Job 33 · Verse 22

Job 33:22

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
Job 33:22, King James Version

Job 33:22 in other translations

BSBHe draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
WEBYes, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
ASVYea, his soul draweth near unto the pit, And his life to the destroyers.
YLTAnd draw near to the pit doth his soul, And his life to those causing death.
DARBYAnd his soul draweth near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
BBEAnd his soul comes near to the underworld, and his life to the angels of death.
WebsterYes, his soul draweth near to the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

What does Job 33:22 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
22. destroyers--angels of death commissioned by God to end man's life (2Sa 24:16; Psa 78:49). The death pains personified may, however, be meant; so "gnawers" (see on Job 30:17).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 22 His soul draweth near unto the grave - נפש nephesh, soul, is here taken for the immortal spirit, as it is distinguished from חיה chaiyah, the animal life. The former draws near to the pit, שחת shachath, corruption; perhaps he meant dissipation, considering it merely as the breath. The latter draws near לממתים lamemithim, to the dead; i.e., to those who are already buried. Mr. Good translates it the Destinies; and supposes the same is meant among the Hebrews by the Memithim, as among the Greeks by their Μοιραι; the Latins, by their Parcae; the Goths, by their Fatal Sisters; the Scandinavians, by their goddess Hela; and the Arabians, by Azrael, or the angel of death. I think, however, the signification given above is more natural.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 33:19-28

Job complained of his diseases, and judged by them that God was angry with him; his friends did so too: but Elihu shows that God often afflicts the body for good to the soul. This thought will be of great use for our getting good from sickness, in and by which God speaks to men. Pain is the fruit of sin; yet, by the grace of God, the pain of the body is often made a means of good to the soul. When afflictions have…

Read the full comment on Job 33:19-28 →

Job 33:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַתִּקְרַ֣בva.tik.Ravand it drew nearH7126
לַשַּׁ֣חַתla.Sha.chatto the pitH7845
נַפְשׁ֑וֹnaf.Shoself hisH5315
וְ֝חַיָּת֗וֹve.chai.ya.Toand life hisH2416
לַֽמְמִתִֽים\׃La.mi.Timto <the> [those who] bring deathH4191

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 33:22

  • 2 Samuel 24:16

    And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

  • Job 33:28

    He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:10

    Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

  • Psalms 88:3-5

    For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

  • Job 17:1

    My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

  • Job 15:21

    A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

  • Acts 12:23

    And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

  • Job 17:13-16

    If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

  • Job 7:7

    O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.

  • Psalms 30:3

    O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

  • Isaiah 38:10

    I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

  • 1 Samuel 2:6

    The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
his soul.
7:7; 17:1,13-16; 1Sa 2:6; Ps 30:3; 88:3-5; Isa 38:10
his life.
15:21; Ex 12:23; 2Sa 24:16; Ps 17:4; Ac 12:23; 1Co 10:10; Re 9:11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 33:21

    His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.

  • Job 33:22

    Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

  • Job 33:23

    If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:

Read all of Job 33

Job 33:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y su alma se acerca al sepulcro, y su vida á los que causan la muerte.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et son âme s’approche de la fosse, et sa vie, de ceux qui font mourir.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und seine Seele nähert sich der Grube, und sein Leben den Würgern.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Appropinquavit corruptioni anima ejus, et vita illius mortiferis.