What Does Job 32:6 Mean in the King James?
And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion.
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
Fear does not erase what you know; it hides it from the people who feel larger than you.
THE MEANING
You can carry knowledge and still hold it back when age or authority makes the room feel larger than your own voice. You shrink back, fear rises, and what you know stays hidden. Silence here is not proof of emptiness; it is knowledge under pressure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that silence proves you have nothing to say; fear can hide knowledge without making it disappear.
THE ROOT
דֵּעִי
deʿî
GROWS FROM
ידע
To know or perceive.
The Hebrew word is “my knowledge,” from the root for knowing and perceiving. What stays hidden is something known, not merely a passing opinion.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: knowledge
דַּעַת
This noun from the same root clarifies that the withheld “opinion” is presented as knowledge.
yodeaʿ: one who knows
יֹדֵעַ
This form makes the link between knowing and the knowledge kept from view explicit.
וָאִירָא
vaʾira
GROWS FROM
ירא
To fear or revere; fear toward people or danger, and awe when God is the one feared.
“afraid” in this verse is vaʾira. The same root can carry fear or reverence, with its shade shaped by whom one fears. Here the fear is directed toward people, and it stands between knowledge and its being shown.
ALSO GROWS
yirʾah: fear or awe
יִרְאָה
This noun shows the root can name the inward state that accompanies the verse’s withholding.
noraʾ: fearsome; awe-inspiring
נוֹרָא
This related form shows the root can describe what evokes fear, while here the people before Elihu evoke it.
THE PATTERN
Fear of human judgment can turn what is known into withheld speech or action.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.THE THREAD
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.Both verses use ירא (yareʾ) for fear. In Genesis, fear ends in hiding the self; here it ends in hiding knowledge, linking bodily concealment with withheld speech.
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