“If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him;
Parallel Translations
-
“If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him;
-
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
-
If there be for him an angel, an intercessor, one among a thousand, to vouch for a man's uprightness;
Cross-references (29)
Passages linked to Job 33:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Ecclesiastes 7:28 which my soul still seeks, but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all those.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
- Haggai 1:13 Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.
- 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 Yahweh of Armies.
- Job 36:3 I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
- Job 36:8-13 If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions, then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly. He also opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity. If they listen and serve him, they will spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they don’t listen, they will perish by the sword; they will die without knowledge. “But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don’t cry for help when he binds them.
- Job 37:23 We can’t reach the Almighty. He is exalted in power. In justice and great righteousness, he will not oppress.
- Psalms 94:12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law,
- Psalms 119:75 Yahweh, I know that your judgments are righteous, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
- Isaiah 61:1-3 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
- Lamentations 3:32 For though he causes grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Lamentations 3:39-41 Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh. Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
- Ezekiel 18:25-28 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal? When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done he shall die. Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will save his soul alive. Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
- Daniel 9:14 Therefore Yahweh has watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.
- Hebrews 12:5-12 You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,
- Judges 2:1 Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
- Nehemiah 9:33 However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.
- Job 9:3 If he is pleased to contend with him, he can’t answer him one time in a thousand.
- Job 11:6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Job 34:10 “Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
- Job 34:12 Yes surely, God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
- Job 34:32 Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
- Job 35:14 How much less when you say you don’t see him. The cause is before him, and you wait for him!
- 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
- Acts 8:30 Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
- Romans 11:13 For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain A man sent of God to declare his will.
A man sent of God to declare his will.
A singular man, and as one chosen out of a thousand, which is able to declare the great mercies of God unto sinners: and wherein man’s righteousness standeth, which is through the justice of Jesus Christ and faith therein.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 33:23 If there be a messenger with him,…
Job 33:23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
Ver. 23. If there be a messenger with him] An angel, say some; but one man may be an angel to another, as Bradford was to Dr Taylor, martyr, who usually called him, That angel of God, John Bradford. If some prophet or teacher sent of God {see Jdg 2:1 Mal 3:1-18 : 1Ki 1:20} to the sick man, who seeth his face as the face of an angel, and receiveth him as an angel, yea, as Christ himself, Gal 4:14, in whose stead he is, 2Co 5:20, bringing the embassy of reconciliation, 2Co 5:20, than which what can be more acceptable?
Read full note →
An interpreter] sc. Of God’s holy will, who may assure the sick party that it is God who visiteth him in very faithfulness, that he may be true to his soul; that he doth it in mercy and in measure, not to ruin him, but to reduce him by repentance from dead works, and by faith in Christ Jesus, &c., who may also set him in a course, and pray for him, as Jas 5:16. Dr Ussher tells us (Serm. on Eph 4:13), that even in the times of Popery, among our forefathers, the ordinary instruction appointed to be given to men upon their death beds was, that they should look to come to glory, not by their own merits, but by the virtue and merit of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; that they should place their whole confidence in his death only, and in no other thing; and that they should interpose his death between God and their sins, between them and God’s anger. This was right, and, considering the times, admirable. This was better than that blasphemous direction they give elsewhere to dying men to say, Coniunge Domine, &c., Conjoin, O Lord, mine obedience to all those things which Christ suffered for me.
One among a thousand] Unus e millibus, not Unus e similibus, as the Vulgate Latin hath it by a gross mistake, such as that translation hath many. One among a thousand he is said to be, for the scarcity of such as can time a word, comfort the afflicted conscience, and speak to the heart of a poor distressed creature, who laboureth under the sense of sin and fear of wrath. O quam hoc non est omnium, This very few can skill of. Luther, who was excellent at it himself, telleth us, that it is a work every whit as hard as to raise the dead to life again. Go ye rather to them that sell, said the wise to the foolish virgins, and those are rare; sc. such faithful and wise distributers of God’s grace, as having the tongue of the learned, Isa 50:4, and being instructed for that purpose to the kingdom of heaven, can comfort the feeble minded, shore up and support the weak, &c. Such a choice man is worth his weight in gold; and oh, how beautiful are his feet, angelic his face!
To declare unto man his uprightness] Or, his righteousness, that is, either the righteousness of Christ, who is his peace; or his, that is, the righteousness of his own experience, how he hath been raised and received to mercy. Or, his, to clear up to him his spiritual estate, and show his evangelical righteousness, consisting more in purpose than in practice; in confession of our imperfection, than in any perfection we can attain unto. It is not so much our inherent righteousness, in regard of the worth, dignity, and excellence of it, much less purity and perfection in it, but as it is a fruit of God’s love and token of his favour, a sign of our adoption and justification, and a pledge of our glorification, that yieldeth comfort. And this it will do when skilfully made out to a poor soul by a godly minister, and set on by the hand of that Holy Spirit, whereby the saints are sealed to the day of redemption, Eph 4:30; Eph 1:13.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A messenger; either,
A messenger; either,
1. An angel sent to him from heaven upon this errand; for the angels are ministering spirits, Psa 103:20; Heb 1:14, and are, and especially in that time and state of the church were, frequently employed by God upon messages to men. But why then should he say one of a thousand angels, seeing any the meanest angel was very competent for this work? Or rather,
Read full note →
2. A prophet or teacher, for such are oft called by this name; as Jdg 2:1; Mal 2:7; 3:1; Rev 1:20, and such persons are appointed by God for, and are most commonly employed in, this work. With him; either,
1. With God to plead man’s cause, and to pray to God for man. Or rather,
2. With man, who is expressed in the last clause of this verse, and of whom this same pronoun him is twice used in the next verse. Nor is it strange that the pronoun relative is put before the noun to which it belongs, but usual in the Hebrew language, as Exo 2:6; Pro 5:22; Pro 14:33, and elsewhere. An interpreter; one whose office and work it is to declare the mind of God unto the sick man, and wherefore God contends with him, and what God would have him to do.
One among a thousand; a person rightly qualified for this great and hard work, such as there are but very few, scarce one of a thousand; which expression is used to denote the rarity and fewness of persons, Ecc 7:28. By which words he doth covertly reflect upon Job’s three friends, and imply that they were not such persons, though they had undertaken to perform this office or work to Job; and withal, modestly intimates, that although he was in himself mean and inferior to all of them, (as he acknowledgeth,) yet he was selected by God for this work; which he saith not out of a desire of vain boasting of himself, but to dispose Job to a more diligent attention unto, and a more ready entertainment of his present discourses. His uprightness, or rectitude, or righteousness. His, i.e. either,
1. God’s; to convince a man that God is just and right in all his dealings with him, though never so severe; of which Job was not yet convinced. Or rather,
2. Man’s; to teach man his duty, or to direct him to the right way and method how he may please God, and procure that mercy and deliverance which he thirsts after; which is not by quarrelling with God, as Job did, but by a humble confession and hearty detestation and forsaking of his sins, and supplication to God for mercy in and through Christ the Redeemer, of whom Job spoke before. Or thus, to discover to man, that although he be afflicted, yet he is an upright and righteous person, and consequently in God’s favour; about which good men oft doubt, and need the help of a skilful minister to satisfy them therein. But this seems not so well to suit Job’s case, who was sufficiently and more than enough persuaded of his own integrity, and needed no minister to preach that doctrine to him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If there be a messenger with him,.... Or angel,…
If there be a messenger with him,.... Or angel, either with God, as some think; or rather with the sick man; by which messenger is meant not an angel by nature, a created angel, though sometimes such are God's messengers, sent by him on errands to men, are interpreters of things to them, as Gabriel was to Daniel; of whom there are thousands, and who may be of service to sick men for their comfort and instruction, since it is certain they attend saints in their dying moments; yet this proves not that they are to be invoked as mediators between God and men: but rather a minister of the word is designed, who is by office an angel, a "messenger" of Christ, and of the churches; an "interpreter" of the Scriptures, and of the mind of God in them; and a spiritual, evangelical, faithful minister, is scarce and rare, one among a thousand; and his business is to visit sick persons, and to observe the "uprightness" and faithfulness of God in afflicting them, that they may quietly submit to and patiently bear the affliction; and to direct them for their peace and comfort to the uprightness or righteousness of Christ, for their justification before God; and to show them what is right for them to do in their present circumstances; whether the sick man be stupid and insensible of his case, and his need of righteousness, or whether he be a truly gracious man, yet labouring under doubts and fears about the truth of grace in him, the uprightness of his heart, and his interest in the righteousness of Christ: but it seems best to understand this of Christ himself, the angel of God's presence, the messenger of the covenant, who is with the sick man, and favours him with his spiritual presence; or is "for him" (q) as it may be rendered, is on his side, an advocate and intercessor for him with God;
an interpreter of his Father's mind, and with which he is long acquainted, he lying in his bosom; and of the sacred Scriptures, as he was to his disciples concerning himself; or an "orator" (r), an eloquent one, never man spake like him, having the tongue of the learned given him as man; and who as a divine Person is the eternal and essential Word of God; who spake for his people in the council of peace and covenant of grace; and also as Mediator is the antitypical Aaron, can speak well for them on all occasions:
Read full note →
one among a thousand: the chiefest among ten thousand, angels or men; see Sol 5:10;
to show unto man his uprightness; which to do is his office as Mediator, and especially as a prophet, even to show the uprightness of God, the rectitude of his nature, the righteousness required in his holy law; and this Christ has shown forth and declared in his being the propitiation for the sins of his people, Rom 3:25; by his Spirit he shows to man, and so to a sick man, his want of uprightness in himself, his need of righteousness from another; and brings it near him, and shows it to be perfect, complete, and suitable; as well as teaches to live soberly, righteously, and godly.
(q) "pro eo", V. L. Pagninus, Mercerus. (r) "eloquens", Pagninus, Montanus; "orator", Tigurine version, Bolducius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain A messenger - A prophet or teacher. To expound…
A messenger - A prophet or teacher. To expound the providence, and point out the design of God therein. One, &c. - A person rightly qualified for this great and hard work, such as there are but very few. To shew - To direct him to the right way how he may please God, and procure that mercy which he thirsts after; which is not by quarrelling with God, but by an humble confession. and supplication for mercy through Christ the redeemer.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 23. If there be a messenger with him,…
Verse 23. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, c.]
V. - 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."
Read full note →
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's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 33:23-24. If there be a messenger with him…
Job 33:23-24. If there be a messenger with him — If there be a prophet or teacher with the afflicted man; an interpreter — One whose office and work it is to declare to him the mind and will of God, and his design in this dispensation of his providence, and what is the sick man’s duty under it. One of a thousand — A person rightly qualified for this great and difficult work, such as there are but very few; to show unto man his uprightness — Not man’s, but God’s uprightness; namely, his justice in inflicting these sufferings, and the sufferer’s desert of condemnation and wrath; God’s way of pardoning and justifying the penitent; his sincerity and faithfulness to his promises, and the necessity of acquiescing in his will without murmuring or repining, and of walking in the way of faith and holiness. Then he is gracious unto him — In that case, or upon the sick man’s turning to God in true repentance and faith, God graciously pardons his sins, and saves him, probably from his dangerous disease and from death, but, if not, at least from going down to the pit of hell, and from everlasting destruction. And saith — To the messenger; deliver him — Namely, ministerially and declaratively; assure him that I have pardoned, and will heal him; I have found a ransom — Although I might justly destroy him, yet I will spare him, for I have found out a way of ransoming sinners from death, which is by the death of my Son, the Redeemer of the world, and with respect to which I will pardon them that repent and sue for mercy. Observe how God glories in the invention! I have found, I have found a ransom; a ransom for poor undone sinners! I, even I, am he that hath done it. “Some interpret this Messenger or Angel of Christ himself, the Interpreter of God’s will to man, the chief among ten thousand of his saints and servants. But as, in general, he comes to men by his messengers or ministers, and as their instructions and encouragements are deduced from his mediation, and are made effectual by his gracious presence, it does not much signify whether we interpret the passage of the messengers of God pointing to the Saviour, or the Saviour revealing himself by their ministry. It is equally immaterial whether the words, Deliver him from going down to the pit, be considered as the language of Christ’s intercession, pleading the ransom of his blood in behalf of the sinner, or the words of the Father, accepting of his plea and giving command to save the sinner, satisfied with that appointed ransom: for it cannot reasonably be doubted but that Elihu had reference to it; though he might also intend the sacrifices which prefigured the great atonement.” — Scott. Add to this, that it may serve as no small confirmation of our faith in the doctrines of the gospel, that we find the substance, or great outlines of them thus pointed out to men, by divine revelation, in the earliest ages of the world. Some thousands of years have certainly passed since the book of Job was written, and yet we here find the same great truths declared in relation to man and his salvation through Christ, which are so fully revealed in the New Testament.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If there be a messenger with him - This…
If there be a messenger with him - This part of the speech of Elihu has given rise to scarcely less diversity of opinion, and to scarcely less discussion, than the celebrated passage in Job 19:25-27. Almost every interpreter has had a special view of its meaning, and of course it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine its true sense. Before the opinions which have been entertained are specified, and an attempt made to determine the true sense of the passage, it may be of interest to see how it is presented in the ancient versions, and what light they throw on it. The Vulgate renders it, “If there is for him an angel speaking, one of thousands, that he may announce the righteousness of the man; he will pity him, and say, Deliver him that he descends not into corruption: I have found him in whom I will be propitious to him” - inveni in quo ei propitier. The Septuagint translators render it, “If there be a thousand angels of death (ἄγγελοι θανατηφόροι angeloi thanatēforoi), not one of them can mortally wound him (τρώσῃ ἀυτόν trōsē auton). If he determine in his heart to turn to the Lord, when he shall have shown man his charge against him, and shown his folly, he will support him that he may not fall to death, and renew his body, like plastering on a wall (ὥσπερ ἀλοιφην ἐπὶ τοίχου hōsper aloifēn epi toichou), and will fill his bones with marrow, and make his flesh soft like an infant.” The Chaldee renders it, “If there is merit זכותא z-k-w-t-' in him, an angel is prepared, a comforter (פרקליטא, Paraclete, Gr. παρύκλητος paraklētos), one among a thousand accusers (קטיגוריא, Gr. κατήγορός katēgoros), that he may announce to man his rectitude. And he spares him, and says, Redeem him, that he may not descend to corruption; I have found a ransom.” Schultens has divided the opinions which have been entertained of the passage into three classes. They are,
I. The opinions of those who suppose that by the messenger, or angel, here, there is reference to a man. Of those who hold this opinion, he enumerates no less than seven classes. They are such as these:
Read full note →
(1) those who hold that the man referred to is some distinguished instructor sent to the sick to teach them the will of God, an opinion held by Munster and Isidorus;
(2) those who refer it to a prophet, as Junius et Tremillius:
(3) Codurcus supposes that there is reference to the case of Abimelech, who was made sick on account of Sarah, and that the man referred to was a prophet, who announced to him that God was righteous; Gen. 20.
The 4th and 5th cases slightly vary from these specified.
(6) Those who hold that Elihu referred to himself as being the angel, or messenger, that God had sent to make known to Job the truth in regard to the divine government, and the reason why he afflicts people. Of this opinion was Gusset, and we may add that this is the opinion of Umbreit.
(7) Those who suppose that some faithful servant of God is intended, without specifying who, who comes to the sick and afflicted, and announces to them the reason of the divine dispensations.
II. The second class of opinions is, that an angel is referred to here, and that the meaning is, that God employs angelic beings to communicate His will to people, and especially to the afflicted - to make known to them the reason why they are afflicted, and the assurance that he is willing to show mercy to them if they will repent. Of those who hold this, Schultens mentions
(1) the Septuagint which renders it, “the angels of death;”
(2) the Chaldee paraphrasist, who understands it of the comforting angel” - the Paraclete;
(3) the opinion of Mercer, who supposes it to refer to a good angel, who, though there be a thousand of a contrary description, if he announces the will of God, and shows the true reason why He afflicts people, may be the means of reclaiming them;
(4) the opinion of Clerc, who regards it as a mere hypothesis of Elihu, saying that on the supposition that an angel would thus visit people, they might be reclaimed;
(5) the opinion of Grotius, who supposes it refers to angels regarded as mediators, who perform their office of mediation in two ways - by admonishing people, and by praying for them. This was also the opinion of Maimonides.
(6) The opinion of Jerome, who supposes that it refers to the angel standing in the presence of God, and who is employed by him in admonishing and correcting mankind.
III. The third class of opinions consists of those who refer it to the Messiah. Of those who have held this opinion, the following may be mentioned: Cocceius - of course; Calovins, Sehmidius, and Augustine. Amidst this diversity of sentiment, it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the real meaning of the passage. The general sentiment is indeed plain. It is, that God visits people with affliction in order to restrain them from sin, and to correct them when they have erred. It is not from hostility to them; not from mere justice; not because he delights in their sufferings; and not because he wishes to cut them off. They may suffer much and long, as Job had done. without knowing the true reason why it was done. They may form erroneous views of the design of the divine administration, and suppose that God is severe and harsh. But if there shall come a messenger, in such circumstances, who shall explain the reason of the divine dealings, and show to the sufferer on what principles God inflicts pain; and if the sufferer shall hear the message, and acquiesce in the divine dealings, then God would be willing to be merciful. He would say that he was satisfied; the object of the affliction was accomplished, and he would restore the afflicted to health, and bestow upon him the most satisfactory evidences of his own favor. An examination of the particular words and phrases occurring in the passage, may elucidate more clearly this general idea, and lead us to its true interpretation. The word translated “messenger” מלאך mal'âk, is that which is usually employed to denote an angel. It means, properly, one who is sent, from לאך, to send; and is applied
(1) to one sent, or a messenger, see Job 1:14; compare 1Sa 16:19;
(2) to a messenger sent from God, as e. g.,
(a) to angels, since angels were employed on messages of mercy or judgment to mankind, Exo 23:20; 2Sa 24:16,
(b) to a prophet as sent from God, Hag 1:13; Mal 3:1;
(c) to a priest; Ecc 5:6; Mal 2:7. It is rendered here by Jerome, angel, and by the Septuagint, angels bringing death.
So far as the word is concerned, it may apply to any messenger sent from God - whether an angel, a prophet, or the Messiah; anyone who should be commissioned to explain to man the reason why afflictions were sent, and to communicate the assurance that God was ready to pardon.
An interpreter - That is, an angel-interpreter, or a messenger who should be an interpreter. The word מליץ mēliyts, is from לוץ lûts, “to stammer”; to speak in a barbarous tongue; and then in the Hiphil, to cause to understand a foreign language, or to explain; to interpret. Hence, it means one who explains or interprets that which was obscure; and may mean here one who explains to the sufferer the true principles of the divine administration, or who interprets the design of the divine dealings. In 2Ch 32:31, it is rendered “ambassadors” - referring to the ambassadors that came from Babylon to Hezekiah - rendered in the margin, interpreters; in Isa 43:27, it is rendered teachers, in the margin interpreters, referring to the religions teachers of the Jews, or those who were appointed to explain the law of God. Gesenius supposes that it means here the same as intercessor, or internuncius, and that the phrase denotes an interceding angel, or one interceding with God for people. But there is no instance in which the word מליץ mēliyts is so employed, and such an interpretation is not demanded by the connection here. The idea involved in the word here is immediately explained by Elihu himself. The word denotes one who would “show unto man his uprightness;” that is, who would be able to vindicate the righteousness of God, and explain his dealings. This word, also, may therefore be applicable to a prophet, a sage, an angel, or the Messiah - to anyone who would be able to explain and interpret the divine dealings. So far as the language is concerned, there is no reason why it should not be applied to Elihu himself.
One among a thousand - Such an one as you would scarcely hope to find among a thousand; that is, one who was endowed with a knowledge of the ways of God, and who was qualified for this work in a much more eminent manner than the mass of people. We have now a similar phrase to denote a man eminent for wisdom, learning, skill, or moral worth. This language is such as would most properly be applicable to a human messenger. One would hardly think of making such distinctions among angelic beings, or of implying that any one of them might not be qualified to bear a message to man, or that it was necessary to make such a selection as is implied by the phrase here to explain the dealings of God.
To show unto man his uprightness - This is the office which the interpreting-messenger was to perform. The “uprightness” referred to here, I suppose, is that of God, and means the rectitude of his doings; or, in a more general sense, the justness of his character, the equity of his administration. So explained, it would mean that the messenger would come to show that God is worthy of confidence; that he is not harsh, stern, severe, and cruel. The afflicted person is supposed to have no clear views on this point, but to regard God as severe and unmerciful. Elihu in this undoubtedly had Job in his eye, as entertaining views of God which were far from correct. What was necessary, he said, was, that someone would come who could show to the sufferer that God is worthy of confidence, and that his character is wholly upright. Prof. Lee interprets this as referring wholly to the Messiah, and as denoting the “righteousness which this Mediator is empowered to give or impute to those who duly seek it; and thus, as a Mediator, between God and man, to make it out as their due, by means of the ransom so found, offered, and accepted.”
Noyes explains it as meaning “his duty;” that is, “what reason and religion require of a man in his situation; repentance, submission, and prayer to God for pardon.” But it seems to me more natural to refer it to the great principles of the divine government, as being worthy of confidence. Those principles it was desirable should be so explained as to inspire such confidence, and particularly this was what Elihu supposed was needed by Job. On the whole, then, it seems probable that Elihu, in this passage, by the messenger which he mentions, referred to someone who should perform the office which he himself purposed to perform - some man well acquainted with the principles of the divine administration; who could explain the reasons why people suffer; who could present such considerations as should lead the sufferer to true repentance; and who could assure him of the divine mercy. The reasons for this interpretation may be summed up in few words. They are:
(1) That this is all that is fairly and necessarily implied in the language, or such an interpretation meets the obvious import of all the expressions, and leaves nothing unexplained.
(2) It accords with what Elihu supposed to be the views of Job. He regarded him as having improper apprehensions of the government of God, and of the reasons why afflictions were sent upon him. He had patiently listened to all that he had to say; had heard him give utterance to much that seemed to be in the spirit of complaint and murmuring; and it was manifest to Elihu that he had not had right apprehensions of the design of trials, and that they had not produced the proper effect on his mind. He still needed someone - an interpreter sent from God - to explain all this, and to present such views as should lead him to put confidence in God as a God of mercy and equity.
(3) It accords with the character which Elihu had assumed, and which he all along maintained. He professed to come from God, Job 32:8. He was in the place of God, Job 33:6. He came to explain the whole matter which had excited so long and so warm a debate - a debate to which he had attentively listened, and where neither Job nor his friends had stated the true principles of the divine administration. To represent himself now us having a clew to the reason why God afflicts people in this manner, and as being qualified to explain, the perplexing subject, was in accordance with the character which he maintained.
(4) It accords with the effect which he wished to produce on the mind of Job. He wished to bring him to confide in God; to show him that all these mysterious dealings were designed to bring him back to his Creator, and to restore peace and confidence to his agitated and troubled bosom.
While Elihu, therefore, advances a general proposition, I doubt not that he meant to represent himself as such a messenger sent from God; and though in the whole of his speech he manifested almost the extreme of modesty, yet he regarded himself as qualified to unravel the mystery. That it refers to the Messiah cannot be demonstrated, and is improbable because
(1) It is nowhere applied to him in the New Testament - a consideration not indeed decisive, but of some force, since it is not very safe to apply passages to him from the Old Testament without such authority. At least, the general rule is to be repudiated and rejected, that every passage is to be supposed to have such a reference which can be possibly made to apply to him, or where the language can be made to describe his person and offices.
(2) The work of the “interpreter,” the “angel,” or “messenger,” referred to here, is not that of the Messiah. The effect which Elihu says would be produced would be, that the life of the sufferer would be spared, his disease removed, and his flesh restored with infantile freshness. But this is not the work which the Redeemer came to perform, and is not that which he actually does.
(3) The subject here discussed is not such as is applicable to the work of the Messiah. It is here a question solely about the design of affliction. That was the point to be explained; and explanation was what was needed, and what was proposed to be done. But this is not the special work of the Messiah. His was a much larger, wider office; and even if this had been his whole work, how would the reference to that have met the point under discussion? I am inclined, therefore, to the opinion, that Elihu had himself particularly in his view, and that he meant to represent himself as at that time sustaining the character of a messenger sent from God to explain important principles of his administration.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Angel, by secret inspirations, (St. Thomas Aquinas; Tirinus, &c.)…
Angel, by secret inspirations, (St. Thomas Aquinas; Tirinus, &c.) or a man sent by God, to announce the truths of salvation. (Mariana) --- Man’s, or "to man." (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "a messenger with him, an interpreter, one....to declare to man his uprightness." Protestants, (Haydock) "If there be any merit in him, the angel comforter, chosen from a thousand accusers, is ready to declare to the son of man his rectitude." Septuagint, "If there be a thousand destroying angels, not one of them shall hurt him; if the consider in his heart to be converted unto the Lord. Though he (the angel) lay before man his reproof, and shew his folly, He (God) will take hold of him, that he may not die. He will renew his flesh as the plaster of a wall, and fill his bones with marrow: (25) he will make his flesh soft, like that of an infant, and will place him in manhood among men." (Haydock) --- But this is different from the Hebrew. (Calmet) --- The intercession of angels is very powerful. The are represented as suggesting motives, which prevail on God to shew mercy, ver. 24. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Elihu refers to himself as the divinely-sent (Job 32:8;…
Elihu refers to himself as the divinely-sent (Job 32:8; Job 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" (Pro 14:2). The former is better; Job maintained his own "uprightness" (Job 16:17; Job 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 (Sol 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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain c. THE THIRD MODE OF DIVINE VISITATION IS, THAT…
c. THE THIRD MODE OF DIVINE VISITATION IS, THAT OF THE ANGEL INTERCESSOR AND MEDIATOR, WHO HAS FOUND A RANSOM. The objective point of the book — a theophany — the ulterior central orb toward which all gravitates, now comes more distinctly into view, though still under a haze: a theophany, and this alone, can fully solve the mystery of sorrowing existence. Job_33:23-28.
23. If there be — What follows is “an hypothesis hanging on an if — but it is an if; the answer to which is the amen of the Gospel.” — Evans.
Read full note →
With him — עליו, better, “for him.”
A messenger… an interpreter — See Excursus VII, page 207. Uprightness — Or, duty. Tyndale and Cranmer render it “right way.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. a messenger] Or, angel. Such an angel is…
23. a messenger] Or, angel. Such an angel is called an interpreter, that is, as the last clause of the verse explains, one who interprets to man God’s providential treatment of him, and shews him what is right for him to do—his uprightness, that is, wherein uprightness will consist, and what his duty is.
one among a thousand] lit. one of a thousand. The words do not ascribe any superlative position to this angel; he is one of the thousand (cf. Rev_5:11) ministering spirits sent forth to do service on behalf of the heirs of salvation (Heb_1:14).
Read full note →
23, 24. The intervention of the heavenly messenger.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) To show unto man his uprightness.—Some render, “to…
(23) To show unto man his uprightness.—Some render, “to show unto man what is right for him,” but it seems rather to mean, to declare concerning that man his uprightness, to plead his cause before God and be his advocate. (Comp. 1Ki_14:13; 2Ch_19:3, &c.)
This angel, who is one among a thousand, and discharges the function of an interpreter, is a remarkable anticipation of the existence of that function with God which is discharged by the Advocate with the Father (1Jn_2:1; Rom_8:34; Heb_7:25). It is impossible for us who believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God not to see in this an indication of what God intended afterwards to teach us concerning the intercession and mediation of the Son and the intercession of the Holy Spirit on behalf of man (Rom_8:26). (Comp. Joh_14:16.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If there be a messenger with him; rather, an…
If there be a messenger with him; rather, an angel (see the Revised Version). It is generally supposed that "the angel of the covenant" is meant, and that the whole passage is Messianic; but much obscurity hangs over it. The Jews certainly understand it Messianically, since they read it on the great Day of Atonement, and use in their liturgies the prayer, "Raise up for us the righteous Interpreter; say, I have found a ransom." Elihu"s knowledge of an Interpreter, or Mediator, one among a thousand, who should deliver the afflicted man from going down to the pit, and find a ransom for him (ver. 24), is certainly very surprising; and we can scarcely imagine that he understood the full force of his words; but it cannot be right to denude them of their natural signification Elihu certainly did not mean to speak of himself as an "angel-interpreter, one among a thousand;" and it is not probable that he intends a reference to any merely human helper. To show unto man. his uprightness; either "to show to a man what it is right for him to do," or "to indicate to a man in what true righteousness consists.
Vers. 23-26. The messenger and the ransom.
Read full note →
Elihu shows that God has three ways of speaking to man by inward voices (vers. 14-18), by the experience of chastisement (vers. 19-22), and now lastly by a living messenger (vers. 23-26).
I GOD SPEAKS BY A MESSENGER. It is a question whether we should understand the word rendered "messenger" in the usual sense attached to it, i.e, as standing for "angel." God has spoken through angel-messengers from the days of Abraham. But any one charged with a Divine message becomes God"s angel to those to whom he delivers it. Every prophet is God"s messenger, one who speaks for God. The apostle is one sent forth by Christ. Angels, prophets, apostles they are all, so far, the same. They are God"s missionaries. Christ is once called an Apostle, (Heb_3:1) because he too was sent forth by his Father. (1Jn_4:14) Our Lord"s mission on earth was to bring the new message of salvation from heaven, and to make it a real and living thing among men. Every true follower of Christ is called to be a messenger from God to his fellow-men. People will listen to the human voice when they are deaf to the pleadings of conscience and blind to the teachings of experience. The true preacher is God"s messenger. "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". (2Co_5:20)
II GOD"S MESSENGER BRINGS A RANSOM. It is contrary to the whole course of historical revelation, which develops truth by slow degrees, to suppose that the ransom intended by Elihu was the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. Such an anachronism implies an entire lack of perspective in the view of the interpreter. Nevertheless, the essential ideas of a ransom are here brought forward.
1. Deliverance. It is the duty of God"s messenger to preach "deliverance to the captives." He is more than a revealer of truth; he is a herald of salvation.
2. A costly method. Elihu may have no conception of the price of redemption. Yet he perceives more or less dimly that some ransom must be paid. We have a much clearer view of the subject, because we can read it in the light of history. We now know that our deliverance is effected through the death of Christ. "The Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many". (Mat_20:28)
III THE DIVINE RANSOM SECURES A GLAD WELCOME FROM GOD. The message may seem to come in stern tones of anger, following a John the Baptist preparation of chastisement. Yet it is a gospel. Ver. 26 paints a glowing picture of the redeemed man.
1. Acceptable prayer. Until he was ransomed his prayer seemed to be in vain. Now God hears it with favour.
2. The beatific vision. "He shall see his face with joy." Reconciled to God, he rejoices in communion with God.
3. Restoration of righteousness. "He restoreth unto man his uprightness." This is the grand human result of redemption. Deliverance from doom is not enough, is not the chief end. The restoration of the broken and defiled image of God to its original, or more than its original, beauty is the great outcome of the redeeming work of Christ. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain If there be any messenger with him, an interpreter.
Job_33:23-24
If there be any messenger with him, an interpreter.
Read full note →
How to visit the sick
It is not mans torment or ruin that God desires, but his reformation and amendment. To this end He speaks to men in dreams. When that will not do, by afflictions. To make those afflictions more intelligible and effectual, He sends a messenger, either an angel, by office, not by nature; or an interpreter--of the mind and will of God. Doctrine--That the seasonable instruction of sick and languishing persons is a work, as of great advantage, so of great skill and difficulty.
I. It is of great advantage. Some are apt to think that sick bed applications are in a manner useless and ineffectual. Observe--
1. That the instruction of sick persons is Gods institution.
2. Gods mercy is proposed by Himself, and may be offered by ministers, even to languishing persons.
3. Sick bed repentance is not wholly impossible, though it be hard. Sickness is one means that God useth to work repentance.
II. It is of great difficulty.
1. It is a work which God hath put into the hands of His chief officers, His ministers, who ought to be the most accomplished persons.
2. It is not every minister who is fit for this work. How ministers or Christian friends may and ought to apply themselves to sick persons for their good, and the discharge of their own consciences.
(1) Endeavour must be used to understand the state of the sick person.
(2) The great business is to bring the sick man to a true sight of his state and condition.
(3) Ministers and others must take heed lest, while they avoid one extreme, they run upon another; which is a common error in practice.
(4) The same methods are not to be used to all sick persons. Regard must be had to difference of tempers; of education and conversation; and of guilt.
(5) It is a very bad guide to follow the counsels or desires of sick persons, or their carnal friends.
(6) The same course (for substance) is to be taken for the conversion of sick and healthful persons.
(7) The greatest care mast be to keep sick persons from those errors whereby such persons commonly miscarry. Such as insensibleness of their danger; willingness to be deluded; carelessness and listlessness; resting in generals; the concealment of some hidden way of wickedness.
(8) Taking heed of healing the souls of sick persons slightly. This we are very apt to, from the sick mans greedy desire of comfort; from the expectation and desire of carnal friends; from our own careless hearts, that love not to put ourselves to any trouble or reproach, which we shall meet with, if we be faithful to the ease.
Uses--
1. To ministers. Learn the great difficulty of ministerial work. What angelical abilities doth it require! Acuteness, to discern the sick mans temper; knowledge, to understand the nature of all spiritual diseases; wisdom, to make suitable applications. A minister had need know all things, understand all persons, discern the subtleties of mens hearts, and not be ignorant of the wiles of the devil.
2. To people. Is it of such difficulty? Oh, labour you to do your work in health, while time and strength last, before the evil days come. (Matthew Poole, A. M.)
The Gospel preached by Elihu
Though the words of the text are taken out of the oldest book in the Bible, they contain the elements and breathe the spirit of the Gospel. Scarcely less uniform is the experience of Gods people in every age. Consider the words as a Divinely inspired description of the way of salvation intended for the instruction of a true believer then under the deepest afflictions, but equally designed for the edification of those who in these last times are feeling the burden of their sins. We discover six states of the sinner.
1. A state of impending ruin. His soul draweth near to the grave.
2. A state of grace. If there be a messenger with him, etc.
3. A state of justification. I have found a ransom.
4. A state of sanctification. He shall return to the days of his youth.
5. A state of peace with God. He will be favourable unto him.
6. A state of glory. He shall see His face with joy.
The text closes with a brief recurrence to the gracious cause of all this progressive advancement from repentance to glory. (C. A. Hulbert, M. A.)
Footsteps of mercy
I. When God has, in the way of providence, prepared any human heart for a work of grace, one of the first means of blessing the chosen man is to send Him a messenger. I suppose the passage before us may be primarily referred to Christian ministers, who become, through God the Holy Ghost, interpreters to mens souls. But I prefer to believe, with many expositors, that the full meaning of these words will never be found in ministers of mortal race; we must rather refer it to the Great Messenger of the covenant, the Great Interpreter between God and man, whose presence to the sin-sick soul is a sure prophecy of mercy. Another description that belongs to Him, as I believe, is an interpreter. Jesus Christ is indeed a blessed interpreter. An interpreter must understand two languages. Our Lord Jesus understands the language of God. He knows how to speak with God as the fellow of God, co-equal and co-eternal with Him. He can make out the sighs and cries and tears of a poor sinner, and He can take up the meaning, and interpret them all to God. Moreover, Jesus understands our language, for He is a man like ourselves, touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and smarting under our sicknesses. This messenger, then, this interpreter, is He not One among a thousand? O peerless Jesus! who among the sons of the mighty can be compared with Thee?
II. Now, secondly, wherever this Divine messenger comes, according to the text, He reveals Gods uprightness.
III. The third stage is this--Then He is gracious unto him. God deals with convinced sinners in a way of grace. Every word here is weighty. Then He is gracious unto him. Mark the time--then! God is gracious to a man when, Christ having come to him as a messenger and an interpreter, he is led to discern his own sin and Gods uprightness. The way as well as the time demands your notice. It is through the messenger that God is gracious. Then--that is when the messenger comes. When Jesus interposes then God is gracious.
IV. Let us proceed to the next stage--God delivers the sinner. He saith, Deliver him from going down into the pit.
V. The last thing is that God explains to the sinner whom He delivers the reason of his deliverance. Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom. I have found a ransom--a covering. You notice these words, I have found a ransom. You do not find it for yourselves. You could not ever have discovered it, much less have brought it into the world. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I have found a ransom.--
The finding of the ransom
These words were from the lips of Elihu, the companion and counsellor of Job. The men of that day had but dim visions of Him that was to come; they had to look through, the type to the antitype; through the symbol to the thing signified. I have found a ransom. This indicates in the man who spake it--
I. A knowledge of mans state. A ransom signifies the price of redemption from captivity. Before we apply for a ransom we must feel that we are involved. Sensibility to our suffering condition is the very foundation work of an appeal to Jesus. Man by nature is in bondage; he is taken captive by Satan at his will.
II. The means of mans deliverance. I have found a ransom. The prisoner finds a ransom--where? In the offers of the worldly-wise? In the counsellings and suggestions of self? Nay; no man ever breathed this assurance until his eyes were fixed on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. To what else could he turn?
III. The acquisition of this knowledge. That is, a knowledge of your own heart in a state of nature, and a knowledge of the ransom that is provided for you in the dispensations of grace. Both the one and the other proceed immediately from the Spirit of God. He convinces of sin, and He alone. I have found a ransom implies that the ransom was sought for; and this seeking is a course of humble, diligent, and persevering prayer. (T. J. Judkin, A. M.)
The ransom found
I. Mans perilous state. He was going down to the pit.
1. Man in his fallen and debased condition. Crown fallen from his head; fallen from holiness, dignity, dominion, happiness, etc.; into guilt, depravity, and misery.
2. It denotes mans passage to the grave. Sin introduced disease and death.
3. It represents our exposedness to the pit of destruction. The tendency of the sinner was towards perdition. His sin had doomed him to it. And sin also was ripening him for it. His steps were downwards towards the gates of perdition, the regions of endless woe. What a dreadful state!
II. Displayed His gracious regards towards him. Now Gods interposition on his behalf must have been altogether gracious.
1. Deity was entirely independent of man. He could easily have blotted out the human race, and have formed creatures every way more worthy of His regards.
2. Man had nothing to interest Jehovah in his welfare. No moral excellency; no reasonable apologies for his crime; no possibility of giving a return.
3. Jehovah had every reason to punish. Justice was injured, holiness insulted, goodness abused, etc., yet mercy prevailed.
III. To the means of deliverance provided. I have found a ransom.
1. The source of our deliverance. I have found, etc. Man did not find, nor yet angels, but God found a ransom. Oh yes! God alone possessed stores of wisdom sufficient for the great and mighty undertaking.
2. The instrument of our deliverance was a ransom. That ransom was His own Son. He gave His Son, Spared not His own Son, etc. The price of our ransom was the precious blood of Christ.
3. The mode of our ransom. This was done by assuming our nature; obeying the law; dying for sin; overcoming the powers of hell; rising from the grace, etc. (Isa_53:4-11; Rom_4:15; Col_1:20).
Learn--
1. What ruin and misery sin has produced.
2. What Divine mercy has provided.
3. What the Saviours merits hath procured.
4. The necessity of feeling ourselves personally interested in the blessings of redeeming grace. He that hath the Son, hath life.
5. The grateful return we Should render for the loving kindness and redeeming mercy of God. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Deliverance from the pit
Let it never be forgotten that, in all that God does, He acts from good reasons. You observe that the text, speaking of the sick man, represents God as saying, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. If I understand the passage as relating solely to a sick man, and take the words just on the natural common level where some place them, I would still say that the Lord here gives a reason why He suspends the operations of pain and disease, and raises up the sufferer: I have found a ransom. There is always a reason for every act of grace which God performs for man. So let each one of us think, If I have been raised from sickness, if my life, which was almost gone, has been spared, I may not know why God has done it, but certainly He has done it in infinite wisdom and compassion. There is such a thing as sickness of the soul, which is, in Gods esteem, far worse than disease of the body; and there is such a thing as recovery from soul-sickness.
I. Now, coming to our text, I shall ask you, first, to look with me upon a man in great peril. This is his peril: he is going down to the pit. That phrase describes his whole life, going down, down.
1. Notice, first, that this is a daily and common danger. If we are unconverted, if we are unrenewed by Divine grace, every one of us is in danger of going down into the pit of woe.
2. Further, there are some who, of set purpose, are going down to the pit. In this chapter Elihu said of some that God sends sickness to them that He may withdraw them from their purpose.
3. There are some, also, who are going down to the pit through their pride.
4. There are others who feel some present apprehension of coming judgment.
5. If you add to all this the fact that the man, as Elihu describes him, was suffering from a fatal sickness, so that he dreaded the actual nearness of death, you have indeed an unhappy case before you.
II. Now let us notice, in the second place, a new principle in action: Then He is gracious unto him. What does that mean?
1. Well, grace means, first, free favour.
2. But grace has another meaning in Holy Scripture; it means saving interference, a certain Divine operation by which God works upon the wills and affections of men, so as to change and renew them.
III. This brings me to my third point, which is concerning how this grace operates. It operates by a word of power. This man was going down to the pit, but God said, Deliver him. To whom is this command spoken?
1. It appears to be addressed to the messengers of Divine justice.
2. More than that, the man was not only bound by justice, but he was fettered by his sin. His sins held him captive, and they were dragging him down to the pit. There was drunkenness, for instance, which held him as in a vice, so that he could not stir hand or foot to set himself free.
3. I see this same man, in after life, attacked by his old sins.
IV. I finish by noticing that, in this case, God supplies us with His reason for delivering a soul, and it is an argument of love: Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. Observe that the text says, I have found a ransom.
1. This ransom is an invention of Divine wisdom. I do not think it would ever have occurred to any mind but the mind of God Himself to save sinners by the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. Notice, next, that God has not only invented a way of deliverance, but He has found a ransom
2. So that it is a gift of Divine love: Deliver him from going down to the pit. It does not say, because there is a ransom, or I will accept one if he finds it and brings it; but the Lord Himself says, I have found a ransom. It is the man who sinned, but it is God who found the ransom.
3. And is there not something very wonderful in the assurance of this truth? This is Gods Eureka! I have found a ransom. I did not look for a ransom among the angels, for I knew they were too weak to furnish it. I looked not for it among the sons of men, for I knew it was not to be found there, they were too fallen and guilty. The sea said, It is not in me. All creation cried, It is not in me. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Elihu continues speaking to Job.
Read full note →
for him
This does not refer to a specific person. Elihu continues speaking about any person in general.
from among the thousands of angels
In some languages it may be more natural to refer to a "great number" instead of "thousands." AT: "from the great number of angels" (See: Numbers)
the pit
The place where people go when they die is referred to here as "the pit." AT: "the place where dead people are" (See: Metaphor)
I have found a ransom for him
This means that the angel has found a way to pay for the sins of the man so that he does not have to die. AT: "for I have found a way for you to keep him from dying" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
angel
mediator
save
pit
ransom
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 33:23 An angel from heaven would intercede, taking the…
33:23 An angel from heaven would intercede, taking the role of the mediator Job longed for (see 5:1; 9:33-34; 16:18-21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.