Job 33:6
in Job 33I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I am toward God even as thou art: I also am formed out of the clay.
KJV
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
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This verse in Job 33
Commentary
10 notes on this verseBehold, God made me as well as thee, and I am also formed of the same clay; yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and my eloquence be burdensome to thee. What then is meant by Eliu acknowledging the order of his true creation, and not knowing the limits of proper speech? What by his putting himself on a level with Job when created, and setting himself above him when about to speak?
This site's exposition
Refute me if you can
on Job 33:5-7
“Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me” invites the reply Job could never draw from God. Barnes reads the offer as Elihu posing as the arbiter Job wished for at 9:33, a claim the speech does not fully sustain.
This site's exposition
formed from clay
Older versions have the speaker stand in God's stead according to Job's wish, and Barnes gives the Hebrew behind wish as mouth. The Berean reads just like you before God. Henry notes that some render the second clause as formed of the same clay.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
For it is peculiar to the arrogant that they always believe, even before they speak, that they are going to say some wonderful thing. And they anticipate their own words by their own admiration, because, with all their acuteness, they are not sensible to how great a folly is their very pride. We must observe also that Paul, when he was giving the Hebrews some striking warnings, subjoined, "I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of consolation, for I have written to you in few words." But Elihu uttered empty words and afterwards added, as if for consolation, "Yet let not my wonder terrify you or my eloquence be burdensome to you." The one called his sayings the words of consolation; the other called them eloquence and a marvel. Behold, how different in taste are the fruits that spring forth from diverse roots of thought. The one thinks humbly of his high qualities; the other exalts himself without reason on his scanty endowments. What then is specially to be observed in all this, but that those who are about to rise think themselves low, and that they who are soon to fall ever stand on high ground? As Solomon bears witness, "The heart is exalted before destruction and is brought low before honor."
Lest Job scorn to dispute with him because of his own reputation for wisdom and his youth, he excludes this saying, "Behold, God made both you and me," so from the Creator's point of view both of us have the same hope of inquiring into …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"I," says Elihu, "am formed out of the clay as well as thou," formed of the same clay, so some read it. It is good for us all to consider that we are formed out of the clay; and well for us it is that those who are to us in God's stead are so, that he speaks to us by men like ourselves, according to Israel's wish upon a full trial, Deut. v. 24 .
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay - Mr. Good, and before him none other that I have seen, has most probably hit the true meaning: - “Behold, I am thy fellow. I too was formed by God out of the clay.” The word כפיך kephicha, which we translate according to thy wish, and which, if Hebrew, would mean like to thy mouth; he considers as pure Arabic, with a Hebrew postfix, (Arabic) kefoo, signifying fellow, equal, like.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
13:3, 20, 21). formed--Though acting as God's representative, I am but a creature, like thyself. Arabic, "pressed together," as a mass of clay by the potter, in forming a vessel [UMBREIT]. Hebrew, "cut off," as the portion taken from the clay to form it [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, I am according to thy wish in Gods stead - Margin, as in Hebrew “mouth.” The mouth is that by which we express our desires, and the word here is equivalent to wish. Some have, however, rendered this differently. Umbreit translates it, ich bin, wie du, von Gott - I am, as thou art, from God. So Noyes, “I, like thee, am a creature of God.” Wemyss, “I am thine equal in the sight of God.” Coverdale, “Behold, before God am I even as thou, for I am fashioned and made even of the same mould.” The Vulgate renders it, “Behold God made me as he made thee; and of the same clay am I formed.” So the Septuagint, “From clay am I formed as well as thou, and we are formed from the same.” This interpretation seems to be demanded also by the parallelism, where he says that he was made of the same clay with Job; that is, that he was a man like him. Still, it seems to me, that the fair and obvious meaning of the Hebrew is that which is expressed in our common version. The Hebrew is, לאל כפיך הן־אני כפי hēn'ănı̂y kepiykā lā'ĕl - “lo, I am, according to thy mouth (word, or wish) for God;” that is, I am in his place; I speak in his name; I am so commissioned by him that you may regard yourself as in fact speaking to him when you address his ambassador. This will also accord with what is said in Job 33:7, and with what Job had so earnestly desired, that he might be allowed to bring his cause directly before God; see the notes at Job 13:3. I also am formed out of the clay - Margin, “cut.” The figure is taken from the act of the potter, who cuts off a portion of clay which he moulds into a vessel, and there is manifest allusion here to the statement in Genesis, that God made man of the dust of the ground. The meaning in this connection is, “Though I am in the place of God, and speak in his name, yet I am also a man, made of the same frail material as yourself. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵן־ | hen- | here! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| כְפִ֣יךָ | khefikha | [am] like mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| לָאֵ֑ל | lael | to <the> God | H410 → | 241 times |
| מֵ֝חֹ֗מֶר | mechomer | from clay | H2563 → | 31 times |
| קֹרַ֥צְתִּי | koratzti | I was nipped off | H7169 → | |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָֽנִי׃ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
הֵן־here!
hen-H2005 →316 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
כְפִ֣יךָ[am] like mouth your
khefikhaH6310 →498 times
לָאֵ֑לto <the> God
laelH410 →241 times
מֵ֝חֹ֗מֶרfrom clay
mechomerH2563 →31 times
קֹרַ֥צְתִּיI was nipped off
koratztiH7169 →
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אָֽנִי׃I
ʾaniH589 →874 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
Genesis 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Acts 17:25
Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
Through
2 Corinthians 5:1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
it leads to
- Job 19:25–26
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
- 1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as…
- Job 19:25–26
Through
Job 10:9Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
it leads to
- Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 2:7
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 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; 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.