Limitless Word
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
Job 33:23 · King James Version
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;
  • BSB Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
  • 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 3:1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
  • 2 Cor 5:20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
  • Eccl 7:28Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
  • Mal 2:7For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
  • Hag 1:13Then spake Haggai the LORD’s messenger in the LORD’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
  • Ps 119:75I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
  • Job 37:23Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.
  • Job 36:8–13And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction;
  • Job 36:3I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
  • Dan 9:14Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
  • Lam 3:32But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
  • Lam 3:22–23It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
  • Lam 3:39–41Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
  • Ezek 18:25–28Yet ye say, The way of the LORD is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
  • Ps 94:12Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
  • Heb 12:5–12And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
  • Isa 61:1–3The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
  • Judg 2:1And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
  • 2 Chr 36:15–16And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
  • Neh 9:33Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:
  • Job 11:6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
  • Job 35:14Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.
  • Job 34:12Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
  • Job 34:10Therefore hearken unto me ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
  • Job 34:32That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
  • Job 9:3If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
  • 1 Cor 11:30–32For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
  • Acts 8:30And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
  • Rom 11:13For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

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 33:23YouTube · 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 33:23 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.