Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay.
Parallel Translations
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Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay.
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Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
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Behold, I am toward God even as thou art; I also am formed out of the clay.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Job 33:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 4:19 How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
- Job 10:9 Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?
- Genesis 2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
- Genesis 3:19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
- Genesis 30:2 Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
- Exodus 4:16 He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.
- Job 9:32-35 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment. There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both. Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid; then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in myself.
- Job 13:12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.
- Job 20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress will overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery will come on him.
- Job 23:3-4 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat! I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
- Job 31:35 oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
- 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.
- Job 13:3 “Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to reason with God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because Job had wished to dispute his cause with…
Because Job had wished to dispute his cause with God, Job 16:21, so that he might do it without fear, Elihu saith, he will reason in God’s stead, whom he needeth not to fear, because he is a man made of the same matter that he is.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 33:6 Behold, I [am] according to thy wish…
Job 33:6 Behold, I [am] according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
Ver. 6. Behold, I am according to thy wish] Heb. According to thy mouth. If the saints do but open their mouths wide God will fill them; he will give them not only the desires of their hearts, but the request of their lips, Psa 21:2, fulfil all their counsel, Psa 20:4, in that very way, by that very means, they wished it: he fitteth his mercy ad cardinem desiderii; and lets it be to his even as they will. Was it not so with Job here?
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In God’s stead] Heb. For God, to act and plead for him, and to show how thou hast dealt with him. So ministers are said to be in Christ’s stead, 2Co 5:20. A great mercy, that he will treat with us by men like ourselves.
I also am formed out of the clay] Et non ex meliore luto effictus, of the same make and matter with thyself, cut out of the same lump, digged out of the same pit. He alludeth to Gen 2:7, the wonderful formation of those protoplasts, as a potter mouldeth his pots, cutting them out of the lump. And the like God doth for men still, by that, viz. πλαστικη, that is in the seed, making it prolific, and generative.
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 I will plead with thee in God’s name and…
I will plead with thee in God’s name and stead, and on his behalf, which thou hast oft wished that God would do upon equal terms, and laying aside his terrible majesty, &c. Or, I am as thou art with or towards God, i.e. God’s creature like thyself, as the next words explain it.
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 Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's…
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead,.... So some persons are, as civil magistrates, the ministers of the word, the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New; see Co2 5:20; and so in some sense was Elihu; he undertakes to be an advocate for God, to vindicate his justice in his dealings with the children of men, and clear him from the charge of severity towards them, and hard usage of them, and particularly Job; and whom he besought, as in God's stead, to be reconciled to his providential dealings with him; to bear his afflictions patiently, and wait the issue of them: or "I am as thou art"; so the Targum and Ben Gersom interpret it; one that belongs to God, a creature of God's, a sinful frail mortal creature, as Job was, and accountable to God; one that belonged to him both as the God of nature and providence, and of grace; and such an one Job seemed to have wished for, to dispute the point in question with; see Job 9:32;
I also am formed out of the clay; or "cut out" (e) of it; alluding to the potter, who, out of a mass or lump of clay before him, cuts a piece out of it to make a vessel of God is the potter, men are as clay in his hands, their bodies are bodies of clay, houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; reference may be had to the original formation of man, Gen 2:7, and may denote not so, much the pollution of his nature, clay being defiling, but the frailty of man, a vessel made of clay being brittle, and easily broken; see Job 4:19, Isa 64:8.
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(e) "excisus", Montanus, Munster, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis.
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 Behold - I will plead with thee in God's…
Behold - I will plead with thee in God's name and stead, which thou hast often wished, and I am God's creature like thyself.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. I am according to thy wish in…
Verse 6. I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.] Mr. Good, and before him none other that I have seen, has most probably hit the true meaning: -
"Behold, I am thy fellow.
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I too was formed by God out of the clay."
The word כפיך kephicha, which we translate according to thy wish, and which, if Hebrew, would mean like to thy mouth; he considers as pure Arabic, with a Hebrew postfix, [Arabic] kefoo, signifying fellow, equal, like. Taken in this way, the passage is very plain, only לאל lael, by or through God, must be added to the last clause of the verse instead of the first, as Mr. Good has properly done.
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 33:6-7. Behold, I am, &c., in God’s stead…
Job 33:6-7. Behold, I am, &c., in God’s stead — I will plead with thee in God’s name and stead, and on his behalf, which thou hast often wished that some one would do. I also am formed out of the clay — I am God’s creature, like thyself. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid —
Look upon me: the contest is not unequal, as thou didst complain when thou thoughtest upon God, Job 9:34; Job 13:23. Thou seest no dreadful majesty in me to affright thee, nor any power to oppress thee.
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 Behold, I am according to thy wish in Gods…
Behold, I am according to thy wish in Gods stead - Margin, as in Hebrew “mouth.” The mouth is that by which we express our desires, and the word here is equivalent to wish. Some have, however, rendered this differently. Umbreit translates it, ich bin, wie du, von Gott - I am, as thou art, from God. So Noyes, “I, like thee, am a creature of God.” Wemyss, “I am thine equal in the sight of God.” Coverdale, “Behold, before God am I even as thou, for I am fashioned and made even of the same mould.” The Vulgate renders it, “Behold God made me as he made thee; and of the same clay am I formed.” So the Septuagint, “From clay am I formed as well as thou, and we are formed from the same.” This interpretation seems to be demanded also by the parallelism, where he says that he was made of the same clay with Job; that is, that he was a man like him. Still, it seems to me, that the fair and obvious meaning of the Hebrew is that which is expressed in our common version. The Hebrew is, לאל כפיך הן־אני כפי hēn'ănı̂y kepiykā lā'ĕl - “lo, I am, according to thy mouth (word, or wish) for God;” that is, I am in his place; I speak in his name; I am so commissioned by him that you may regard yourself as in fact speaking to him when you address his ambassador. This will also accord with what is said in Job 33:7, and with what Job had so earnestly desired, that he might be allowed to bring his cause directly before God; see the notes at Job 13:3.
I also am formed out of the clay - Margin, “cut.” The figure is taken from the act of the potter, who cuts off a portion of clay which he moulds into a vessel, and there is manifest allusion here to the statement in Genesis, that God made man of the dust of the ground. The meaning in this connection is, “Though I am in the place of God, and speak in his name, yet I am also a man, made of the same frail material as yourself. In me, therefore, there is nothing to overawe or confound you as there would be if God spake himself.”
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 Formed. Job had expressed a desire to plead before…
Formed. Job had expressed a desire to plead before a man, chap. ix. 32., and xiii. 19., and xxxi. 35. Eliu offers himself to maintain the cause of God. (Calmet)
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 (See on Job 33:4; Job 31:35; Job 13:3, Job…
(See on Job 33:4; Job 31:35; Job 13:3, Job 13:20-21).
formed--Though acting as God's representative, I am but a creature, like thyself. Arabic, "pressed together," as a mass of clay by the potter, in forming a vessel [UMBREIT]. Hebrew, "cut off," as the portion taken from the clay to form it [MAURER].
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 6. In God’s stead — The first clause may…
6. In God’s stead — The first clause may be more correctly rendered, Behold, I, like thee, am of God; that is, his creature.
I also am formed — “Nipped” from the clay — an allusion to the potter, who nips off a piece of clay for the vessel he is about to make. Compare Job_10:9.
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 6. according to thy wish in God’s stead] Rather,…
6. according to thy wish in God’s stead] Rather, as already Cover-dale, behold, before God I am even as thou; that is, in relation to God in the same position as Job, a man like himself. The words in God’s stead suggest the false conception that Elihu was in some extraordinary way the representative of God.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Behold, I am according to thy wish in God"s…
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God"s stead; i.e. I am the antagonist for whom thou hast asked, (Job_9:33 Job_13:19) ready to enter into controversy with thee, instead of God. I am thine equal, a creature like thyself. I also am formed out of the clay. (comp. Gen_2:7) Therefore
Vers. 6, 7. The human mediator.
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Elihu declares that his attitude towards God is just the same as Job"s. He stands like Job in respect of God. He is a mortal man formed out of the clay. Then, though Job dreads the awful, invisible God, he may listen to a fellow-creature without fear. If he cannot find God in the darkness, he may be cheered and strengthened by feeling the presence of a brother-man. He may take his lessons from Elihu quite simply and naturally as from one like himself. In these ideas Elihu shadows forth what may be perfectly realized in Christ. It was a mark of Elihu"s confident vanity for him to speak as he did. But his words, somewhat superfluous as regards himself, set him forth in a striking light as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I WE NEED HUMAN SYMPATHY IN RELIGION. Although man is made in the image of God, and although his very life is a constant inspiration, and depends on the presence and power of God, still God is invisible, God is great, God is an infinite Spirit. The soul of man hungers for brotherly sympathy. We all want to feel the fellowship of one who is like ourselves.
1. That we may understand aright. We cannot understand a being of a different species from ourselves. We cannot even comprehend the meaning of our own dog when he looks up at us with pathetic eyes, for we are of another species.
2. That our affections may be awakened. We most naturally love one who is kindred to ourselves. The difficulty of loving God is to perceive that there is that in him which is akin to our own natures. When he appears strange to us we shrink from him; we cannot reach out to him in confidence and joyous emotion.
II CHRIST BRINGS US HUMAN SYMPATHY IN RELIGION. We must not think of him as standing half-way between us and God. Such a Christ would be a monstrous being neither one with us nor one with God. United with the Father on the Divine side. our Lord is a perfect Man on the human side.
1. He is intelligible to us. We can see him, hear him, understand him. And he has told us that when we see him we see the Father. (Joh_14:9)
2. He wires our heart"s affections. His kinship makes this possible; his brotherly love makes it actual; his great work and death for us perfect his hold upon us. Thus our hearts are drawn out to God by the sympathy of Christ.
III MEN SHOULD SHOW HUMAN SYMPATHY IN RELIGION. What Elihu aimed at, what Christ realized, that is the ideal for us. Without the ostentation of the young Buzite, we are called upon to remember our human nature when we try to help our fellow-men in religious as well as in others matters. There is a sort of sanctimonious spirituality which ignores humanity. This is disgusting to men, and it is the cause of much popular aversion to religion. We cannot help our fellow-men till we recollect we are human like them frail, fallible, mortal; nay, sinful, fallen, ourselves needing a Saviour. Brotherly sympathy is the first essential for helpful religious influence. 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 Behold, I am according to thy wish in Gods…
Job_33:6-7
Behold, I am according to thy wish in Gods stead.
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The philosophy of mediation
The words mediation and intercession present fundamentally the same idea--a coming between, to bridge over a gulf, or to avert a stroke. Some being to stand between him and God, and to be the interpreter of Gods dealing with him, and of his thought about God, was what Jobs heart yearned after. The one question which man demands to have answered, as the condition of his peace, is this--Is there any being, having prevailing power with God, who can be touched as a brother with the feeling of our infirmities, and who can bear the feeling of our infirmities with him in all his transactions with God on our behalf? Intercession rests on the fact that there is a complete humanity in God. There is already the human within the orb of the Divine nature. The thought of the creature acting upon God except through a Mediator who is God, destroys that which is most essential in the idea of God. We talk of the love of God in Christ as though it were born when Christ took on Himself the burden of our sins and cares. He but drew forth and revealed, so that every eye could see it, that which had been there from all eternity. Here is the true deep ground of all intercession. We have not to create anything, we have not to change anything, we have but to draw forth what is already waiting to be drawn forth from the Divine heart. Then what need is there of the Mediator? There was a Divine necessity that God should be self-revealed as the Mediator, that this God-like form of God should take shape and appear in our world. Creation is the Divine thought clothing itself in visible form; and it comes forth into form because to give Himself forth is the most God-like act of God. But there were depths in the Divine nature, secret things of the Divine counsels, which no material creation was full enough or rich enough to draw forth into expression. In the Mediator we see the infinite riches of grace and mercy, compassion and tenderness, which had else remained pent-up within Gods heart. What must be the form of the Mediator to fulfil the conditions, and to satisfy, not the longings of the human heart only, but the necessities of the human life?
1. According to our wish in Gods stead. God only can stand in the stead of God. There is that absolute difference between God and every creature, that the only being who can make known God is God Himself.
2. I also, says Elihu, laying down the conditions of a Mediators nature and work, am formed out of the clay. Is there one who knows both,--the things of God and the things of a man, by interior knowledge, in whom the two experiences meet? Yes, is the answer of revelation. There is one God: there can be but one God-man. The Word made flesh. Receiving Him as our Mediator who is able to stand in the stead of God, and yet wears the form of clay by our side, we see--
1. That He is our peace.
2. He is here to explain and to justify our discipline.
3. He is here to fulfil our largest and loftiest hope.
He is made like unto us on earth, that we may be made like unto Him in heaven, that we may behold His glory, and, beholding, share. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
Gods dealings with man
Turn attention first on those operations of the Holy Ghost through which, as we believe, God acts on man, urging him to righteousness, and warning him against iniquity. There is much of mystery around these operations; we recognise them by their effects. These operations are not only hidden from others, they are hidden from the very party himself, within whose breast they are making themselves felt. The operations of the Spirit are not to be altogether separated from the actings of ones own mind. If it can be shown that in acting on us through the operations of His Spirit, God makes use of a created instrumentality, there would be little difficulty in proving, from this very circumstance, that He deals with us in tenderness and compassion There have been many who have supposed that Elihu is none other than the Redeemer Himself; but without supposing this, it cannot be denied that the language of our text would be wondrously appropriate on the lips of the Mediator, and, indeed, that in the largest significance it cannot be justly used by any other. It is of great importance to assign its just worth to each part of the scheme of redemption, in order not to dwell upon anyone to the comparative forgetfulness of any other. That the Mediator died for us is not the whole of the Gospel: that He ever lives for us is to the full as important an announcement. Elihu certainly assumes the character of a messenger sent from God, and under this character there is much that is emphatic and interesting in his words. (Henry Melvill, B. D.)
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.
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See
Elihu uses this word here to draw Job's attention to what he says next. AT: "Listen"
I am just as you are in God's sight
Here sight represents judgment or evaluation. AT: "I am just as you are in God's judgment" or "God judges me the same way that he judges you" (See: Metaphor)
I also have been formed out of the clay
Though people are not made out of clay, God has made everyone as a potter carefully makes things out of clay. AT: "God has made both of us just as a potter forms things from clay" (See: Metaphor)
I also have been formed
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God has also made me" or "God has formed both of us" (See: Active or Passive)
terror of me will not make you afraid
"you do not need to be afraid of me"
neither will my pressure be heavy upon you
This means that he will not hinder Job or burden him. He speaks of emotional burden here as if it were a heavy physical burden. AT: "neither will I burden you" or "I will not oppress you with what I say" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
terror
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.