What Does Job 32:5 Mean in the King James?
When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The absence of an answer is not an empty event: it is what Elihu sees just before his anger heats.
THE MEANING
You see no answer coming from the three men’s mouths, and Elihu’s anger rises. The verse holds silence and heat in the same moment: no words come from them, yet the scene is not emotionally empty.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Silence does not always mean a matter is settled; here, the absence of an answer is precisely what Elihu sees before his anger ignites.
THE ROOT
מַעֲנֶה
maʿaneh
GROWS FROM
ענה
to answer, respond
Hebrew locates the missing answer in the men’s mouths, making its absence concrete. The root names response as an act, so the empty space between their silence and Elihu’s anger becomes the hinge of the verse.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaneh: answer, response
מַעֲנֶה
This noun names the response that is absent from the men’s mouths.
ʿōneh: one who answers
עֹנֶה
This answering person makes visible the gap between a speaking mouth and a voice that responds.
וַיִּחַר
wayyiḥar
GROWS FROM
חרה
to burn, become hot
The verb behind “was kindled” describes becoming hot. Anger remains an image of rising heat in the Hebrew, sparked here as Elihu sees the unanswered mouths.
ALSO GROWS
ḥārāh: to burn, become hot
חָרָה
This lexical form carries the heat image expressed by “kindled” in the verse.
yiḥar: he or it becomes hot, will burn
יִחַר
This form of the same root keeps the meaning as heat rising, rather than a separate substance.
THE PATTERN
Speech, silence, and timing shape whether anger rises or is restrained.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:THE THREAD
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.Job 32:5 uses מַעֲנֶה (maʿaneh, “answer”) for what is missing; Proverbs 15:1 uses the same noun for a soft answer. The shared root makes the contrast precise: here no answer stands beside kindled anger, while there a soft answer turns wrath away.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us