And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said,.... Since there was no answer in them, he takes upon him to give one himself; but first makes an apology on account of his youth:
I [am] young, and ye [are] very old; or "few of days"; a few days, comparatively speaking, had he lived in the world; or "small", or "little as two days" m; he had been but a little time in it, and so could be thought to have but little knowledge and experience; whereas they were old, even very old; with them were the aged and the grayheaded, Job 15:10; in whom it might have been expected was much wisdom and knowledge:
wherefore I was afraid, and durst not show mine opinion; declare what knowledge he had of the things in dispute, lest it should appear mean, small, and contemptible; or give his sentiments concerning them, lest he should speak wrongly, and not only give offence, but do more harm than good: the first of these words, in the Arabic language n, as Aben Ezra observes, signifies to go back; it is used of worms, which, through fear, withdraw themselves from men; so mean an opinion had he of himself, and such a sense of his own weakness, that it not only kept him back, but even caused him to draw back, and keep out of the dispute, and at a distance from it, instead of being forward to engage in it: one Jewish commentator o paraphrases it
"I humbled myself as one that goes on his belly;''
referring to worms that go low and creep upon their belly, or to the prostrate posture of men that humble themselves to their superiors.
m צעיר אני לימים "minimus ego diebus", Montanus; "parvus diebus sum", Mercerus. n "recessit suo loco", Castel. col. 1036. o Sephorno.