flesh (from its freshness) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
away
יִ֣כֶלYi.khel
H3615
to end · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
seen
מֵרֹ֑אִיme.Ro.'i
H7210
sight · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
bones
עַ֝צְמוֹתָ֗יוatz.mo.Tav
H6106
a bone (as strong) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
seen
רֻאּֽוּru'.'U
H7200
to see · verb, pual perfect, 3rd person common plural
out
וְשֻׁפּ֥וּu.she.fi
H8192
to abrade · conjunction + verb, pual sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
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
Job 19:20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
Job 13:28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
Proverbs 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
Job 14:20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
Job 14:22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
Job 16:8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.
Psalms 22:15-17 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 33:19-28
God has spoken once to sinners by their own consciences, to keep them from the paths of the destroyer, but they perceive it not; they are not aware that the checks their own hearts give them in a sinful way are from God, but they are imputed to melancholy or the preciseness of their education; and therefore God speaks twice; he speaks a second time, and tries another way to convince and reclaim sinners, and that is by providences, afflictive and merciful (in which he speaks twice), and by the seasonable instructions of good ministers setting in with them. Job complained much of his diseases and judged by them that God was angry with him; his friends did so too: but Elihu shows that they were…
His flesh once prominent "can no more be seen." His bones once not seen now appear prominent.
stick out--literally, "are bare." The Margin, Hebrew (Keri) reading. The text (Chetib) reads it a noun "(are become) bareness." The Keri was no doubt an explanatory reading of transcribers.
Adam Clarke on Job 33:21
His flesh is consumed away - As in atrophy, marasmus, and consumptive complaints in general.
John Gill on Job 33:21
His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen,.... All being gone, none left to be seen, nothing but skin and bones; and this partly through the vehemence of strong pain, and partly through the nausea of food; not being able to take anything for nourishment and the support of the fluids, and so quite emaciated:
and his bones that were not seen stick out: which before were covered with flesh and fat, so that they could not be seen; but now the flesh and fat being wasted, they seem as if they rose up in an eminence, and stood out to be beheld; this was also Job's case, being reduced to a mere skeleton, Job 19:20. Elihu, in this description of an afflicted man, seems to have Job chiefly i…
His flesh shall waste away, and his bones which were covered shall be laid bare. For when every outward pleasure is worn away by the pressure of the rod, the bones of inward firmness are laid bare. For what is meant in this place by the word flesh, but fleshly pleasure itself? Or what by bones, but the virtues of the soul? The flesh therefore wastes away, and the bones are laid bare, because while carnal pleasure is brought to nought by the reproof of scourges, those sturdy virtues are laid open, which had long been concealed, as it were, beneath the flesh. For no one learns what progress he has made, except in adversity. For in prosperity, the evidences of strength cannot be discerned. Whence it is written elsewhere, The Lord commanded His loving kindness in the day time, and declared it in the night. Because, in truth, it is in tranquil rest that each man obtains the grace of the heavenly gift, but it is in trouble and adversity that he gives proof how much he has received. Let our flesh then waste away, that our bones may be laid bare. Let us be smitten with the reproofs of a father, that we may know what progress we are making. For by the scourge of the Lord the rankness of carnal pleasure is worn down, but the bones of our virtues are laid bare. Our outward beauty is tarnished by this world's sufferings, but that which was concealed within is made manifest. For when the Apostles had been scourged, they were directed to speak no more in the Name of Jesus. But they rejoiced with exceeding joy, that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of Jesus: and they confidently replied to their adversaries, We ought to obey God rather than man. See how the strength of their faith shone forth more vigorously in adversity. See how the soundness of the flesh was cut through, but the bones of their virtues were laid open. It is hence said of them by Wisdom, God proved them, and found them worthy for Himself. For, though tried by the blows of adversity, they are found worthy by the laying bare of their bones. For that the trial of their scourging is here meant, is plainly declared by what follows, As gold in the furnace He tried them, and received them as a victim of a burnt offering. Because, then, each man's strength is made known only by adversity, it is well said, His flesh shall waste away, and his bones which were covered shall be laid bare. For the…
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
Sickness · God: Often manifests saving grace to sinners during — God: Often manifests saving grace to sinners during
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on Job 33:19-22
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed,
And with the unceasing conflict of his limbs;
20 And his life causeth him to loathe bread,
And his soul dainty meat.
21 His flesh consumeth away to uncomeliness,
And his deranged limbs are scarcely to be seen.
22 Then his soul draweth near to the grave,
And his life to the destroyers.
Another and severer lesson which God teaches man is by painful sickness: he is chastened with pain (בּ of the means) on his bed, he and the vigorous number of his limbs, i.e., he with this hitherto vigorous (Raschi), or: while the multitude of his limbs is still vigorous (Ew). Thus is the Keri ורב to be understood, for the interpretation: and the multitude of his…
from crossing over the river of death: This phrase may also be translated from passing [i.e., dying] by the sword. Both translations fit the context (cp. 36:12).
Rashi on Job 33:21
His flesh is consumed from sight Heb. יכל בשרו מראי, His flesh is withdrawn from sight, like (Lam 2:11): “My eyes are spent (כלו) with tears”; (Lev. 26:16), “that cause the eyes to pine way (מכלות).
and his bones are dislocated Heb. ושפו. They are dislocated from their place. [The word] שֻׁפּוּ is like (Hullin 42b), “that sprung (שף) from its place.”
to unsightliness They have neither appearance nor form.
