Job 33 · Verse 23

Job 33:23

If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
Job 33:23, King James Version

Job 33:23 in other translations

BSBYet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
WEB“If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him,
ASVIf there be with him an angel, An interpreter, one among a thousand, To show unto man what is right for him;
YLTIf there is by him a messenger, An interpreter--one of a thousand, To declare for man his uprightness:
DARBYIf there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his duty;
BBEIf now there may be an angel sent to him, one of the thousands which there are to be between him and God, and to make clear to man what is right for him;
WebsterIf there is a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man his uprightness:

What does Job 33:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. Elihu refers to himself as the divinely-sent (Job 32:8; 33:6) "messenger," the "interpreter" to explain to Job and vindicate God's righteousness; such a one Eliphaz had denied that Job could look for (Job 5:1), and Job (Job 9:33) had wished for such a "daysman" or umpire between him and God. The "messenger" of good is antithetical to the "destroyers" (Job 33:23). with him--if there be vouchsafed to the sufferer. The office of the interpreter is stated "to show unto man God's uprightness" in His dealings; or, as Umbreit, "man's upright course towards God" (Pr 14:2). The former is better; Job maintained his own "uprightness" (Job 16:17; 27:5, 6); Elihu on the contrary maintains God's, and that man's true uprightness lies in submission to God. "One among a thousand" is a man rarely to be found. So Jesus Christ (So 5:10). Elihu, the God-sent mediator of a temporal deliverance, is a type of the God-man Jesus Christ the Mediator of eternal deliverance: "the messenger of the covenant" (Mal 3:1). This is the wonderful work of the Holy Ghost, that persons and events move in their own sphere in such a way as unconsciously to shadow forth Him, whose "testimony is the Spirit of prophecy"; as the same point may be center of a small and of a vastly larger concentric circle.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 V. The Messengers If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, etc. - The Messengers of righteousness; this is a Fifth method, אם יש עליו מלאך מליץ im yesh alaiv malach melits, "If there be over him an interpreting or mediatorial angel or messenger." One among a thousand, אחד מני אלף echad minni aleph. "One from the Chief, Head, or Teacher." To show unto man his uprightness - להגיד לאדם ישרו lehaggid leadam yoshro, "to manifest or cause to be declared to man his righteousness:" to show unto Adam - men in general, the descendants of the first man - his purity and holiness; to convince him of sin, righteousness, and judgment, that he may be prepared for the discovery of what is next to be exhibited.

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 33:23 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.

אִם\־'im-ifH518
יֵ֤שׁyeshthereH3426
עָלָ֨יו\׀'a.Lavon himH5921
מַלְאָ֗ךְmal.'Akh[is] an angelH4397
מֵלִ֗יץme.Litza mediatorH3887
אֶחָ֥ד'e.ChadoneH259
מִנִּי\־mi.ni-ofH4480
אָ֑לֶף'A.lefa thousandH505
לְהַגִּ֖ידle.ha.Gidto tellH5046
לְאָדָ֣םle.'a.Damto anyoneH120
יָשְׁרֽוֹ\׃ya.she.Rouprightness hisH3476

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

Cross references for Job 33:23

  • Malachi 3:1

    Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

  • Ecclesiastes 7:28

    Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

  • 2 Corinthians 5:20

    Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

  • Haggai 1:13

    Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.

  • Malachi 2:7

    For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

  • Psalms 119:75

    I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

  • Job 36:3

    I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

  • Job 36:8-13

    And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction; Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. …

  • Hebrews 12:5-12

    And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. …

  • Daniel 9:14

    Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

  • Job 37:23

    Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

  • Psalms 94:12

    Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law;

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
a messenger.
Jud 2:1; 2Ch 36:15,16; Hag 1:13; Mal 2:7; 3:1; 2Co 5:20
an interpreter.
34:32; Ps 94:12; Isa 61:1-3; Ac 8:30; 1Co 11:30-32; Heb 12:5-12
one.
9:3; Ec 7:28; Ro 11:13
to.
11:6; 34:10,12; 35:14; 36:3,8-13; 37:23; Ne 9:33; Ps 119:75
La 3:22,23,32,39-41; Eze 18:25-28; Da 9:14

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

Context

  • 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:

  • Job 33:24

    Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Read all of Job 33

Job 33:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Si tuviera cerca de él algún elocuente anunciador muy escogido, que anuncie al hombre su deber;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		S’il y a pour lui un messager, un interprète, un entre mille, pour montrer à l’homme ce qui, pour lui, est la droiture,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn es nun für ihn einen Gesandten gibt, einen Ausleger, einen aus tausend, um dem Menschen seine Geradheit kundzutun,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si fuerit pro eo angelus loquens, unus de millibus, ut annuntiet hominis æquitatem,