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His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
Job 33:21 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB His flesh is so consumed away, that it can’t be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out.
  • KJV His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
  • BSB His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.
  • NASB “His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones, which were not seen, stick out.
  • NLT Their flesh wastes away, and their bones stick out.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God provides a place on the rock where Moses may stand to witness His passing glory. God graciously makes a way to reveal Himself safely.

Overview

God appoints a sheltered spot for Moses, showing His care to satisfy Moses' longing without destroying him. The rock becomes the place of refuge for the encounter. It pictures how God Himself provides the means by which sinners may safely draw near, ultimately in Christ, the Rock of our salvation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Job 19:20My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
  • Job 7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
  • Job 13:28though I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
  • Prov 5:11You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
  • Ps 102:3–5For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.
  • Ps 39:11When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity, You consume his wealth like a moth. Surely every man is but a breath.” Selah.
  • Ps 32:3–4When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
  • Ps 22:15–17My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
  • Job 14:22But his flesh on him has pain, and his soul within him mourns.”
  • Job 14:20You forever prevail against him, and he departs. You change his face, and send him away.
  • Job 16:8You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me. My leanness rises up against me. It testifies to my face.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 33:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 33:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.