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Text -- Job 33:1-29 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Elihu Invites Job’s Attention
33:1 “But now , O Job , listen to my words , and hear everything I have to say !
33:2 See now , I have opened my mouth ; my tongue in my mouth has spoken .
33:3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart , and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely .
33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life .
33:5 Reply to me, if you can ; set your arguments in order before me and take your stand !
33:6 Look , I am just like you in relation to God ; I too have been molded from clay .
33:7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure be heavy on you.
Elihu Rejects Job’s Plea of Innocence
33:8 “Indeed , you have said in my hearing (I heard the sound of the words !):
33:9 ‘I am pure , without transgression ; I am clean and have no iniquity .
33:10 Yet God finds occasions with me; he regards me as his enemy !
33:11 He puts my feet in shackles ; he watches closely all my paths .’
33:12 Now in this , you are not right – I answer you, for God is greater than a human being.
33:13 Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words ?
Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God
33:14 “For God speaks , the first time in one way, the second time in another, though a person does not perceive it.
33:15 In a dream , a night vision , when deep sleep falls on people as they sleep in their beds .
33:16 Then he gives a revelation to people, and terrifies them with warnings ,
33:17 to turn a person from his sin , and to cover a person’s pride .
33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption , his very life from crossing over the river .
33:19 Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed , and with the continual strife of his bones ,
33:20 so that his life loathes food , and his soul rejects appetizing fare .
33:21 His flesh wastes away from sight , and his bones , which were not seen , are easily visible .
33:22 He draws near to the place of corruption , and his life to the messengers of death .
33:23 If there is an angel beside him, one mediator out of a thousand , to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness ;
33:24 and if God is gracious to him and says , ‘Spare him from going down to the place of corruption , I have found a ransom for him,’
33:25 then his flesh is restored like a youth’s ; he returns to the days of his youthful vigor.
33:26 He entreats God , and God delights in him, he sees God’s face with rejoicing , and God restores to him his righteousness .
33:27 That person sings to others , saying : ‘I have sinned and falsified what is right , but I was not punished according to what I deserved .
33:28 He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption , and my life sees the light !’
Elihu’s Appeal to Job
33:29 “Indeed , God does all these things, twice, three times , in his dealings with a person ,
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Elihu |
Job |
God |
Philosophy |
Wicked |
AFFLICTION |
Agency |
Conviction |
Afflictions and Adversities |
Dream |
Repentance |
Repentant Ones |
Prophets |
Stocks |
Ransom |
Complaint |
Pain |
Self-righteousness |
Jesus, The Christ |
Blasphemy |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Job 33:1; Job 33:1; Job 33:2; Job 33:2; Job 33:3; Job 33:3; Job 33:4; Job 33:4; Job 33:5; Job 33:6; Job 33:7; Job 33:7; Job 33:8; Job 33:9; Job 33:9; Job 33:10; Job 33:10; Job 33:10; Job 33:11; Job 33:12; Job 33:12; Job 33:13; Job 33:14; Job 33:16; Job 33:16; Job 33:17; Job 33:17; Job 33:18; Job 33:18; Job 33:19; Job 33:19; Job 33:20; Job 33:21; Job 33:22; Job 33:22; Job 33:23; Job 33:23; Job 33:24; Job 33:24; Job 33:24; Job 33:24; Job 33:25; Job 33:25; Job 33:26; Job 33:26; Job 33:26; Job 33:26; Job 33:26; Job 33:27; Job 33:27; Job 33:27; Job 33:28; Job 33:29; Job 33:29
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NET Notes: Job 33:2 H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 210) says, “The self-importance of Elihu is boundless, and he is the master of banality.” He adds that whoever w...
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NET Notes: Job 33:5 The Hebrew text does not contain the term “arguments,” but this verb has been used already for preparing or arranging a defense.
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NET Notes: Job 33:6 The verb means “nipped off,” as a potter breaks off a piece of clay when molding a vessel.
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NET Notes: Job 33:9 The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash...
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NET Notes: Job 33:10 The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV ...
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NET Notes: Job 33:12 The LXX has “he that is above men is eternal.” Elihu is saying that God is far above Job’s petty problems.
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NET Notes: Job 33:13 The MT has “all his words.” This must refer to “man” in the previous verse. But many wish to change it to “my words,R...
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NET Notes: Job 33:14 The Syriac and the Vulgate have “and he does not repeat it,” a reading of the text as it is, according to E. Dhorme (Job, 403). But his ar...
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NET Notes: Job 33:16 Heb “and seals their bonds.” The form of the present translation, “and terrifies them with warnings,” is derived only by emend...
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NET Notes: Job 33:17 Here too the sense of the MT is difficult to recover. Some translations took it to mean that God hides pride from man. Many commentators changed ...
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NET Notes: Job 33:18 Here is another difficult line. The verb normally means “to pass through; to pass over,” and so this word would normally mean “from ...
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NET Notes: Job 33:19 The Kethib “the strife of his bones is continual,” whereas the Qere has “the multitude of his bones are firm.” The former is t...
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NET Notes: Job 33:20 Heb “food of desire.” The word “rejects” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Job 33:21 Heb “are laid bare.” This is the Qere reading; the Kethib means “bare height.” Gordis reverses the word order: “his bone...
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NET Notes: Job 33:22 The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about dea...
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NET Notes: Job 33:23 This is a smoother reading. The MT has “to tell to a man his uprightness,” to reveal what is right for him. The LXX translated this word &...
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NET Notes: Job 33:24 This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.
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NET Notes: Job 33:25 The word describes the period when the man is healthy and vigorous, ripe for what life brings his way.
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NET Notes: Job 33:26 Many commentators think this line is superfluous and so delete it. The RSV changed the verb to “he recounts,” making the idea that the man...
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NET Notes: Job 33:27 The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meanin...
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