Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
Parallel translations
- WEB “If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him;
- KJV If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
- NKJV “If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,
- NASB ¶“If there is an interceding angel for him, One out of a thousand, To remind a person of what is right for him,
- NLT “But if an angel from heaven appears— a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright—
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
Moses is permitted to see God's 'back,' but not His face. He receives a real yet limited revelation of God's glory.
Overview
God grants Moses a glimpse of His afterglow, a true revelation suited to human capacity, while withholding the full vision of His face. This anthropomorphic language conveys both nearness and limitation. It reminds us that here we know God truly but partially, awaiting the day when we shall see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 29
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- 2 Cor 5:20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
- Eccl 7:28While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.
- Mal 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Hag 1:13Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
- Ps 119:75I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
- Job 37:23The Almighty is beyond our reach; He is exalted in power! In His justice and great righteousness He does not oppress.
- Job 36:8–13And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,
- Job 36:3I get my knowledge from afar, and I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
- Dan 9:14Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.
- Lam 3:32Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
- Lam 3:22–23Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Lam 3:39–41Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?
- Ezek 18:25–28Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
- Ps 94:12Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,
- Heb 12:5–12And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
- Isa 61:1–3The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- Judg 2:1Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,
- 2 Chr 36:15–16Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
- Neh 9:33You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
- Job 11:6and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Job 35:14How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,
- Job 34:12Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly, and the Almighty does not pervert justice.
- Job 34:10Therefore listen to me, O men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wrong, and from the Almighty to act unjustly.
- Job 34:32Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
- Job 9:3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
- 1 Cor 11:30–32That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
- Acts 8:30So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
- Rom 11:13I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 33:23 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.