Job 33:32
in Job 33But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If thou hast anything to say, answer me: Speak, for I desire to justify thee.
KJV
If thou hast any thing to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.
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This verse in Job 33
Commentary
10 notes on this verseEliu has uttered great and very powerful words. But it is a characteristic of every boastful person, that, while giving utterance to truths and mysteries, he suddenly blends with them, through pride of heart, some foolish and proud expressions. For he endeavours to please the world without, in that which he thinks with truth; and is soon despoiled of the truth, just as through haughtiness of pride he goes back from what is inward. For, because he seeks to be approved of outwardly as a man of learning, he loses inwardly the fulness of wisdom, in which he was instructed.
This site's exposition
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me
on Job 33:31-33
“Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak” closes the first argument by asking the silence Job demanded of others. Clarke reads “be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom” as courteous and confident, a young man's promise his elders in chapter 32 had doubted.
This site's exposition
I would like to vindicate you
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read vindicate as doing Job justice and declaring him innocent if the truth allows it. Henry draws the lesson. A man who rebukes another should hope to see him cleared, and should let him speak up and answer.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Lest he seem to inhibit his ability to answer he says, "If however you have something to say, answer me," and as though he desires his answer he adds, "speak." Then, he shows the cause of his desire saying, "I want you to be known …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, Those we reprove we should desire to justify, and be glad to see them clear themselves from the imputations they lie under, and therefore give them all possible advantage and encouragement to do so. (2.) If he has nothing to say against what is said, Elihu lets him know that he has something more to say, which he desires him patiently to attend to (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
If thou hast anything to say, answer me,.... Any thing to object to what he had delivered, or any answer to return to what he had charged him with: speak, for I desire to justify thee.
7 Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee. Several arguments Elihu here uses to persuade Job not only to give him a patient hearing, but to believe that he designed him a good office, and to take it kindly, and be willing to receive the instructions he was now about to give him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
justify--to do thee justice; and, if I can, consistently with it, to declare thee innocent. At Job 33:33 Elihu pauses for a reply; then proceeds in Job 34:1.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
If thou hast any thing to say - If thou hast any objection to make against what I have already stated, now answer, now speak freely; for it is my desire that thou shouldst stand clear of all charges.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If thou hast anything to say, answer me - In the previous verse, Elihu had asked that Job would hear all that he had to say. Yet here, in view of what he had said, he asks of him that if there were any thing from which he dissented, he would now express his dissent. We may suppose that he paused at this part of his speech, and as what he had said related particularly to Job, he felt that it was proper that he should have an opportunity to reply. For I desire to justify thee - I would do you justice. I would not pervert what you have said, or attribute to you any wrong opinions or any improper motives Perhaps there may be included also a wish to vindicate him, if he possibly could. He did not desire to dispute for the sake of disputing, or to blame him if he could avoid it, but his aim was the truth; and if he could, he wished to vindicate the character of Job from the aspersions which had been cast upon it.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יֵשׁ־ | yesh- | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| מִלִּ֥ין | milin | [are] words | H4405 → | 38 times |
| הֲשִׁיבֵ֑נִי | hashiveni | respond to me | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| דַּ֝בֵּ֗ר | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חָפַ֥צְתִּי | chafatzti | I desire | H2654 → | 74 times |
| צַדְּקֶֽךָּ׃ | tzadekeka | to justify you | H6663 → | 41 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יֵשׁ־there
yesh-H3426 →140 times
מִלִּ֥ין[are] words
milinH4405 →38 times
הֲשִׁיבֵ֑נִיrespond to me
hashiveniH7725 →1056 times
דַּ֝בֵּ֗רspeak
daberH1696 →1141 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
חָפַ֥צְתִּיI desire
chafatztiH2654 →74 times
צַדְּקֶֽךָּ׃to justify you
tzadekekaH6663 →41 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 27:5I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.
it leads to
- Job 2:9
Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”
- Job 13:15
Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
- Job 42:7
After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as…
- Proverbs 17:15
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
- Job 2:9
Through
Job 21:27Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
it leads to
- Luke 5:22
Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus replied, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
- Psalms 119:86
All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted without cause—help me!
- Job 32:3
and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.
- Job 15:20–35
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
- Luke 5:22
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 XXIV; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.