Job 33:8
in Job 33Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
KJV
Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
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This verse in Job 33
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSurely thou hast spoken - What Elihu speaks here, and in the three following verses, contains, in general, simple quotations from Job’s own words, or the obvious sense of them, as the reader may see by referring to Job 13:27 (note); Job 14:16 (note), and Job 31:4 (note), and also to the notes on those passages.
This site's exposition
Surely you have spoken in my hearing
on Job 33:8-12
“Surely you have spoken in my hearing” begins Elihu's quotation. He answers, “you are not right in this matter”, “for God is greater than man”. Wesley reads verse 12 as the thesis stated early, the argument still to come, and Henry notes the quotation is fair to Job's words.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
After he has said these things as an introduction, he strengthens the arguments which he intends to use against Job, and so he says, "Therefore you have spoken in my hearing," as if to say: You cannot excuse yourself by saying that you did not …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Thou hast spoken then in mine ears, and I have heard the voice of thy words. And subjoining the very words, he says what he heard.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Those that sin before all rebuke before all. When we hear any thing said that tends to God's dishonour we ought publicly to bear our testimony against it. What is said amiss in our hearing we are concerned to reprove; for you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, to confront the accuser.
And sickness, ver. 19- 30. He requests Job to answer him, or let him go on, ver. 31-33 Commentary on Chapter XXXIII 3. My words - I will not speak passionately or partially, but from a sincere desire to do thee good.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-19/31-anchored-8-11
Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing,.... After the above preface, Elihu proceeds to the point in hand, and enters a charge against Job; which he took up, not upon suspicion and surmisings, nor upon report, nor upon accusations received from others, but what he had heard with his own ears, unless he was greatly mistaken indeed, which he thought he was not: and I have heard the voice of thy words; the sound of them, clearly and distinctly, and took in the sense of them, as he really believed: saying; as follows.
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)
13:23, Job had acknowledged sin; but the general spirit of his words was to maintain himself to be "clean," and to charge God with injustice. He went too far on the opposite side in opposing the friends' false charge of hypocrisy. Even the godly, though willing to confess themselves sinners in general, often dislike sin in particular to be brought as a charge against them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing - Margin, as in Hebrew “ears.” This shows that Elihu had been present during the debate, and had attentively listened to what had been said. He now takes up the main point on which he supposed that Job had erred - the attempt to justify himself. He professes to adduce the very words which he had used, and disclaims all design of judging from mere hearsay.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֭ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| אָמַ֣רְתָּ | ʾamarta | you have spoken | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְאָזְנָ֑י | veazenai | in ears my | H241 → | 187 times |
| וְק֖וֹל | vekol | and [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| מִלִּ֣ין | milin | words | H4405 → | 38 times |
| אֶשְׁמָֽע׃ | ʾeshma' | I heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
אַ֭ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
אָמַ֣רְתָּyou have spoken
ʾamartaH559 →5305 times
בְאָזְנָ֑יin ears my
veazenaiH241 →187 times
וְק֖וֹלand [the] sound of
vekolH6963 →506 times
מִלִּ֣יןwords
milinH4405 →38 times
אֶשְׁמָֽע׃I heard
ʾeshma'H8085 →1159 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
Jeremiah 29:23For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He…
it leads to
- Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
- Jeremiah 23:14
And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness.…
- Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Jeremiah 16:17
For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
- Malachi 3:5
Through
Deuteronomy 13:14then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 17:4
and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel,
- John 7:24
Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
- 1 Timothy 5:19
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
- Isaiah 11:3–4
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- Deuteronomy 17:4
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.