איוב, פרק ט״ו, פסוק י׳

Job is challenged by his companions, who seek to humble him and strip away his sense of intellectual superiority. They want to make it clear that he cannot claim a monopoly on wisdom simply through life experience or age. The friends argue that within their own ranks sit men of deep experience and advanced age, men who are even older than Job's own father. Because of this, Job has no right to boast about his understanding when compared to them, and certainly not when measured against previous generations [מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד, אלשיך].

Even if the one speaking to Job happens to be a younger man, he speaks in the plural to represent the collective wisdom of his companions. He is either referring directly to older friends in the group, such as Bildad, or speaking on behalf of the entire gathering, which includes at least one person significantly older than Job's father [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The argument carefully distinguishes between different stages of aging to emphasize the depth of experience present among them. A clear distinction is made between a standard old man or grandfather [ביאור שטיינזלץ], and someone who has reached a much more advanced and extreme stage of old age [מלבי״ם]. The group insists that such profoundly aged individuals are right there among them [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. When describing just how much older these men are than Job's father, the primary approach among commentators is that they possess a much greater abundance of days and years [רש״י, מצודת ציון]. However, another perspective suggests that they are not just older in time, but greater in overall stature [אבן עזרא].