Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us: in 12.12 Job said “Wisdom is with the aged.” If Eliphaz is referring to himself, he is claiming wisdom by virtue of being older than Job. In that case he claims what he accused Job of claiming. There are several ways of understanding gray-haired and aged. Both are singular and may refer to a single class of people, that is, “old men.” They may refer to Eliphaz and his companions, who then would be older than your (Job’s) father. Although this seems doubtful, it is the view taken by Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New International Version, Bible en français courant, and others. New Jerusalem Bible translates “One of us is…”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “Look, here among us is an old man, and the other older in years than your father.” Another view is that Eliphaz refers to old men of wisdom in general, as Moffatt says, “Gray hairs and age are on our side,” and as is shown in Good News Translation. It is not possible to eliminate any of these, but it does seem best in the context to assume, as does Good News Translation, that the wisdom of the gray-haired and the aged from times before Job’s father is present in the learning of Eliphaz and his companions. Bible en français courant renders verse 10 “There are among us people of great experience, richer in years even than your own father.” In some languages the thought of Good News Translation may be expressed “We learned our wisdom from men having only one hair; those men were born long before your father.” In other languages this may be expressed “Old men with wrinkled faces taught us wisdom; they lived long before your own father.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .