Job 33:22
in Job 33He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the pit, And his life to the destroyers.
KJV
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
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This verse in Job 33
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHis soul shall draw near to corruption, and his life to the destroyers. For the soul of every just man when tempted is said to draw near to corruption, when, for fear his virtue should elate him, he is compelled by the rod to feel what he is in his own natural infirmity. He approaches, in truth, to corruption, because he learns that by his own strength he is not far from destruction, in order that he may ascribe not to himself but to the Lord, that he is far from that destruction.
This site's exposition
A man is also chastened on his bed
on Job 33:19-22
“A man is also chastened on his bed with pain” introduces the second way God speaks, through suffering. Elihu describes it in sickbed terms close to Job's state: “he detests his bread”. Barnes reads the chastening as communication, pain sent as a message, which is Elihu's whole argument in small.
This site's exposition
the messengers of death
Henry reads the messengers of death as the pangs of death, ready to seize the dying man. Clarke gives the Pit as shachath, corruption. These messengers stand beside the messenger of Job 33:23, one sent for death and one for life.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fifth, he places the danger and fear of death saying, "His soul will approach corruption," which refers to his life, which is lived because of his soul. So he adds, "and the life of that man will approach to the dangers of death," to causes …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): His soul draws near to the grave, that is, he has all the symptoms of death upon him, and in the apprehension of all about him, as well as in his own, he is a dying man. The pangs of death, here called the destroyers, are just ready to seize him; they compass him about, Ps. cxvi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
His soul draweth near unto the grave - נפש nephesh, soul, is here taken for the immortal spirit, as it is distinguished from חיה chaiyah, the animal life. The former draws near to the pit, שחת shachath, corruption; perhaps he meant dissipation, considering it merely as the breath. The latter draws near לממתים lamemithim, to the dead; i.e., to those who are already buried.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave - That is, he himself does, for the word soul is often used to denote self. And his life to the destroyers - - לממתים lammitiym. literally, “to those causing death.” The interpretation commonly given of this is, “the angels of death” who were supposed to come to close human life; compare 2Sa 24:16-17. But it probably refers to diseases and pangs as having power to terminate life, and being the cause of the close of life. The meaning is, that the afflicted man comes very near to those acute sufferings which terminate life, and which by personification are here represented as the authors of death.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּקְרַ֣ב | vatikrav | and it drew near | H7126 → | |
| לַשַּׁ֣חַת | lashachat | to the pit | H7845 → | 23 times |
| נַפְשׁ֑וֹ | nafsho | self his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְ֝חַיָּת֗וֹ | vechaiyato | and life his | H2416 → | 498 times |
| לַֽמְמִתִֽים׃ | lamitim | to <the> [those who] bring death | H4191 → | 839 times |
וַתִּקְרַ֣בand it drew near
vatikravH7126 →
לַשַּׁ֣חַתto the pit
lashachatH7845 →23 times
נַפְשׁ֑וֹself his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
וְ֝חַיָּת֗וֹand life his
vechaiyatoH2416 →498 times
לַֽמְמִתִֽים׃to <the> [those who] bring death
lamitimH4191 →839 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
Job 15:21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
it leads to
- Job 18:11
Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Leviticus 26:36
As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…
- 1 Corinthians 10:10
And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
- Job 18:11
Through
Psalms 30:3O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.
it leads to
- Psalms 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Psalms 86:13
For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
- Psalms 16:10
Through
2 Samuel 24:16But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that…
it leads to
- Exodus 12:23
When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow…
- Exodus 12:23
Through
Isaiah 38:10I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”
it leads to
- Psalms 102:24
I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.
- Psalms 102:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.