I said, ‘Let days speak…’: this represents what Elihu thought to himself, not what he spoke; therefore Good News Translation has “I told myself that you ought to speak”; or it can be expressed “I said to myself, ‘The old men should speak.’ ” Days is used figuratively to refer to the old friends, who have experienced many more days of life than Elihu, and so are more qualified to speak. Translators should retain a figurative expression if such is natural in the language.

And many years teach wisdom completes the parallelism and what Elihu thought to himself. Many years, like days, refers to the friends as being older than Elihu. The meaning of this line is therefore “it is for the elderly to teach wisdom” or “the old men are the ones who should teach wisdom to others.”

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 .