Job 33:17

That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
withdraw	לְ֭הָסִיר Le.ha.sir	H5493	to turn off (literal or figurative) · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
man	אָדָ֣ם 'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
purpose	מַעֲשֶׂ֑ה ma.'a.Seh	H4639	an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
hide	יְכַסֶּֽה ye.kha.Seh	H3680	properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
pride	וְגֵוָ֖ה ve.ge.Vah	H1466	exaltation · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
man	מִגֶּ֣בֶר mi.Ge.ver	H1397	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Genesis 20:6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning agai…
2 Chronicles 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and…
Job 17:11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
Matthew 27:19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered m…
2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messeng…
Deuteronomy 8:16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee g…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 33:14-18

Job had complained that God kept him wholly in the dark concerning the meaning of his dealings with him, and therefore concluded he dealt with him as his enemy. "No," says Elihu, "he speaks to you, but you do not perceive him; so that the fault is yours, not his; and he is designing your real good even in those dispensations which you put this harsh construction upon." Observe in general, 1. What a friend God is to our welfare: He speaketh to us once, yea, twice, Job 33:14. It is a token of his favour that, notwithstanding the distance and quarrel between us and him, yet he is pleased to speak to us. It is an evidence of his gracious design that he is pleased to speak to us of our own concer…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 33:17

purpose--Margin, "work." So Job 36:9. So "business" in a bad sense (Sa1 20:19). Elihu alludes to Job's words (Job 17:11). "Pride," an open "pit" (Job 33:18) which God hides or covers up, lest man should fall into it. Even the godly need to learn the lesson which trials teach, to "humble themselves under the mighty hand of God."

Adam Clarke on Job 33:16

III. By secret Inspirations Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth, etc. - A dream or a vision simply considered is likely to do no good; it is the opening of the understanding, and the pouring in of the light, that make men wise to salvation. Serious alarms, holy purposes, penitential pangs for past sins, apprehension of death and judgment, discoveries of God's justice, of Christ's love, of the world's vanity, of heaven's excellence, etc., etc., etc., are often used by the Divine Spirit to withdraw men from their evil purpose, and to hide pride from man, Job 33:17; and of all these openings of the ear of the heart, and sealing instructions upon the conscience, we have numerous example…

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John Gill on Job 33:17

That he may withdraw a man from his purpose,.... Or "work" (m), his wicked work, as the Targum; either which he has begun upon, or which he designed to do. Thus Abimelech and Laban were restrained from their intentions by a divine admonition in a dream, the one from taking Abraham's wife, as he intended, and the other from doing harm to Jacob, which he designed: and hide pride from man; by pardoning his sins, in which there is always pride, so some; pardon of sin being expressed by covering it, Psalm 32:1; or rather by repressing, weakening, and preventing it; and that by not suffering vain and proud men to perform their enterprises, but obliging them to submit to the will of God, and humbl…

The Church Fathers

"And let his body escape corruption," as his bones, in a figurative sense.
— Augustine of Hippo, ANNOTATIONS ON THE BOOK OF JOB (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The words "that he may turn them aside from their deeds" means this: by way of those [dreams and visions] God keeps people from shameful actions. The words "he covers the body of man" [mean] sometimes he brings on righteous diseases and pains as well, in order to preserve him in this manner from the punishment of perdition.
— Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 33:17

That He may withdraw man from the things that he has done, and may deliver him from pride. For what has man done of himself but sin? And it is written, Pride is the beginning of all sin. It is rightly said, then, that when man is withdrawn from what he has done, he is freed from pride. To transgress the commands of our Creator by sin, is to be haughty against Him; because a man casts off, as it were, the yoke of His authority, to Whom he scorns to submit by obedience. On the other hand, he who wishes to avoid what he has done, calls to mind what he was made by God: and humbly returns to the order of his creation, when flying from his own deeds, he loves himself as he was at first created by God...
— Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIII

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Agency · IN SALVATION OF MEN — IN SALVATION OF MEN
Philosophy · provi — provi

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Job 33:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 33:14-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 33:17

Adam Clarke on Job 33:16

John Gill on Job 33:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Job 33:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 33:14-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 33:17

Adam Clarke on Job 33:16

John Gill on Job 33:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 33:13-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Job 33:15

Rashi on Job 33:17