Job 33:3
in Job 33My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My words shall utter the uprightness of my heart; And that which my lips know they shall speak sincerely.
KJV
My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
⋯
This verse in Job 33
Commentary
9 notes on this verseMy words are from my simple heart, and my lips shall speak a pure sentence. To say that speech is simple, is a praise of great weight. But because the haughty possess it not, they assert the more anxiously that they possess it, in order that they may be heard with less apprehension. And they declare that they are going to speak with pure intention, because they are afraid of their wicked duplicity being discovered.
This site's exposition
O Job, hear my speech
on Job 33:1-4
“But now, O Job, hear my speech” addresses Job by name, the first speaker in the book to do so. Gill reads “My words are from an upright heart” as sincerity against the friends' speeches. Henry notes that Elihu asks only the honest hearing Job had asked of his friends.
This site's exposition
My words are from an upright heart
Aquinas sets this against Job 19:2, where Job said the friends crushed him with words. These lips speak sincerely what they know. Chrysostom adds that the friends said much the same, yet in another spirit and without the aim of defending God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
These words mean, I do not speak so out of envy or jealousy. Even though the three friends said the same things as him, they did not do so in the same spirit or in order to defend God. Indeed also Judas and the eleven disciples expressed the same opinion about the vase of perfume, but not in the same spirit. Therefore, let us not examine the words but the intention with which each expresses himself. How the first wanted to overthrow him, whereas the latter wanted the opposite. Take heed: Elihu, who speaks last, expresses the thoughts that God is about to express, so that God may justify himself even better, once Job has heard the same remarks from his companions in bondage that he will afterwards hear from the Master.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Since Job in what has gone before has accused his friends of afflicting him and confounding him with words, (19:2) Eliud shows this is not true with him saying, "My words are in a simple heart," as if to say: I do not speak to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart, the genuine product of my convictions and sentiments." There was reason to suspect that Job's three friends did not think, in their consciences, that Job was so bad a man as they had in their discourses, merely for the support of their hypothesis, represented him to be; and that was not fair.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
My words shall be of the uprightness - As God has given me his Spirit, from that Spirit alone will I speak; therefore all my words shall be of uprightness, knowledge, and truth. Knowledge clearly - דעת ברור daath barur, pure science. I shall lay down no false positions, and I shall have no false consequences.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart - I will speak in sincerity. I will utter nothing that shall be hollow and hypocritical. What I speak shall be the real suggestion of my heart - what I feel and know to be true.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֹֽשֶׁר־ | yosher- | [are] [the] uprightness of | H3476 → | 14 times |
| לִבִּ֥י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֲמָרָ֑י | ʾamarai | words my | H561 → | 49 times |
| וְדַ֥עַת | vedaat | and [the] knowledge of | H1847 → | 92 times |
| שְׂ֝פָתַ֗י | sefatai | lips my | H8193 → | 176 times |
| בָּר֥וּר | barur | purified | H1305 → | |
| מִלֵּֽלוּ׃ | milelu | they speak | H4448 → |
יֹֽשֶׁר־[are] [the] uprightness of
yosher-H3476 →14 times
לִבִּ֥יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
אֲמָרָ֑יwords my
ʾamaraiH561 →49 times
וְדַ֥עַתand [the] knowledge of
vedaatH1847 →92 times
שְׂ֝פָתַ֗יlips my
sefataiH8193 →176 times
בָּר֥וּרpurified
barurH1305 →
מִלֵּֽלוּ׃they speak
mileluH4448 →
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
Proverbs 15:2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:23
A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself, but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.
- Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.
- Proverbs 13:16
Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool displays his folly.
- Proverbs 12:23
Through
Proverbs 20:15There is an abundance of gold and rubies, but lips of knowledge are a rare treasure.
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:11
For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
- Proverbs 25:12
Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.
- Proverbs 8:11
Through
Job 27:4my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
it leads to
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 33:1-3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.