The Meaning of Job 33:27 Explained

Job 33:27

KJV: He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;

YLT: He looketh on men, and saith, 'I sinned, And uprightness I have perverted, And it hath not been profitable to me.

Darby: He will sing before men, and say, I have sinned, and perverted what was right, and it hath not been requited to me;

ASV: He singeth before men, and saith, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, And it profited me not:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He looketh  upon men,  and [if any] say,  I have sinned,  and perverted  [that which was] right,  and it profited  me not; 

What does Job 33:27 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 33:1-33 - The Interpreter
It is not wonderful that Elihu has been mistaken for the Mediator Himself, so helpfully does he interpose between Job and his Maker. He dwells especially on his own likeness to Job in his manhood, and quotes this as the reason why he could specially help him: I also am formed out of the clay. So also our High Priest is man. Elihu takes up Job's words protesting his innocence, and he insists that Job was not right in those protestations, or in the conclusions that he drew from them.
Then follows one of the grandest passages in the book. Elihu tells how God speaks in nature and through conscience, and is often disregarded; and how then he speaks by revelation, opening the ears of men to withdraw them from their purpose. He shows that God often lays a man upon a bed of pain, that He may speak to his heart. Happy is the afflicted if an interpreter stands beside him to point the path to repentance. Finally, broken and penitent, he turns back to God, and sees His face with joy, and sings before men the story of his restoration. Thus Elihu argues that affliction is often sent as discipline to read to man God's deepest truth. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 33

1  Elihu offers himself instead of God to reason with Job
8  He excuses God from giving man an account of his ways, by his greatness
14  God calls man to repentance by visions, by afflictions, and by his ministry
31  He incites Job to attention

What do the individual words in Job 33:27 mean?

Then he looks at men and says I have sinned and [what was] right perverted and not it did profit me
יָשֹׁ֤ר ׀ עַל־ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וַיֹּ֗אמֶר חָ֭טָאתִי וְיָשָׁ֥ר הֶעֱוֵ֗יתִי וְלֹא־ שָׁ֥וָה לִֽי

יָשֹׁ֤ר ׀  Then  he  looks 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּר  
Sense: to see, behold, observe, regard.
עַל־  at 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
אֲנָשִׁ֗ים  men 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱנׄושׁ 
Sense: man, mortal man, person, mankind.
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר  and  says 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
חָ֭טָאתִי  I  have  sinned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: חָטָא 
Sense: to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness.
וְיָשָׁ֥ר  and  [what  was]  right 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָשָׁר 
Sense: straight, upright, correct, right.
הֶעֱוֵ֗יתִי  perverted 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: עָוָה 
Sense: to bend, twist, distort.
וְלֹא־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
שָׁ֥וָה  it  did  profit 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁוָה 
Sense: to agree with, be or become like, level, resemble.
לִֽי  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular