Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay - Mr. Good, and before him none other that I have seen, has most probably hit the true meaning: -

"Behold, I am thy fellow.

I too was formed by God out of the clay."

The word כפיך kephicha, which we translate according to thy wish, and which, if Hebrew, would mean like to thy mouth; he considers as pure Arabic, with a Hebrew postfix, (Arabic) kefoo, signifying fellow, equal, like. Taken in this way, the passage is very plain, only לאל lael, by or through God, must be added to the last clause of the verse instead of the first, as Mr. Good has properly done.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Behold, I am according to thy wish in Gods stead - Margin, as in Hebrew “mouth.” The mouth is that by which we express our desires, and the word here is equivalent to wish. Some have, however, rendered this differently. Umbreit translates it, ich bin, wie du, von Gott - I am, as thou art, from God. So Noyes, “I, like thee, am a creature of God.” Wemyss, “I am thine equal in the sight of God.” Coverdale, “Behold, before God am I even as thou, for I am fashioned and made even of the same mould.” The Vulgate renders it, “Behold God made me as he made thee; and of the same clay am I formed.” So the Septuagint, “From clay am I formed as well as thou, and we are formed from the same.” This interpretation seems to be demanded also by the parallelism, where he says that he was made of the same clay with Job; that is, that he was a man like him. Still, it seems to me, that the fair and obvious meaning of the Hebrew is that which is expressed in our common version. The Hebrew is, לאל כפיך הן־אני כפי hēn'ănı̂y kepiykā lā'ĕl - “lo, I am, according to thy mouth (word, or wish) for God;” that is, I am in his place; I speak in his name; I am so commissioned by him that you may regard yourself as in fact speaking to him when you address his ambassador. This will also accord with what is said in Job 33:7, and with what Job had so earnestly desired, that he might be allowed to bring his cause directly before God; see the notes at Job 13:3.

I also am formed out of the clay - Margin, “cut.” The figure is taken from the act of the potter, who cuts off a portion of clay which he moulds into a vessel, and there is manifest allusion here to the statement in Genesis, that God made man of the dust of the ground. The meaning in this connection is, “Though I am in the place of God, and speak in his name, yet I am also a man, made of the same frail material as yourself. In me, therefore, there is nothing to overawe or confound you as there would be if God spake himself.”

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead,.... So some persons are, as civil magistrates, the ministers of the word, the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New; see 2 Corinthians 5:20; and so in some sense was Elihu; he undertakes to be an advocate for God, to vindicate his justice in his dealings with the children of men, and clear him from the charge of severity towards them, and hard usage of them, and particularly Job; and whom he besought, as in God's stead, to be reconciled to his providential dealings with him; to bear his afflictions patiently, and wait the issue of them: or "I am as thou art"; so the Targum and Ben Gersom interpret it; one that belongs to God, a creature of God's, a sinful frail mortal creature, as Job was, and accountable to God; one that belonged to him both as the God of nature and providence, and of grace; and such an one Job seemed to have wished for, to dispute the point in question with; see Job 9:32;

I also am formed out of the clay; or "cut out"^F5קרצתי "excisus", Montanus, Munster, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis. of it; alluding to the potter, who, out of a mass or lump of clay before him, cuts a piece out of it to make a vessel of God is the potter, men are as clay in his hands, their bodies are bodies of clay, houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; reference may be had to the original formation of man, Genesis 2:7, and may denote not so, much the pollution of his nature, clay being defiling, but the frailty of man, a vessel made of clay being brittle, and easily broken; see Job 4:19, Isaiah 64:8.

Geneva Study Bible

(b) Because Job had wished to dispute his cause with God, (Job 16:21) so that he might do it without fear, Elihu says, he will reason in God's stead, whom he does not need to fear.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

(See on Job 33:4; Job 31:35; Job 13:3, Job 13:20, Job 13:21).

formed — Though acting as God‘s representative, I am but a creature, like thyself. Arabic, “pressed together,” as a mass of clay by the potter, in forming a vessel [Umbreit]. Hebrew, “cut off,” as the portion taken from the clay to form it [Maurer].

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

Behold — I will plead with thee in God's name and stead, which thou hast often wished, and I am God's creature like thyself.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Job 33:6 Behold, I [am] according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

Ver. 6. Behold, I am according to thy wish] Heb. According to thy mouth. If the saints do but open their mouths wide God will fill them; he will give them not only the desires of their hearts, but the request of their lips, Psalms 21:2, fulfil all their counsel, Psalms 20:4, in that very way, by that very means, they wished it: he fitteth his mercy ad cardinem desiderii; and lets it be to his even as they will. Was it not so with Job here?

In God’s stead] Heb. For God, to act and plead for him, and to show how thou hast dealt with him. So ministers are said to be in Christ’s stead, 2 Corinthians 5:20. A great mercy, that he will treat with us by men like ourselves.

I also am formed out of the clay] Et non ex meliore luto effictus, of the same make and matter with thyself, cut out of the same lump, digged out of the same pit. He alludeth to Genesis 2:7, the wonderful formation of those protoplasts, as a potter mouldeth his pots, cutting them out of the lump. And the like God doth for men still, by that, viz. πλαστικη, that is in the seed, making it prolific, and generative.

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

Job 33:6. I also am formed out of the clay— Houbigant renders this passage, I, I say, who am formed out of the same clay: Job 33:7. Therefore my terror shall not, &c. These, and the 4th verse, seem to contain Elihu's apology for assuming the character of a mediator between Job and his friends, of presuming to represent the Deity, and of reasoning with Job in that character.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

I will plead with thee in God’s name and stead, and on his behalf, which thou hast oft wished that God would do upon equal terms, and laying aside his terrible majesty, &c. Or, I am as thou art with or towards God, i.e. God’s creature like thyself, as the next words explain it.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

6.In God’s stead — The first clause may be more correctly rendered, Behold, I, like thee, am of God; that is, his creature.

I also am formed — “Nipped” from the clay — an allusion to the potter, who nips off a piece of clay for the vessel he is about to make. Compare Job 10:9.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Formed. Job had expressed a desire to plead before a man, chap. ix. 32., and xiii. 19., and xxxi. 35. Eliu offers himself to maintain the cause of God. (Calmet)

Mark Dunagan Commentary on the Bible

"The young man considered himself to be equal with Job before God (and not superior to him, as had his friends), for both were God"s possessions and creations, formed (literally, nipped) out of clay. Therefore, because they were equals, Elihu would not terrify him (as Job had frequently said God had done to him (7:17; 9:34; 13:21; 23:15), nor would he pressure him " (Zuck pp. 144-145).

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

thy wish. Compare Job 13:3, Job 13:18-24; Job 16:21; Job 23:3-9; Job 30:20; Job 31:35.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

(Note, Job 33:4; Job 31:35; Job 13:3; Job 13:20-21.)

In God's stead - literally, 'for God' [ laa-'Eel (Hebrew #410)]. Maurer translates 'I am to God (in the same relation) as thou art.' But Job 33:23 implies he was God's representative, as the English version renders the Hebrew correctly here, "in God's stead."

Formed - though acting as God's representative, I am but a creature like thyself. Arabic, pressed together, as a mass of clay by the potter in forming a vessel (Umbreit). Hebrew cut off, as the portion taken from the clay to form it [ qaarats (Hebrew #7169)] (Maurer).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

I am

9:32-35; 13:3; 20:22; 23:3,4; 31:35

wish

Heb. mouth. in.

Genesis 30:2; Exodus 4:16; 2 Corinthians 5:20

I also

4:19; 10:9; 13:12; Genesis 2:7; 3:19; 2 Corinthians 5:1

formed

Heb. cut.