It is not the old that are wise: the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates that the Hebrew has “many” instead of old. Revised Standard Version follows the ancient versions, which makes for a better parallelism with the next line. However, as Dhorme points out, in Genesis 25.23 the singular of the Hebrew term means “elder,” and so no change is required in the text to get old. Revised Standard Version makes a general statement that the old are not wise. Elihu has just said that it is not age but God that gives wisdom. Therefore the meaning here needs to be made clear by qualifying the statement, which Good News Translation has done well with “It is not growing old that makes men wise.” In other words “Men do not become wise just by getting old.”

Nor the aged that understand what is right: what is right translates the word commonly rendered “judgment,” and refers here to what is just or right. Bible en français courant restructures verse 9 in a way that may be helpful to translators: “To be wise, to recognize what is just, depends neither on age nor experience.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “Many years do not make a person wise, nor do beards bring with them proper understanding.” This same thought may be expressed in some languages as “Being an old person with one hair does not make you wise, nor does having a wrinkled face give you understanding.”

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 .