The Meaning of Job 33:6 Explained

Job 33:6

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

YLT: Lo, I am, according to thy word, for God, From the clay I -- I also, have been formed.

Darby: Behold, before God I am as thou; I also am formed out of the clay.

ASV: Behold, I am toward God even as thou art: I also am formed out of the clay.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 33:6 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 33:6 mean?

Truly I [am] as your spokesman before God out of clay Have been formed also I
הֵן־ אֲנִ֣י כְפִ֣יךָ לָאֵ֑ל מֵ֝חֹ֗מֶר קֹרַ֥צְתִּי גַם־ אָֽנִי

הֵן־  Truly 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הֵן  
Sense: behold, lo, though hypothetical part.
אֲנִ֣י  I  [am] 
Parse: Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
כְפִ֣יךָ  as  your  spokesman 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
לָאֵ֑ל  before  God 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵל 
Sense: god, god-like one, mighty one.
מֵ֝חֹ֗מֶר  out  of  clay 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹמֶר 
Sense: cement, mortar, clay.
קֹרַ֥צְתִּי  Have  been  formed 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: קָרַץ  
Sense: to narrow, form, nip, pinch, squeeze, wink, purse.
גַם־  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.