Job 33:22

22 His soul draws near 1the pit, and his life to 2those who bring death.

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 so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food.
21 His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22 His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.
23 If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him,
24 and he is merciful to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom;

Cross References 2

  • 1. ver. 24, 28
  • 2. 2 Samuel 24:16, 17; Psalms 78:49
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.