Job 33:17
in Job 33to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That he may withdraw man from his purpose, And hide pride from man;
KJV
That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
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This verse in Job 33
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThat He may withdraw man from the things that he has done, and may deliver him from pride. For what has man done of himself but sin? And it is written, Pride is the beginning of all sin. It is rightly said, then, that when man is withdrawn from what he has done, he is freed from pride. To transgress the commands of our Creator by sin, is to be haughty against Him; because a man casts off, as it were, the yoke of His authority, to Whom he scorns to submit by obedience.
This site's exposition
He opens their ears
on Job 33:16-18
“He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings” names the purpose of the dream: correction before the act. The goal is “to preserve his soul from the Pit”. Henry reads these verses as a mercy at work in Job's life that Job has not credited, God speaking to prevent.
This site's exposition
keep him from pride
Gill gives wrongdoing as work, a wicked work a man has begun or planned, as the Targum reads it. Henry and Wesley explain how God keeps him from pride. God sets His majesty before a man, so the man stops admiring himself.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
So he says, "to turn a man aside from what he has done." For man is frequently corrected in dreams for sins he has committed. Since the pride is the root of sin because by it one holds the commandments of God in contempt, he …
The words "that he may turn them aside from their deeds" means this: by way of those [dreams and visions] God keeps people from shameful actions. The words "he covers the body of man" [mean] sometimes he brings on righteous diseases and pains as well, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
That he may withdraw a man from his purpose,.... Or "work" (m), his wicked work, as the Targum; either which he has begun upon, or which he designed to do.
Particularly, God does, by this means, hide pride from man, that is, hide those things from him which are the matter of his pride, and take his mind off from dwelling upon them, by setting before him what reason he has to be humble. That he may take away pride from man (so some read it), that he may pluck up that root of bitterness which is the cause of so much sin.
Pride - And God by this means is said to hide pride from man, because by these glorious representations of his Divine majesty to man, he takes him off from the admiration of his own excellency, and brings him to a sight of his own weakness, and to an humble and ready submission to his will.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2453: “A Hard Case” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
HOW persevering is Divine love! "God speaks once." I have heard many a father say to his child, "Do not let me have to speak to you again." But the great Father has to speak again and when it is written, "God speaks once, yes twice, yet man perceives it not," we see how great is the stubbornness of the human heart! And we also see the gentleness of Divine love. When Elihu said, "God speaks once, yes twice," he meant that the Lord speaks repeatedly. Divine loving kindness has many voices. God often speaks to us in our childhood.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2453: “A Hard Case” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
HOW persevering is Divine love! "God speaks once." I have heard many a father say to his child, "Do not let me have to speak to you again." But the great Father has to speak again and when it is written, "God speaks once, yes twice, yet man perceives it not," we see how great is the stubbornness of the human heart! And we also see the gentleness of Divine love. When Elihu said, "God speaks once, yes twice," he meant that the Lord speaks repeatedly. Divine loving kindness has many voices. God often speaks to us in our childhood. Some of us hardly remember when first our Lord called us, as He called Samuel, saying, "Samuel, Samuel," and each for himself answered, "Here am I." We cannot forget the voices of our youth and boyhood—the messages that the Lord sent to us through loving parents and kind-hearted teachers, or the direct admonitions of the Holy Spirit. God spoke to us and spoke to us again, and spoke to us yet again—but we regarded not His voice. There are none so deaf as those who will not hear—and we were among those who would not hear even that voice to which Heaven and earth attend—that voice which even the dead will one day hear—when they that hear shall live! Do we not admire the great patience of God with us? I am sure we ought to and if we do, it will make us repent of our negligence of the Divine voice, so that, henceforth, we shall say with David, "When you said, Seek you My face; my heart said unto You." Note that, "my heart said unto You, Your face, Lord, will I seek." Oh, for the quick ear to catch the faintest sound of the Divine voice! Oh, for a ready heart, waiting for those tender condescending admonitions which the Lord is waiting to speak to us! But God has voices which He uses in such a way that men must and shall hear. There is not only the patience of love, but there is also the Omnipotence of love.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That he may withdraw man from his purpose - Margin, “work.” The sense is plain. God designs to warn him of the consequences of executing a plan of iniquity. He alarms him by showing him that his course will lead to punishment, and by representing to him in the night visions, the dreadful woes of the future world into which he is about to plunge. The object is to deter him from committing the deed of guilt which he had contemplated, and to turn him to the paths of righteousness.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְ֭הָסִיר | lehasir | to turn aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| אָדָ֣ם | ʾadam | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| מַעֲשֶׂ֑ה | maaseh | a deed | H4639 → | 236 times |
| וְגֵוָ֖ה | vegevah | and pride | H1466 → | |
| מִגֶּ֣בֶר | migever | from a man | H1397 → | 65 times |
| יְכַסֶּֽה׃ | yekhaseh | he will cover | H3680 → | 152 times |
לְ֭הָסִירto turn aside
lehasirH5493 →299 times
אָדָ֣םa person
ʾadamH120 →551 times
מַעֲשֶׂ֑הa deed
maasehH4639 →236 times
וְגֵוָ֖הand pride
vegevahH1466 →
מִגֶּ֣בֶרfrom a man
migeverH1397 →65 times
יְכַסֶּֽה׃he will cover
yekhasehH3680 →152 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 4:10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
it leads to
- Psalms 147:6
The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.
- Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- 1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
- Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- James 4:6–7
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Psalms 147:6
Through
Isaiah 2:11The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:15–16
So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
- Psalms 18:27
For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.
- Isaiah 2:17
So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
- Isaiah 5:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2453: “A Hard Case” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 33:17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.