Job 35:1 — Word Study
WLCוַיַּ֥עַן אֱלִיה֗וּ וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
BSAAnd ElihuʼĔlîyhûw [the friend of Job, having God's name] went onʻânâh▸ [continued, spoke moreover] to sayʼâmar▸ [respond, answer, declare]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַן | and he answered | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| אֱלִיה֗וּ | Elihu | Noun proper masculine |
| וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ | and he said | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | And Elihu went on to say: |
| KJV | Elihu spake moreover, and said, |
| ASV | Moreover Elihu answered and said, |
| YLT | And Elihu answereth and saith: — |
| WEB | Moreover Elihu answered, |
| BBE | And Elihu made answer and said, |
There are no significant differences among the translations on this verse.
The structure is straightforward, with a main clause followed by two subordinate actions, emphasizing Elihu's role in the dialogue.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, AdamClarke & more — read them ›
clause
subjectאֱלִיהוּא
verbעָנָה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 35:1
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Elihu's Responsegenerated
Job 35:1 introduces Elihu, who speaks after Job's friends have failed to provide satisfactory answers to Job's suffering. Elihu's role is significant as he aims to correct both Job and his friends, emphasizing God's justice and righteousness. This moment marks a pivotal shift in the conversation, as Elihu seeks to clarify misunderstandings about God's ways.
Cross References
The Key Word — עָנָה, vai.Ya.'angenerated
The verb עָנָה (*anah*) is a Qal form, indicating a simple action. It encompasses a range of meanings, from answering to singing, showing its versatility in responding to questions or situations. This duality reflects its use in contexts where one must respond verbally or expressively.
In this verse, Elihu's use of עָנָה signifies his intention to engage directly with Job's assertions. He does not merely answer; he seeks to clarify and address the deeper issues at play, highlighting the importance of his response in the ongoing dialogue.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations agree on the rendering of Elihu's response, using terms like 'answered' and 'said' to convey his role in the conversation.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The verse consists of two main clauses, with the finite verbs יַּ֥עַן and יֹּאמַֽר governing the actions of Elihu. The structure indicates a clear progression: Elihu first answers and then proceeds to declare his thoughts.
The Hebrew word order places emphasis on Elihu as the subject, establishing his authority as he speaks.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates עָנָה as ὑπολαβὼν (hypolabōn), which means 'taking up' or 'responding'. This choice suggests a more active engagement in the dialogue, highlighting Elihu's role as one who initiates a response rather than merely answering.
This translation reflects a slight shift in focus, emphasizing Elihu's proactive stance in addressing Job's claims.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 35:1 shows Elihu continuing the conversation with Job. He speaks up to address Job's claims, indicating that he has something important to say. Elihu's role is to clarify misunderstandings about God's justice and righteousness.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Elihu aims to correct Job's misconceptions and provide a clearer understanding of God's justice.
Elihu believes Job's claims of righteousness over God need to be challenged and clarified.
Unlike Job's friends, Elihu seeks to engage with Job's arguments directly and provide a more nuanced perspective.
Elihu's name means 'He is my God', which reflects his connection to God and his role as a spokesperson.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways do I respond to challenges in my life, similar to how Elihu responds to Job?
- How can I ensure that my responses to others are thoughtful and constructive?
- What can I learn from Elihu's approach to addressing difficult conversations?
- How does understanding God's justice influence my perspective on my own circumstances?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Early commentary on this verse highlights Elihu's role in the dialogue, illustrating the dynamics of his speech and its impact on the discussion.
Eliu therefore spake these words again. Every one, who says many things, is anxious to be always beginning, in his speech, in order, by this very beginning, to keep his hearers in suspense, so that they may be the more attentively silent,Early Church Fathers on Job 35 →
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 35:1 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleElihu spake moreover, and said. Elihu very probably paused awhile, and waited to observe whether any of the company would rise up, and either contradict and refute what he had said, or declare their
Read John Gill on Job 35 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryElihu spake moreover, and said, No JFB commentary on this verse.
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 35 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 35:1 Elihu spake moreover, and said,Ver. 1. Elihu spake moreover, and said] His speech was for God, as before; and therefore he spake moreover. For, as Austin saith of the feast of Pentecost, Gaudet produci haec solennitas; so we may say of a discourse of this nature, Gaudet produci haec sermocinatio; the longer it is the better; since of God and his righteous dealing, Non saris unquam dici potest, as Lavater here hath it, never can enough be spoken. For although we all yield that God is just, yet if any cross befall us we are apt to question it, and to think ourselves hardly dealt with.
Read John Trapp on Job 35 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleCHAPTER XXXV Elihu accuses Job of impious speeches, 1-4. No man can affect God by his iniquity, nor profit him by his righteousness, 5-8. Many are afflicted and oppressed, but few cry to God for help; and, for want of faith, they continue in affliction, 9-16. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXV
Read AdamClarke on Job 35 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleElihu spake - Hebrew, ויען vaya‛an “And he answered”; the word “answer” being used, as it is often in the Scriptures, to denote the commencement of a discourse.
Read Albert Barnes on Job 35 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the BibleELIHU’S THIRD .1. Elihu spake moreover — Job has made himself more righteous than God, in maintaining that he had not received his deserts.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Job 35 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
And Elihu went on to say:
Moreover Elihu answered,
And Elihu went on to say:
Then Elihu answered:
Tyndale line
Elihu spake moreover, and said,
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
Elihu spoke moreover, and said,
Elihu spake moreouer, and said,
Strictly literal
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
And Elihu answereth and saith: —
And Elihu answers and says:
Then commenced Elihu, and said,
Moreover Elihu continued, saying,
From the Latin
Moreover Eliu spoke these words:
Simplified
Then Elihu continued, saying,
And Elihu made answer and said,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree on the wording of this verse, with both preserving the essence of Elihu's response. The Septuagint's translation aligns closely with the Hebrew, maintaining the integrity of the original message.
וַיַּ֥עַן אֱלִיה֗וּ וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 35:1
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word עָנָה (*anah*) is built from a primitive root meaning to heed or pay attention, covering a range of meanings including to answer, respond, testify, and sing. It appears in contexts where one responds to speech or circumstances, and can also refer to singing. The lexicons indicate that it can imply both verbal responses and musical expression.
[עוּן] vb. dwell
base
עָנָה 316 vb. answer, respond
Qal
answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
money meets all demands
specif. respond as a witness, testify
less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
Niph.
make answer
be answered
Hiph. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
base
עָנָה vb. sing
Qal sing, utter tunefully
Pi. sing sweetly of it
base
H6030a עוּן dwell H6030b עָנָה answer, respond .. answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
. . respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
. money meets all demands
. . specif. respond as a witness, testify
. less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
. . make answer
. be answered
. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
H6030c עָנָה sing
6030 `anah aw-naw'
a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed,
i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extens. to
begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify,
announce:--give account, afflict (by mistake for 6031),
(cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for 6031), cry,
hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, X scholar, (give a) shout, sing
(together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness.
See also 1042, 1043.
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 01042
see HEBREW for 01043
עוּן (un) — to dwell.
(Qal) to dwell
עָנָה (a.nah) — to answer.
1) to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to answer, respond to
1a2) to testify, respond as a witness
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to make answer
1b2) to be answered, receive answer
Aramaic equivalent: a.nah (עֲנָה "to answer" H6032)
עָנָה (a.nah) — to sing.
(Qal) to sing, utter tunefully
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
אֱלִיהוּ (Eliyhuw) means "He is my God" and refers to several individuals in the Old Testament, most notably the young friend of Job who rebuked him and his companions. The entries detail Elihu's lineage, including his connections to the tribes of Levi and Judah, and mention other figures named Elihu, such as an Ephraimite and a Manassite warrior chief.
אֱלִיהוּ, אֱלִיהוּא n.pr.m. (He is (my) God)
the young friend of Job
an Ephraimite, Samuel’s great-grandfather
chief of Manasseh
a Korahite
one of the brethren of David
base
H453 אֱלִיהוּ, אֱלִיהוּא
453 'Eliyhuw el-ee-hoo'
or (fully) dEliyhuwh {el-ee-hoo'}; from 410 and 1931; God of
him; Elihu, the name of one of Job's friends, and of three
Israelites:--Elihu.
see HEBREW for 0410
see HEBREW for 01931
אֱלִיהוּ (e.li.hu) — Elihu.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Sa.1.1;
son of: Tohu (H8459);
father of: Jeroham (H3395); also called Eliab at 1Ch.6.27; Eliel at 1Ch.6.34;
§ Elihu = "He is my God"
1) the younger man who rebuked Job and his three friends
2) an Ephraimite, Samuel's great grandfather
3) a Manassite warrior chief for David
4) son of Shemaiah and Korhite gatekeeper
5) David's brother
אֱלִיהוּ (e.li.hu) — Elihu.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.12.20
§ Elihu = "He is my God"
1) the younger man who rebuked Job and his three friends
2) an Ephraimite, Samuel's great grandfather
3) a Manassite warrior chief for David
4) son of Shemaiah and Korhite gatekeeper
5) David's brother
אֱלִיהוּ (e.li.hu) — Elihu.
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
Elihu
Whose God is he. (1.) “The son of Barachel, a Buzite” (Job 32:2), one of Job’s friends. When the debate between Job and his friends is brought to a close, Elihu for the first time makes his appearance, and delivers his opinion on the points at issue (Job 32-37).
(2.) The son of Tohu, and grandfather of Elkanah (1 Sam. 1:1). He is called also Eliel (1 Chr. 6:34) and Eliab (6:27).
(3.) One of the captains of thousands of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:20).
(4.) One of the family of Obed-edom, who were appointed porters of the temple under David (1 Chr. 26:7).
(whose God is he (Jehovah)). One of the interlocutors in the book of Job. [JOB, JOB, BOOK OF] He is described as the "son of Baerachel the Buzite." A forefather of Samuel the prophet. (1 Samuel 1:1) In (1 Chronicles 27:18) Elihu "of the brethren of David" is mentioned as the chief of the tribe of Judah. One of the captains of the thousands of Manasseh, (1 Chronicles 12:20) who followed David to Ziklag after he had left the Philistine army on the eve of the battle of Gilboa. A Korhite Levite in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 26:7)
A native of Buz, Ge 22:21, which was probably a city of Edom, Jer 25:23, perhaps Bozrah, Jer 49:7,8,13. He came to condole with Job in his calamities. Young, ardent, sagacious, and devout, he listened attentively to the discourses of Job and his three friends; and at length broke in, with profuse apologies, to set them all right, Job 32:1-22. His address to Job he blames for condemning him as a hypocrite, in their ignorance of the wonders of God’s providence. In several sentences he beautifully expresses his faith in the pardoning and restoring grace of God towards sinners, Job 33:23,24,27-30, passages in probably the…
he is my God himself
אָמַר (amar) is a Hebrew verb meaning 'to say' or 'to utter,' with a broad range of uses including to promise, command, or even boast. It appears in various forms, such as in the Qal (to say), Niphal (to be told), and Hiphil (to avow). The entries highlight its versatility in both spoken and internal contexts, though no specific verse is noted.
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
Say
Say in the heart (= think)
Promise
Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
base
H559 אָמַר utter, say .. Say
. Say in the heart (= think)
. Promise
. Command (esp. late)
. be said, told
. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
. act proudly, boast
559 'amar aw-mar'
a primitive root; to say (used with great
latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call,
certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X
expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise,
publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X
suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech),
utter, X verily, X yet.
אָמַר (a.mar) — to say.
1) to say, speak, utter
1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend
1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called
1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly
1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch
Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms