Ayub 12:12

12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged? ¹ 

Does not long life bring understanding?

Ayub 29:7

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square, ² 

Ayub 32:9

32:9 It is not the aged ³  who are wise,

nor old men who understand what is right.

[12:12]  ¹ tn The statement in the Hebrew Bible simply has “among the aged – wisdom.” Since this seems to be more the idea of the friends than of Job, scholars have variously tried to rearrange it. Some have proposed that Job is citing his friends: “With the old men, you say, is wisdom” (Budde, Gray, Hitzig). Others have simply made it a question (Weiser). But others take לֹא (lo’) from the previous verse and make it the negative here, to say, “wisdom is not….” But Job will draw on the wisdom of the aged, only with discernment, for ultimately all wisdom is with God.

[29:7]  ² sn In the public square. The area referred to here should not be thought of in terms of modern western dimensions. The wide space, plaza, or public square mentioned here is the open area in the gate complex where legal and business matters were conducted. The area could be as small as a few hundred square feet.

[32:9]  ³ tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.