Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Behold, God does all these things, twice, yes three times, with a man,
- KJV Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,
- NKJV “Behold, God works all these things, Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
- NASB ¶“Behold, God does all these things for a man two or three times,
- NLT “Yes, God does these things again and again for people.
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
Elihu states that God repeatedly works this way with people. It stresses that God's gracious dealing is His consistent practice.
Overview
Elihu summarizes his argument: God does 'all these things'-warning, disciplining, and delivering-again and again ('twice, yes three times') in a person's life. The point is that God is patient and persistent in seeking to rescue people from death. This reflects the steadfast mercy of God, who does not desire that any should perish but pursues sinners repeatedly toward repentance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eph 1:11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- 1 Cor 12:6There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.
- Phil 2:13For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
- 2 Cor 5:5And God has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.
- Heb 13:21equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Job 33:14–17For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices.
- 2 Kgs 6:10So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
- Col 1:29To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
- Job 40:5I have spoken once, but I have no answer—twice, but I have nothing to add.”
- 2 Cor 12:8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
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 33:29 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.