Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 33:23
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness:
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).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23, 24. The intervention of the heavenly messenger.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 ( angeloi thanateforoi), not one of them can mortally wound him ( trose 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 ( hosper aloifen 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 z-k-w-t-‘ in him, an angel is prepared, a comforter (, Paraclete, Gr. parakletos), one among a thousand accusers (, Gr. kategoros), 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:
(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 mal’ak, is that which is usually employed to denote an angel. It means, properly, one who is sent, from , 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 meliyts, is from luts, 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 meliyts 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 33:23-24
If there be any messenger with him, an interpreter.
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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, c.]
V. – The MESSENGERS of righteousness this is a FIFTH method, im yesh alaiv malach melits, “If there be over him an interpreting or mediatorial angel or messenger.” One among a thousand, echad minni aleph. “One from the CHIEF, HEAD, or TEACHER.”
To show unto man his uprightness] 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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,
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 mans 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 Jobs 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. Gods; 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. Mans; 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 Gods 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 Jobs case, who was sufficiently and more than enough persuaded of his own integrity, and needed no minister to preach that doctrine to him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Elihu refers to himself asthe divinely-sent (Job 32:8;Job 33:6) “messenger,”the “interpreter” to explain to Job and vindicate God’srighteousness; such a one Eliphaz had denied that Job could look for(Job 5:1), and Job (Job9:33) had wished for such a “daysman” or umpire betweenhim and God. The “messenger” of good is antithetical to the”destroyers” (Job33:23).
with himif there bevouchsafed to the sufferer. The office of the interpreter isstated “to show unto man God’s uprightness” in Hisdealings; or, as UMBREIT,”man’s upright course towards God” (Pr14:2). The former is better; Job maintained his own “uprightness”(Job 16:17; Job 27:5;Job 27:6); Elihu on the contrarymaintains God’s, and that man’s true uprightness lies in submissionto God. “One among a thousand” is a man rarely to be found.So Jesus Christ (So 5:10).Elihu, the God-sent mediator of a temporal deliverance, is atype of the God-man Jesus Christ the Mediator of eternaldeliverance: “the messenger of the covenant” (Mal3:1). This is the wonderful work of the Holy Ghost, that personsand events move in their own sphere in such a way as unconsciously toshadow forth Him, whose “testimony is the Spirit of prophecy”;as the same point may be center of a small and of a vastly largerconcentric circle.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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:
one among a thousand: the chiefest among ten thousand, angels or men; see So 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, Ro 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23 If there is an angel as mediator for him,
One of a thousand,
To declare to man what is for his profit:
24 He is gracious to him, and saith:
Deliver him, that he go not down to the pit –
I have found a ransom.
The former case, Job 33:15, was the easier; there a strengthening of the testimony of man’s conscience by a divine warning, given under remarkable circumstances, suffices. This second case, which the lxx correctly distinguishes from the former (it translates Job 33:19, ), is the more difficult: it treats not merely of a warning against sin and its wages of death, but of a deliverance from the death itself, to which the man is almost abandoned in consequence of sin. This deliverance, as Elihu says, requires a mediator. This course of thought does not admit of our understanding the of a human messenger of God, such as Job has before him in Elihu (Schult., Schnurr., Boullier, Eichh., Rosenm., Welte), an “interpreter of the divine will, such as one finds one man among a thousand to be, a God-commissioned speaker, in one word: a prophet” (von Hofmann in Schriftbew. i. 335f.). The appears not merely as a declarer of the conditions of the deliverance, but as a mediator of this deliverance itself. And if the , Job 33:22, are angels by whom the man is threatened with the execution of death, the who comes forward here for him who is upon the brink of the abyss cannot be a man. We must therefore understand not as in Job 1:14, but as in Job 4:18; and the more surely so, since we are within the extra-Israelitish circle of a patriarchal history. In the extra-Israelitish world a far more developed doctrine of angels and demons is everywhere found than in Israel, which is to be understood not only subjectively, but also objectively; and within the patriarchal history after Gen 16, that ( ) appears, who is instrumental in effecting the progress of the history of redemption, and has so much the appearance of the God of revelation, that He even calls himself God, and is called God. He it is whom Jacob means, when (Gen 48:15.), blessing Joseph, he distinguishes God the Invisible, God the Shepherd, i.e., Leader and Ruler, and “the Angel who delivered ( ) me from all evil;” it is the Angel who, according to Psa 34:8, encampeth round about them that fear God, and delivereth them; ”the Angel of the presence” whom Isaiah in the Thephilla, ch. lxiii. 7ff., places beside Jehovah and His Holy Spirit as a third hypostasis. Taking up this perception, Elihu demands for the deliverance of man from the death which he has incurred by his sins, a superhuman angelic mediator. The “Angel of Jehovah” of primeval history is the oldest prefigurement in the history of redemption of the future incarnation, without which the Old Testament history would be a confused quodlibet of premises and radii, without a conclusion and a centre; and the angelic form is accordingly the oldest form which gives the hope of a deliverer, and to which it recurs, in conformity to the law of the circular connection between the beginning and end, in Mal 3:1.
The strophe begins without any indication of connection with the preceding: one would expect or , as we felt the absence of fo e in Job 33:14, and in Job 32:17. We might take together as substantive and epitheton; the accentuation, however, which marks both and with Rebia magnum (in which case, according to Br’s Psalterium, p. xiv., the second distinctive has somewhat less value than the first), takes as subj., and as predicate: If there is then for him ( , pro eo, Ew. 217, 9) an angel as , i.e., mediator; for signifies elsewhere an interpreter, Gen 42:23; a negotiator, 2Ch 32:31; a God-commissioned speaker, i.e., prophet, Isa 43:27; – everywhere (if it is not used as in Job 16:20, in malam parte ) the shades of the notion of this word are summarized under the general notion of internuncius , and therefore of mediator (as the Jewish name of the mediating angel , probably equivalent to mediator, not , which is no usable Greek word). The Targ. translates by , ( opp. , , ). Therefore: if an angel undertakes the mediatorial office for the man, and indeed one of a thousand, i.e., not any one whatever of the thousands of the angels (Deu 33:2; Psa 68:18; Dan 7:10, comp. Tobit 12:15, ), but one who soars above the thousands, and has not his equal among them (as Ecc 7:28). Hirz. and Hahn altogether falsely combine: one of the thousands, whose business it is to announce … . The accentuation is correct, and that forced mode of connection is without reason or occasion. It is the function of the itself as , which the clause which expresses the purpose affirms: if an angel appears for the good of the man as a mediator, to declare to him , his uprightness, i.e., the right, straight way (comp. Pro 14:2), in one word: the way of salvation, which he has to take to get free of sin and death, viz., the way of repentance and of faith (trust in God): God takes pity on the man … . Here the conclusion begins; Rosenm. and others erroneously continue the antecedent here, so that what follows is the intercession of the angel; the angel, however, is just as a mediator who brings about the favour of God, and therefore not the himself. He renders pardon possible, and brings the man into the state for receiving it.
Therefore: then God pardons, and says to His angel: Deliver him from the descent to the pit, I have found a ransom. Instead of , it would be admissible to read , let him free (from , Arab. frg ), if the angel to whom the command is given were the angel of death. is a cognate form, perhaps dialectic, with hdfp@f , root (as , , Arab. wf , wfy , from the common root , ).
(Note: Wetzstein is inclined to regard as a metathesis of , Arab. df : thrust (tear, hold) him back from the gave. A proper name, fedan , which often occurs among the Beduins, is of uncertain signification; perhaps it would serve as an explanation of .)
The verb ( ) signifies to come at, Job 11:7, to attain something, and has its first signification here, starting from which it signifies the finding on the part of the seeker, and then when weakened finding without seeking. One is here reminded of Heb 9:12, . (on this word, vid., Hebrerbrief, S. 385, 740), according to its primary notion, is not a covering = making good, more readily a covering = cancelling (from , Talmud. to wipe out, away), but, as the usual combination with shows, a covering of sin and guilt before wrath, punishment, or execution on account of guilt, and in this sense , a means of getting free, ransom-money. The connection is satisfied if the repentance of the chastened one (thus e.g., also von Hofm.) is understood by this ransom, or better, his affliction, inasmuch as it has brought him to repentance. But wherefore should the mediatorship of the angel be excluded from the notion of the . Just this mediatorship is meant, inasmuch as it puts to right him who by his sins had worked death, i.e., places him in a condition in which no further hindrance stands in the way of the divine pardon. If we connect the mediating angel, like the angel of Jehovah of the primeval history, with God Himself, as then the logos of this mediating angel to man can be God’s own logos communicated by him, and he therefore as , God’s speaker (if we consider Elihu’s disclosure in the light of the New Testament), can be the divine Logos himself, we shall here readily recognise a presage of the mystery which is unveiled in the New Testament: “God was in Christ, and reconciled the world unto Himself.” A presage of this mystery, flashing through the darkness, we have already read in Job 17:3 (comp. Job 16:21; and, on the other hand, in order to see how this anticipation is kindled by the thought of the opposite, Job 9:33). The presage which meets us here is like another in Ps 107 – a psalm which has many points of coincidence with the book of Job – where in Job 33:20 we find, “He sent His word, and healed them.”
(Note: In his introduction, p. 76, Schlottmann says: “The conceptions of Wisdom and of the Revealing Angel were already united in that of the Eternal Word in the ante-Christian, Jewish theology. Therein the fact of the divine revelation in Christ found the forms in which it could accommodate itself to the understanding, and stimulate succeeding ages to further thought and penetration.” Thus it is: between the Chokma of the canonical books and the post-biblical development of the philosophy of religion (dogmatism) which culminates in Philo, there is an historical connection, and, indeed, one that has to do with the development of redemption. Vid., Luth. Zeitschrift, 1863, S. 219ff.)
At any rate, Elihu expresses it as a postulate, that the deliverance of man can only be effected by a superhuman being, as it is in reality accomplished by the man who is at the same time God, and from all eternity the Lord of the angels of light.
The following strophe (Job 33:25) now describes the results of the favour wrought out for man by the .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. A messenger (angel) may interpret to man what is right, that he be led to pray and to confess his guilt. (Job. 33:23-28)
TEXT 33:2328
23 If there be with him an angel,
An interpreter, one among a thousand,
To show onto man what is right for him;
24 Then God is gracious onto him, and saith,
Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom.
25 His flesh shall be fresher than a childs;
He returneth to the days of his youth.
26 He prayeth unto God, and he is favorable unto him,
So that he seeth his face with joy:
And he restoreth unto man his righteousness.
27 He singeth before men, and saith,
I have sinned, and perverted that which was right,
And it profited me not:
28 He hath redeemed my soul from going into the pit,
And my life shall behold the light.
COMMENT 33:2328
Job. 33:23Mediation by an angel might interpret Gods providential meaning of his sicknessPsa. 91:11-13; Mat. 18:10; Act. 12:15; Rev. 8:3. Eliphaz is probably referring to this idea in Job. 5:1holy ones. Perhaps the concept is involved in Jobs request for a mediatorJob. 9:33, a witnesss interpreterJob. 16:19-21, and a redeemerJob. 19:25-27. The word rendered interpreter is applied to the prophetsIsa. 43:27. This verse presents the concept of a personal God[336]1Ki. 22:19; Dan. 7:10; Rev. 5:11. The purpose of the angelic visit is not to justify the sick, but to call to repentance.
[336] That Yahweh is a personal God there is no doubt, but for general Mesopotamian mythical concept of a personal god, see S. N. Kramer, Harvard Theological Review, 1956, p. 59.
Job. 33:24The verse implies successful interceding in that he is gracious. God as in A. V. is not in the text, though the pronoun he could refer to God. The imperative form makes little sense in this verse. No man could give a ransom for himselfPsa. 49:7-9; Mat. 16:26; Mat. 20:28; 1Ti. 2:6; Rev. 5:9. Though the nature of the ransom is not specified, it is clearly vicarious and is the expression of His graciousness. The answer to mans perennial problem lies outside of mans capacity. Only the word from outside can bring the Shattering of Silence.
Job. 33:25Elihu here describes the recovery of the afflicted person. The A. V. rendering of the first line fresher than a child adds nothing to the meaning which is to be soft or tender, probably from the Hebrew -ratob. This Hebrew word is found no where else in the scriptures and is of an unusual form. A similar statement is made of Naaman the prophet after his recovery1Ki. 5:14; Isa. 40:31; Psa. 103:5; Psa. 110:3; Psa. 144:12; and Ecc. 11:9.
Job. 33:26After restoration, the man is admitted into the presence of GodGen. 32:20; Gen. 44:23; Gen. 44:26; 2Sa. 3:13; 2Sa. 14:24; 2Sa. 14:28; 2Sa. 14:32; Psa. 11:7. Prayer is the seeking of Gods presencePsa. 24:6; Psa. 27:8. The joyous shout is a cultic cryPsa. 8:21 and Psa. 104:4; Pro. 7:15; Hos. 5:15. It can also be a battle cry, which is here inappropriate. The joy bursts forth becauselit. he restores to his righteousness, i.e., to Gods act of acquittalPsa. 22:22-31; Psalms 30; Psalms 66; Psalms 116. The restoration to righteousness means victory or salvation in a larger sense than saving his soul.
Job. 33:27Public expression of his gratitude for being restored is clearly the thought back of this verse.[337] He sings before men (idiom sing beforePro. 25:20) and acknowledges his sins. The rendering of the final line in A. V. is inadequate. The verb is not found elsewhere in the sense. In other occurrences it means to be equal, but this yields little sense in this present context, i.e., it was not equal to me. However we resolve the grammatical difficulties here, it is certain the healed sinner is expressing his gratitude through public thanksgiving and confession.
[337] For the possibilities in this verse, see J. Reider, Zeitschrift fur alttestamentlische Wissenschqften, 1953, p. 275.
Job. 33:28He has been redeemed from death. Thus darkness has been removed by the glorious light of His presence. The idiom shall behold is used for looking with satisfaction on someone or some thingcf. Psa. 22:17 where enemies gloat over.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(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.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
With him , better, “ for him.”
A messenger an interpreter See Excursus VII, page 207. Uprightness Or, duty. Tyndale and Cranmer render it “right way.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 484
THE BENEFIT OF VISITING THE SICK
Job 33:23-24. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness; then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.
ELIHU was not one of the particular friends of Job. He was a young man, who, on the occasion of Jobs friends assembling together, had been admitted to hear rather than to speak. But when he had heard the repeated attempts of Jobs friends to convince him of sin, and their incapacity to answer the arguments which Job had adduced, his spirit was stirred in him, and he determined to offer his opinion [Note: Job 32:6-10.]. He was of a better spirit than Jobs friends, and had a deeper insight into the dispensations of Gods providence. He never accused Job of hypocrisy, as they had done; but he saw wherein he had erred, and endeavoured with fidelity to point it out to him. Job had certainly erred in two respects; in speaking too highly of himself, and too disrespectfully of God. To bring home to him these two faults, Elihu shews him, what he evidently was not sufficiently acquainted with, the ends and designs of God in afflicting man; namely, to humble him, and to prepare him for those richer mercies which he has in reserve for every true penitent. There were various means whereby God prepared men for the knowledge of himself, and the enjoyment of his glory: one was by secret discoveries of himself in dreams and visions: another was by laying them on a bed of affliction, and sending some well-informed servant to instruct them. It is of this latter mode that Elihu speaks in the words before us: from which we are naturally led to shew you,
I.
The office of those who visit the sick
A person who in a spirit of love visits the chambers of the sick, is a messenger from the Most High God, and an interpreter of his holy will: and one who delights in that office, and is duly qualified for the performance of it, is indeed a rare and valuable character, justly styled One among a thousand. The object which such a person should bear in view is briefly stated in our text; it is to shew unto man his uprightness.
But whose uprightness is here intended? the mans own? Most assuredly not. Such a visitor as this would be neither rare nor valuable. It is the common language of ignorant persons when visiting a dying friend, to say, You have nothing to fear: you have been upright and honest in the world: you have fulfilled all your duties in life: and there is no doubt but that you are accepted of God. Such a visitor as this is indeed a messenger; but it is a messenger of Satan, to beguile and ruin an immortal soul. For what is such language as this, but to speak peace where there is no peace, or, as the prophet strongly expresses it, to sew pillows to the arm-holes of one that ought to be awakened from his delusions, and to daub with untempered mortar a wall that is just ready to fall [Note: Eze 13:10-11; Eze 13:18.]?
The uprightness that is to be pointed out, is Gods. But here we acknowledge, that the precise import of the passage is not easy to be determined. Various are the senses which commentators have affixed to the word: but, if we would obtain just views of the Scripture, we must not consider so much what sense any word will bear, as what agrees best with the context. Now we apprehend that the context duly attended to, will give us the exact meaning of this expression. Let us see what was the object which Elihu had in view. He considered Job as faulty in two respects; first, in maintaining his own righteousness; and next, in complaining of God as harsh and unjust towards him [Note: ver. 812.]. In this, says he to Job, thou art not just. To counteract these two errors, he tells Job, that God had afflicted him on purpose to lead him to juster views both of himself and of his God: and that he himself was sent as a messenger and interpreter to him, one among a thousand, to expound this matter to him; and to shew him Gods uprightness, or righteousness, first, in punishing his sin; and, next, in the way provided by him for the pardon of it.
The visitors office then is, to shew the righteousness of God,
1.
In punishing sin
[It is common for persons in affliction, especially if their afflictions be heavy, complicated, and of long continuance, to manifest an impatient spirit, and to account their trials severe. But every thought of this kind shews how regardless they are of the hand from whence their trials proceed, and of their own extreme demerit, which, if justly viewed, would reconcile them to any dispensation which Almighty God might send. The invariable language of those who are truly humbled is, Thou, Lord, hast punished me far less than my iniquities deserve: Thou art righteous in all that is come upon me: to thee belongeth righteousness; but unto me belongeth shame and confusion of face [Note: See Ezr 9:13. Neh 9:33. Dan 9:7-8.]. This truth had been before inculcated by Zophar [Note: Job 11:6.]; and it is of great importance to be inculcated on all: for, shall a living man complain? a man for the punishment of his sins [Note: Lam 3:39.]? No: he must be brought to accept the punishment of his iniquity, and to say, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him [Note: Mic 7:9.]. There must be no replying against God: the clay must not contend with the potter: the frame to which every sufferer must be brought is this; It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good: and it is a very important part of a visitors office to bring him to it, by shewing, that any thing short of everlasting burnings is a mercy for which we have reason to be thankful, and not a judgment of which we have any reason to complain; since it is light in comparison of what we deserve, and is sent on purpose to keep us from ever suffering our full desert.]
2.
In his way of pardoning sin
[This, we confess, appears at first sight a forced construction of the passage: but, on a nearer inspection of it, we shall see reason to believe, that it is indeed the true import. The uprightness of God in punishing sin seems undoubtedly the first and leading sense; but it must include a view of the way of salvation through the ransom paid for sinners, or else the immediate acceptance of the sinner through that ransom could not follow from it. In this view of the word uprightness, or righteousness, there is a striking coincidence between the text and a passage in St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans; where the Apostle again and again mentions the righteousness which is of God by faith, and represents Christ as set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare Gods righteousness for, or in, the remission of sins; to declare, I say, his righteousness, that he might be just, and yet the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus [Note: Rom 3:21-22; Rom 3:25-26.]. Now on what occasion can it be so necessary to shew a man this, as when he is in sick and dying circumstances, and speedily about to enter into the immediate presence of his God? Then in particular he is anxious to inquire, What must I do to be saved? and then must we return him the same answer as the Apostle did to the jailer, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt he saved [Note: Act 16:30-31.].
This, then, is the special office of those who visit the sick; namely, to declare freely and fully the way of salvation through a crucified Redeemer. They should act in the chambers of the sick precisely as Moses did in the camp of Israel, when thousands were dying of the wounds inflicted by the fiery flying serpents: they should erect in the sight of the dying penitent the brazen serpent, and say, Look unto it and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth [Note: Compare Isa 45:22. with Joh 3:14-15.]! They should encourage the afflicted soul to look unto Christ even at the eleventh hour; and to declare plainly, that all who believe in him are justified from all things [Note: Act 13:39.]. Then indeed will they approve themselves faithful messengers from God, and just interpreters of his mind and will: and every messenger is of inestimable value, and fitly called, One among a thousand.]
Such being the blessed office of a visitor, let us contemplate,
II.
The benefit arising from a faithful discharge of it
Doubtless in many instances, little, if any, good arises from efforts made in the chambers of the sick: and often the hopeful appearances that begin there, vanish speedily, as the early dew, or as the morning cloud. But in many instances the labours of visitors are productive of the greatest good;
1.
Even to the bodies of men
[We speak not now of pecuniary relief, and of its effects on the recovery of many from their disorders, (though we ought not by any means to lose sight of that;) it is solely of the spiritual office of the visitor that we speak; and we affirm, that the bodies of men often derive incalculable benefit from it. Of disorders, some purely belong to the body; and others are greatly influenced by the mind, or perhaps originate altogether from it. Now, in reference to the former of these, it is certain, that spiritual instruction will not operate as a charm upon the body: but if, under the pressure of temporal affliction, the mind be disquieted by impatience and fretfulness, those agitations will have a very unfavourable aspect on the body: and will greatly impede the cure of the disorder; and consequently, the composure of the mind, the bringing of it to a state of resignation and submission, and particularly to a state of peace with God, will exceedingly promote the recovery of the body; so true is it that A merry heart doth good like a medicine [Note: It sometimes happens, that the life of a person a actually preserved, solely, under God, by the composure of the mind. A most remarkable instance of this the author has in his own parish.]. But if, as in the latter case, the disorder is very intimately connected with the mind, and (how many nervous disorders arise from the pressure of worldly troubles!) it is obvious, that the spiritual physician may be more useful than a medical attendant; since by administering the balm of Gilead to the soul, he applies his remedy to the root of the disorder, and gains access to that which no earthly prescription can reach. And more especially if, as sometimes happens, the health has declined through apprehensions of Gods wrath, and the influence of desponding fears, the free and full exhibition of Gods mercy in Christ Jesus is the only remedy that is at all suited to the case; and the restoration of peace to the soul is, in fact, health to the navel, and marrow to the bones [Note: Pro 3:8.]. A faithful ambassador, says Solomon, is health [Note: Pro 13:17.].]
2.
More especially to their souls
[How many are there who never began to think of their souls, till they were visited with sickness, or brought down by some heavy affliction! Before they were afflicted they went astray: but God having sent to them some kind messenger, some able interpreter, has led them by his means to a consideration of their state, and to a true and saving repentance. No man has ever executed with fidelity the office of which we are speaking, without having seen some fruit of his labour: and we will venture to appeal to such persons, (for they are the only competent judges,) whether they have not been sometimes eye-witnesses of the very scene described in our text? Have they not seen the afflicted soul comforted; and peace abounding in the conscience that was recently overwhelmed with desponding fears? Has not God said, as it were, in their very presence, Deliver that drooping sinner from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom? And have they not seen the person, who but just before dared not to lift up his eyes unto heaven, praying unto God and made sensible of his favour, and beholding the face of his reconciled God with joy [Note: ver. 26.]? Yes; this is no uncommon sight: and whoever will lend himself diligently to this good work, shall have the happiness of dispensing these blessings, and of having some poor sinners to be his joy and crown of rejoicing in the day of judgment.]
Reflections
1.
How honourable an office is that of a visitor of the sick!
[This office, though highly proper to be executed by ministers, ought by no means to be confined to them. True, such a person, duly qualified and thoroughly in earnest, is One among a thousand: but it were better, if possible, that there should be ten or twenty such amongst a thousand: and most assuredly it is the duty of every one, according to his ability and opportunities, to engage in it; since the execution of it is a very principal fruit and evidence of pure and undefiled religion [Note: Jam 1:27.]. We would call on all, therefore, in their respective stations, to consider how they may execute this office to the utmost possible advantage. And let all know, for their encouragement, that if they receive not honour from their fellow-creatures for these self-denying exertions, they shall certainly ere long be honoured and rewarded by their God [Note: Mat 25:35-36.].]
2.
How blind are they who are averse to have such pious instructors introduced to their sick and dying friends!
[There exists in the minds of many an idea, that religious conversation will prove injurious to a person on a bed of sickness; and that, by the anxiety that it will create, it will retard, rather than accelerate, a restoration to health. Now, if in any instance this should be the case, it may justly be said, that some risk of injury to the body would be but a small sacrifice for the obtaining of spiritual instruction under such circumstances: for, who can reflect on a soul perishing in ignorance and sin, and not see the indispensable necessity of plucking it as a brand out of the burning, ere yet it be gone beyond a hope of recovery? Methinks, if a certainty of some injury to the bodily health were put in the scale against the near and almost certain prospect of dying in an unconverted state, there can be no doubt which should preponderate: no man that knows the value of an immortal soul, can hesitate which alternative to choose. But such cases, if they exist at all, are very rare: the mind of an ungodly man is not so easily moved; nor are the emotions that may be excited so injurious as worldly vexation or worldly care: they do not prey upon the mind, as carnal feelings do. Religious feelings, even where they are not altogether of the best kind, have rather a tendency to compose the mind; inasmuch as they generate a hope in God, and open prospects of progressive improvement and of ultimate salvation. But we will not rest this matter upon the dictates either of reason or experience: God himself shall determine it: and he says, Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him. [Note: Jam 5:13.] Doubtless it is expedient for the visitor to consult the weakness of the patient: but it is the height of cruelty to deny to those who are going into the presence of their God, the means of obtaining that wedding-garment that can alone make them acceptable guests at the marriage-supper of the Lamb.]
3.
How desirable is it to support such a society as this!
[ [Note: Here state the nature and plan of the Society.] But how can they execute their functions, if not aided by pecuniary contributions? The poor, if some relief can be afforded them in their sickness, will on that account welcome the Visitor as a Messenger from heaven: and, having received him as a Messenger, they will be disposed to listen to him as an Interpreter. It cannot be supposed, that the Visitors can effect much in this way from their own individual resources: it must be through the liberality of the public alone that this plan can be executed to any great extent. Let the hearts of all, then, be open on this occasion. If we pleaded only for the temporal relief of our poorer brethren in a time of sickness, we should feel that we had a claim upon your charity: but the temporal relief is of small importance when compared with that which we contemplate, the instruction and salvation of the soul. Bear this in mind; and let your contributions shew in what light you appreciate an immortal soul. Multitudes who would otherwise die in ignorance and sin may by these means be rescued from perdition: and, if our blessed Lord came down from heaven to ransom them by his own blood, let it be a light matter in your eyes to contribute liberally of your substance for the purpose of making known to them that ransom, and thereby delivering them from going down to the pit.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“… an interpreter, one among a thousand” Job 33:23
Why should not all men be interpreters? As a matter of fact, they are not, and we are called upon to consider the moral import of that fact. Men are variously gifted. To be gifted at all is to receive honour from God. The judgment is not as between one man and another, but as between each man, as a trustee, and God who has put him in trust. The interpreter will always make his influence felt; there will be something about his manner, mode of thinking, tone of expression, which will identify him as one on whom the tongue of flame is resting. Society should honour its interpreters. To be one among a thousand is to be in a painful position. We envy the eminence, but forget the responsibility; we say how grand it must be to be so high up in society, forgetting that elevation means penalty, labour of many kinds, and vexations such as the great alone can feel. The Bible is an interpreter, and one among a thousand. This is the distinctive peculiarity of the Bible. It is not only a revelation, it is an interpretation; it interprets God, nature, truth, and it interprets man to himself. It is one among a thousand because there are many books which profess to have great answers to great questions, but they all break down at a given point, and are least eloquent where the heart yearns most for spiritual communication. Let us always dwell upon the distinctiveness of the Bible, and of the cross, and of the whole priesthood of Jesus Christ. In many points it may be like other sacred messages, but there are points at which it breaks away from them all, and stands up in noble singularity. We must not force interpretation too far. Sometimes it is enough to have a bint without having a whole revelation. If we walk according to the light we have, the light will soon increase. He is deceiving himself who supposes that he would travel fast toward the kingdom of heaven if he could start his journey at midday. Begin your journey as soon as there is the faintest streak of light in the east, and as you walk the sun will increase in splendour. The Christian should be one in a thousand: he should be seen from afar: he should be known by the quality of his character, by the music of his voice: he should in no case be so living the vulgar life as to be confounded with the common herd at the same time, he must distinguish between self-display, and the uniqueness which comes of long and happy communion with his Master. To be ostentatious is to be impious; to be a city set on a hill is to be a witness for God.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
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?
An interpreter
One among a thousand
To declare unto man his uprightness
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
If there be. This is another way by which God speaks.
interpreter. To reveal God and His truth. Compare Joh 1:18.
His: i.e. God’s righteousness.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 33:23-28
Job 33:23-28
ELIHU’S PROMISE OF RESTORATION TO JOB IF HE REPENTS
“If there be with him an angel,
An interpreter, one among a thousand,
To show unto man what is right for him;
Then God is gracious unto him, and saith,
Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom.
His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s;
He returneth to the days of his youth.
He prayeth unto God, and he is favorable unto him,
So that he seeth his face with joy:
And he restoreth unto man his righteousness.
He singeth before men, and saith,
I have sinned, and perverted that which was right,
And it profited me not:
He hath redeemed my soul from going into the pit,
And my life shall behold the light.”
All the wonderful things which Elihu here promised to Job were, of course, contingent upon Job’s confession of his wickedness (Job 33:27).
“If there be with him an angel, an interpreter, etc.” (Job 33:23). Van Selms’ paraphrase of what Elihu is saying here catches the unqualified egotism in it. “Happy is the man to whom a messenger from God appears, as I have come to you, to make God’s intentions for you clear and intelligible. There are not many who can do that, at best one in a thousand.”
“I have found a ransom” (Job 33:24). Elihu appears in this affirmation to mean that his prayers on Job’s behalf, along with Job’s confession of sins, will constitute an acceptable ransom in God’s sight. When all this happens, namely, Job’s confession and Elihu’s prayers on his behalf, then humility and submissiveness on Job’s part shall have been achieved. “This submissiveness is the ransom to be paid, and the ransom has been found; Job can then return to health and be strong again.” In the extent that Job might have been tempted to believe this, we may find the high-water mark of Satan’s campaign to force Job to renounce his integrity.
“So that he seeth his face with joy” (Job 33:26). The metaphor here was that of `ministers of the face,’ who were privileged to look the king in the face, the same being the highest ranking members of the king’s court. Jesus used this same metaphor when he said of little children that, “Their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Mat 18:10). Elihu is here promising Job the most extravagant blessings if he repents and submits.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 33:22-24. The unfortunate man will be brought near to death as a punishment for sin. Yet if he will listen to the messenger at hand and accept the advice offered he will have mercy shown to him.
Job 33:25-26. The restoration described in this verse is somewhat overdrawn. But Job really did have his former good condition restored in the end. However, it was not accomplished through the means suggested by Elihu.
Job 33:27-28. This paragraph teaches the same thing couched in the position of the three friends. Briefly stated it would be that Job should confess his sins. If he would do that he would be lifted out of his present state of affliction.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
a messenger: Jdg 2:1, 2Ch 36:15, 2Ch 36:16, Hag 1:13, Mal 2:7, Mal 3:1, 2Co 5:20
an interpreter: Job 34:32, Psa 94:12, Isa 61:1-3, Act 8:30, 1Co 11:30-32, Heb 12:5-12
one: Job 9:3, Ecc 7:28, Rom 11:13
to: Job 11:6, Job 34:10, Job 34:12, Job 35:14, Job 36:3, Job 36:8-13, Job 37:23, Neh 9:33, Psa 119:75, Lam 3:22, Lam 3:23, Lam 3:32, Lam 3:39-41, Eze 18:25-28, Dan 9:14
Reciprocal: Gen 18:32 – I will not Job 19:25 – I know Psa 107:20 – healed Ecc 8:1 – who knoweth Joe 2:23 – the former
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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 mans 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 mans, but Gods uprightness; namely, his justice in inflicting these sufferings, and the sufferers desert of condemnation and wrath; Gods 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 mans 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 Gods 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 Christs 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33:23 If there be a {m} messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, {n} to shew unto man his uprightness:
(m) A man sent from God to declare his will.
(n) A singular man, and as one chosen out of a thousand, who is able to declare the great mercies of God to sinners: and in which man’s righteousness stands, which is through the justice of Jesus Christ.