Job 33 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Job 33

Elihu Rebukes Job

33:1   “But now, hear my speech, O Job,
    and listen to all my words.
2   Behold, I open my mouth;
    the tongue in my mouth speaks.
3   My words declare the uprightness of my heart,
    and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
4   The Spirit of God has made me,
    and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5   Answer me, if you can;
    set your words in order before me; take your stand.
6   Behold, I am toward God as you are;
    I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.
7   Behold, no fear of me need terrify you;
    my pressure will not be heavy upon you.
8   “Surely you have spoken in my ears,
    and I have heard the sound of your words.
9   You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression;
    I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
10   Behold, he finds occasions against me,
    he counts me as his enemy,
11   he puts my feet in the stocks
    and watches all my paths.’
12   “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you,
    for God is greater than man.
13   Why do you contend against him,
    saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s¹ words’?²
14   For God speaks in one way,
    and in two, though man does not perceive it.
15   In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on men,
    while they slumber on their beds,
16   then he opens the ears of men
    and terrifies³ them with warnings,
17   that he may turn man aside from his deed
    and conceal pride from a man;
18   he keeps back his soul from the pit,
    his life from perishing by the sword.
19   “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed
    and with continual strife in his bones,
20   so that his life loathes bread,
    and his appetite the choicest food.
21   His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
    and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22   His soul draws near the pit,
    and his life to those who bring death.
23   If there be for him an angel,
    a mediator, one of the thousand,
    to declare to man what is right for him,
24   and he is merciful to him, and says,
    ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;
    I have found a ransom;
25   let his flesh become fresh with youth;
    let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
26   then man⁴ prays to God, and he accepts him;
    he sees his face with a shout of joy,
  and he restores to man his righteousness.
27     He sings before men and says:
  ‘I sinned and perverted what was right,
    and it was not repaid to me.
28   He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,
    and my life shall look upon the light.’
29   “Behold, God does all these things,
    twice, three times, with a man,
30   to bring back his soul from the pit,
    that he may be lighted with the light of life.
31   Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;
    be silent, and I will speak.
32   If you have any words, answer me;
    speak, for I desire to justify you.
33   If not, listen to me;
    be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Footnotes

[1] 33:13 Hebrew his
[2] 33:13 Or He will not answer for any of his own words
[3] 33:16 Or seals
[4] 33:26 Hebrew he

Commentary

v1-4: Elihu's life of integrity. He comes with words he genuinely believes are true. His claim to divine inspiration is not as specific as Eliphaz' (4.12-16).

v5-7: He identifies with Job. He has a concern for Job, and a desire to strengthen and edify him.

v8-11: Elihu quotes Job's words (as in 34.5-6), and weighs them. His quotation is a summary of Job's arguments.

v12-14: Elihu is concerned to declare the character of God; that He is great, that He is accountable to no man.

In 34.10-12, God will never do wickedly.
In 34.14-15, God is the source of all life.
In 36.5, God is mighty, but despises no one.
In 36.26; 37.21, God is beyond human understanding.

Elihu seeks to begin with God's character, His greatness and majesty. This contrasts with the three friends, who begin with their own thinking.

v15-18: God speaks into our lives. We may struggle to grasp how He speaks. Elihu refers to God speaking to intervene in human lives, to keep him from sin, and to keep him from death.

v19-22: God may bring suffering to a man. This appears to match Job's experience.

v23-28: The effect of God speaking, to restore man's relationship with Him. Instead of his flesh wasting away (as in v21), it is like that of a child (as in Naaman). He is restored to favour with God, his righteous state. There is repentance and thanksgiving (v27-28).

We may see too the person of Christ here; the messenger (angel), mediator, one out of a thousand, the ransom paid. He tells us what is right, and He is gracious to us.

v29-30: God's work in our lives, to bring life, not death; He is faithful and persistent, speaking repeatedly to us.

v31-33: Elihu urges Job to listen carefully to his words.