Limitless Word
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
Job 33:22 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yes, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
  • BSB He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
  • NKJV Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, And his life to the executioners.
  • NASB “Then his soul comes near to the pit, And his life to those who bring death.
  • NLT They are at death’s door; the angels of death wait for them.

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 will place Moses in a cleft of the rock and cover him with His hand as His glory passes. Divine protection makes the encounter possible.

Overview

God shields Moses by hiding him in the rock and covering him until the glory has passed. The imagery of being hidden and covered speaks of God's protecting grace. Believers have long seen here a picture of finding refuge in Christ, hidden in the cleft of the Rock from the consuming holiness of God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Job 33:28He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
  • 2 Sam 24:16And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
  • Isa 38:10I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
  • Job 15:21A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
  • Job 17:1My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
  • Job 7:7O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
  • Job 17:13–16If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
  • Acts 12:23And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
  • 1 Cor 10:10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
  • Ps 30:3O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
  • Ps 88:3–5For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
  • Ps 17:4Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
  • Exod 12:23For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
  • Rev 9:11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
  • 1 Sam 2:6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

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 33:22YouTube · 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 33:22 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.