He has not directed his words against me: He refers to Job, who has not directed …, an expression meaning “to marshal” or “to line up in rows.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests “And he has not lined up (his arguments) against me.” Good News Translation “Job was speaking to you, not to me” gives the sense but loses the feeling of the original. We can translate “Job was not aiming his arguments at me” or “I was not the target of Job’s words.”

And I will not answer him with your speeches: Elihu is saying that he will not reply to Job with the poor arguments of the friends, or as Good News Translation says, “but I would never answer the way you did.”

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 .