Job 33:23 BSB — MannaFest

Job 33:23

Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

If there be with him an angel, An interpreter, one among a thousand, To show unto man what is right for him;

KJV

If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:

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Commentary

3 voices

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIV (604)

If there shall be an Angel, speaking for him one of like things to shew the righteousness of man, he will pity him. For who is this Angel, but He who is called by the Prophet, The Angel of mighty counsel? [Is. 9, 6. lxx.] For because to declare is called 'evangelize' in Greek, the Lord in announcing Himself to us is called 'Angel.' [as Is. 63, 9] And he well says, If there shall be a messenger [or Angel] speaking for him; [Rom. 8, 26] because, as the Apostle says, He even intercedes for us.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

One, &c. - A person rightly qualified for this great and hard work, such as there are but very few. To shew - To direct him to the right way how he may please God, and procure that mercy which he thirsts after; which is not by quarrelling with God, but by an humble confession. and supplication for mercy through Christ the redeemer.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

His business at such a time is to show unto man his uprightness, that is, God's uprightness, that in faithfulness he afflicts him and does him no wrong, which it is necessary to be convinced of in order to our making a due improvement of the affliction: or, rather, it may mean man's uprightness, or rectitude.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

If there be a messenger with him - This part of the speech of Elihu has given rise to scarcely less diversity of opinion, and to scarcely less discussion, than the celebrated passage in Job 19:25-27. Almost every interpreter has had a special view of its meaning, and of course it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine its true sense.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 905: “Footsteps Of Mercy” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1869)

WHEN God has distinct and definite purposes of mercy towards an individual, He often begins with stern discipline and brings him low by affliction and sorrow. As the good farmer cuts down the trees and makes a clearance of the soil before he sows the grain and prepares for a harvest, so does our God cut down all our goodly cedars, our pleasures, and our pride in order that the heart may be afterwards plowed, broken, harrowed and made ready to receive the good seed of the Word. Elihu describes this preparatory breaking-up process as being brought about by sickness.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
אִם־	'im-	if	H518 →
יֵ֤שׁ	yesh	there	H3426 →
עָלָ֨יו׀	'a.Lav	on him	H5921 →
מַלְאָ֗ךְ	mal.'Akh	[is] an angel	H4397 →
מֵלִ֗יץ	me.Litz	a mediator	H3887 →
אֶחָ֥ד	'e.Chad	one	H259 →
מִנִּי־	mi.ni-	of	H4480 →
אָ֑לֶף	'A.lef	a thousand	H505 →
לְהַגִּ֖יד	le.ha.Gid	to tell	H5046 →
לְאָדָ֣ם	le.'a.Dam	to anyone	H120 →
יָשְׁרֽוֹ׃	ya.she.Ro	uprightness his	H3476 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Corinthians 5:20
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
leads to
- Ephesians 6:20
  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.
- Luke 14:23
  So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
- Malachi 2:7
  For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Ezekiel 18:31–32
  Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- John 20:21
  Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.”
Through
Malachi 3:1
“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He…
leads to
- Malachi 4:5
  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Luke 1:76
  And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
- Mark 1:2–3
  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Job: the study guide →Read chapter 33 →The featured study →

Continue: Job 33 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Job

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Job