“But if an angel from heaven appears— a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright—
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:
- 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,
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 send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- 2 Cor 5:20We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
- Eccl 7:28which my soul still seeks; but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand; but I have not found a woman among all those.
- 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 Yahweh of Armies.
- Hag 1:13Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.
- Ps 119:75Yahweh, I know that your judgments are righteous, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
- Job 37:23We can’t reach the Almighty. He is exalted in power. In justice and great righteousness, he will not oppress.
- Job 36:8–13If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,
- Job 36:3I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
- Dan 9:14Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.
- Lam 3:32For though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Lam 3:22–23It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail.
- Lam 3:39–41Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
- Ezek 18:25–28“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?
- Ps 94:12Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law;
- Heb 12:5–12and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him;
- Isa 61:1–3The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
- Judg 2:1Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.
- 2 Chr 36:15–16Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place;
- Neh 9:33However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.
- Job 11:6that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Job 35:14How much less when you say you don’t see him. The cause is before him, and you wait for him!
- Job 34:12Yes surely, God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
- Job 34:10“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
- Job 34:32Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
- Job 9:3If he is pleased to contend with him, he can’t answer him one time in a thousand.
- 1 Cor 11:30–32For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
- Acts 8:30Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
- Rom 11:13For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.