
- Daniel 2:21He changes times and periods of history. He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to those who are wise and knowledge to those who have insight.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God.
- 1 Corinthians 12:8The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. The same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge.
- 2 Timothy 3:16Every Scripture passage is inspired by God. All of them are useful for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting people, and training them for a life that has God’s approval.
- James 1:5If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them.
Commentaries on Job 32:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8But there is a spirit in man - Mr. Good translates: - "But surely there is an afflation in mankind, And the inspiration of the Almighty actuateth them." Coverdale, thus: - Every man (no doute) hath a mynde; but it is the inspyracion of the Almightie that geveth understondinge. I will now offer my own opinion, but first give the original text: תבינם שדי ונשמת באנוש היא רוח ruach hi beenosh venishmath shaddai tebinem . "The spirit itself is in miserable…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8But there is a spirit in man - This evidently refers to a spirit imparted from above; a spirit from the Almighty. The parallelism seems to require this, for it responds to the phrase “the inspiration of the Almighty” in the other hemistich. The Hebrew expression here also seems to require this interpretation. It is, הוא רוח rûach hû' the Spirit itself; meaning the very Spirit that gives wisdom, or the Spirit of inspiration. He had said, in the previous…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-14Verses 6-14 Elihu professes to speak by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and corrects both parties. He allowed that those who had the longest experience should speak first. But God gives wisdom as he pleases; this encouraged him to state his opinion. By attention to the word of God, and dependence upon the Holy Spirit, young men may become wiser than the aged; but this wisdom will render them swift to hear, slow to speak, and disposed to give others a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-9The spirit in a man might not be God's Spirit of prophecy that Elihu later mentions, as Eliphaz had done (33:14–15; 4:12–17; compare 32:18–20). This spirit might simply exist because of creation (33:4; Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:25).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Elihu claims inspiration, as a divinely commissioned messenger to Job (Job 33:6, 23); and that claim is not contradicted in Job 42:4, 5. Translate: "But the spirit (which God puts) in man, and the inspiration ... is that which giveth," &c.; it is not mere "years" which give understanding (Pr 2:6; Joh 20:22).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 32:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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