The Hebrew of this verse is literally “And Elihu had waited for Job with words, because they were older than he in days.” The Hebrew does not make it clear whether Elihu had been waiting to speak to Job, or whether he was waiting while the friends were speaking. Some suggest changing the Hebrew “with words” to “while they were speaking.” Good News Translation does not make any change but takes “with words” to refer to the speaking done by the friends, and so “until everyone finished speaking.” The friends were older than he; that is, older than Elihu, and therefore had more right to speak than Elihu. In translation it may be better to say, as does Good News Translation, “because he was younger than they were,” as this keeps the focus primarily on Elihu.

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 .