Job 33:22

22 He might approach the very edge of the grave. The messengers of death might come for him.

Job 33:22 Meaning and Commentary

Job 33:22

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave
Not the soul, strictly and properly speaking, for that does not, nor is it laid in the grave at death, but returns to God that gave it; rather the body, for which it is sometimes put, and of which what is here said is true, see ( Psalms 16:10 ) ; or the person of the sick man, whose disease being so threatening, all hope is gone, and he is given up by his physicians and friends, and seemingly is at the grave's mouth, and that is ready for him, and he on the brink of that; which were the apprehensions Job had of himself, ( Job 17:1 ) ; see ( Psalms 88:3 ) ( 107:17 ) ;

and his life to the destroyers;
the destroying angels, as Aben Ezra, and so the Septuagint version: or destroying diseases, and so Mr. Broughton renders it, "to killing maladies"; or it may be to worms, which destroy the body in the grave, and which Job was sensible of would quickly be his case, ( Job 19:26 ) ; though some interpret it of those that kill, or of those that are dead, with whom they are laid that die; or of deaths corporeal and eternal, and the horrors and terrors of both, with which persons in such circumstances are sometimes distressed.

Job 33:22 In-Context

20 He might feel so bad he can't eat anything. He might even hate the finest food.

21 His body might waste away to nothing. His bones might have been hidden. But now they stick out.

22 He might approach the very edge of the grave. The messengers of death might come for him.

23 "But suppose there is an angel who will speak up for him. The angel is very special. He's one out of a thousand. He will tell that person what is right for him.

24 He'll be gracious to him. He'll say to God, 'Spare him from going down into the grave. I know a way that can set him free.'