Job 33:20-22 · Bible study
Job 33:20-22 Commentary: Affliction as Divine Instruction
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does Elihu see loss of appetite and wasted flesh as God's disciplinary message?
Research Summary
- Meaning: Elihu describes severe physical illness, loathing food, wasting flesh, protruding bones, nearness to the grave, as God’s disciplinary instruction, not random suffering.
- Key words: zahem (loathe, intensive), nephesh (soul/self), chaiyah (life as vitality), shachat (pit), memithim (destroyers, those who cause death).
- Main debate: Identity of the ‘destroyers’, angelic beings (Aben Ezra, Septuagint) or personified death pangs/diseases (Barnes, Wesley).
- Theological theme: God uses physical affliction to humble the proud, teach dependence, and prepare the way for redemption and restoration.
- Best use: Pastoral care for the seriously ill; sermon on the purposes of suffering; small-group study on hearing God in hard times.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
20so that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food.
21His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.
22He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
WEB World English Bible 2000
20so that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food.
21His flesh is so consumed away that it can’t be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out.
22Yes, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
KJV King James Version 1769
20So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
21His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
20So that his life abhorreth bread, And his soul dainty food.
21His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; And his bones that were not seen stick out.
22Yea, his soul draweth near unto the pit, And his life to the destroyers.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
20And his life hath nauseated bread, And his soul desirable food.
21His flesh is consumed from being seen, And high are his bones, they were not seen!
22And draw near to the pit doth his soul, And his life to those causing death.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
20And his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food;
21His flesh is consumed away from view, and his bones that were not seen stick out;
22And his soul draweth near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
20Bread becometh abominable to him in his life, and to his soul the meat which before he desired.
21His flesh shall be consumed away, and his bones that were covered shall be made bare.
22His soul hath drawn near to corruption, and his life to the destroyers.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 33:20
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that these verses describe the physical effects of severe illness as part of God’s purposeful discipline. Elihu is not merely cataloguing symptoms; he presents loss of appetite, wasting flesh, and the approach of death as a divine message. Barnes notes that the loathing of food and the exposure of bones are ‘part of the disciplinary arrangements of God,’ designed to humble the sufferer and turn him from pride. Gill and Clarke connect the nausea to common disease (atrophy, marasmus) but see it as more than natural: God ‘speaks’ by taking away the pleasure of eating and the comfort of health. Matthew Henry frames the passage as showing that ‘God often afflicts the body in love, with gracious designs of good to the soul.’ The Hebrew verb zahem (loathe) is intensive, indicating a thorough disgust, not just loss of appetite but a revulsion that strips the sufferer of the ordinary comforts that sustain pride and self-reliance.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Literal physical description: The verses match the observable symptoms of severe disease (atrophy, marasmus); the loss of appetite and bone protrusion are factual.
- Symbol of spiritual decay: The loathing of bread symbolizes rejection of God’s sustenance; the wasted flesh pictures spiritual barrenness; the pit is spiritual death.
- Part of a larger disciplinary argument: Elihu’s framework in vv.16-19 and vv.23-28 shows that the physical details serve the theological point: God uses suffering to turn the proud heart toward grace.
What is clear: The passage describes a person on the verge of death by starvation/wasting and presents this extreme condition as part of God’s purposeful communication—it is not random destruction but intentional instruction.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose of physical affliction | Elihu sees severe illness as a message from God meant to instruct and discipline, not merely punish. | Some interpreters (Matthew Henry, Clarke) emphasize it as correction for hidden pride or sin; others (Barnes, Keil-Delitzsch) stress it as a general humbling that can apply to any sufferer. |
| Identity of the destroyers (memithim) | Memithim are agents that bring death, either personal or impersonal. | Aben Ezra and the Septuagint read them as destroying angels (cf. 2 Sam 24:16). Barnes and Wesley see them as the pangs of death or fatal diseases. Clarke notes ancient parallels (Greek Moirai, Arab Azrael) but prefers the simpler reading of ‘the dead.’ |
| Distinction between soul (nephesh) and life (chaiyah) | Both terms refer to aspects of the person that are threatened by death. | Clarke distinguishes nephesh as the immortal spirit and chaiyah as the animal life; Barnes treats them as interchangeable synonyms for ‘self.’ |
| Elihu’s attitude toward Job | Elihu intends to correct and instruct Job, offering a more hopeful perspective than the three friends. | Some readers (Lange, Victor Andreä) see Elihu as representing Job’s ‘better self’; others (many traditional commentators) hold that Elihu is subtly accusing Job of pride, using the description of the afflicted as a mirror for Job’s own condition. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Elihu’s speech appears in a book where the main speakers, Job and his three friends, operated within a retribution theology: suffering as direct punishment for sin. Elihu introduces a more nuanced view: affliction can be God’s instruction, a means of ‘hiding pride from man’ (Job 33:17). In the ancient Near East, physical wasting (marasmus, consumption) was a familiar reality without modern medicine; descriptions of bones protruding and food being nauseating would have resonated with any hearer. The term ‘destroyers’ (memithim, a Hiphil participle meaning ‘those who cause death’) reflects a cultural belief in angelic agents of death (2 Samuel 24:16; Psalm 78:49). Clarke compares this to the Greek Fates or the Arab Azrael; Barnes prefers to see the ‘destroyers’ as death pangs personified. The ‘pit’ (shachat) is synonymous with Sheol, the grave. Elihu’s innovation is to insist that such extreme suffering is not arbitrary, it is a channel through which God communicates, often to prepare the way for an interpreter or mediator (v.23) who can show the sufferer ‘what is right for him.’ This moves beyond the friends’ accusation of hidden sin toward a theology of redemptive suffering.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries note one minor textual variation in verse 21. The Masoretic text (Chetib) reads a noun: ‘(they become) bareness’; the Keri (reading tradition) vocalises it as a verb: ‘they are bare’ or ‘stick out.’ Barnes points to this as the explanation for his translation. The difference does not affect the overall meaning, both readings depict bones becoming visible. The Hebrew word memithim (destroyers) in verse 22 is a Hiphil participle plural of mut (to die); the construction is clear. No other significant textual variants are reported in the sources.
Reception History
In Jewish tradition, Elihu’s speech has often been seen as a non-retributive theology of suffering, distinct from the friends’ accusations. The passage influenced medieval Jewish commentators (e.g., Aben Ezra) who debated the nature of the ‘destroyers.’ Christian reception has been shaped by the idea of affliction as divine discipline. Gregory the Great used this text in his Moralia on Job to argue that God wounds in order to heal. During the Reformation, Matthew Henry and John Wesley both read the passage as a template for interpreting sickness: the removal of appetite and the wasting of flesh are means by which God weans the soul from worldly pleasures and draws attention to eternal realities. In modern pastoral theology, these verses are often cited in discussions of illness as a potential space for spiritual growth and encounter with God.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Symptoms of Suffering (vv.20-22). A graphic portrait: life loathes bread, flesh wastes away, bones protrude, the soul nears the pit, and life approaches the destroyers. These are not random, each symptom carries meaning.
- The Source of Suffering. Elihu insists that God is speaking through the affliction. The loathing of food, the visible decay, the proximity of death, all are pedagogical. God ‘withdraws man from his purpose’ (v.17) and ‘hides pride’ (v.17) by taking away the supports of pride, including the pleasure of eating.
- The Solution in Suffering. Elihu continues in vv.23-28 with the promise of an interpreter, a ransom, and restoration. The same God who sends the message also provides the rescue. The purpose is not destruction but restoration: ‘His flesh will be fresher than a child’s’ (v.25).
Five-point outline
- Loss of appetite (v.20). The first sign: the sufferer abhors bread, even the food he once desired. This symbolizes the stripping away of earthly comforts.
- Wasted flesh (v.21a). The body visibly consumes away. What was once healthy and covered is gone.
- Protruding bones (v.21b). The skeleton becomes visible, a stark reminder of mortality. The Hebrew of ‘stick out’ (shuppu) suggests being laid bare, exposed.
- Nearness to the pit (v.22a). The soul presses close to shachat, the grave. There is no more margin.
- Approach of the destroyers (v.22b). Death’s agents, whether angelic or physical, are at hand. The sufferer is at the brink.
Illustration hooks
- A cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy who cannot stomach food, watches muscle melt away, feels death near. The physical experience is exactly what Elihu describes, yet behind it, a question: is God saying something?
- A hospice nurse sees patients who ‘loathe bread.’ The moment when a person stops eating is a threshold; it can be a time of letting go, of hearing a voice that had been drowned out by busyness and appetite.
- Anyone who has been bedridden for weeks knows the strange disconnect: the body you trusted becomes foreign. Bones press against the skin. That vulnerability can become a classroom.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “If God is speaking through my sickness, what is He saying? How do I discern it when I am in pain?”
- “Is my illness a punishment for something I did? If not, why does Elihu frame it as discipline?”
- “Where is the ransom, the interpreter, in my situation? How do I find hope when my body is wasting away?”
Leading a Discussion
Elihu argues that God speaks through physical affliction, even through the loss of appetite and the approach of death. This idea may feel unsettling. Does it mean every illness is a divine lecture? Or can suffering be an invitation to listen more deeply? This passage invites the group to explore the relationship between physical experience and spiritual hearing.
Discussion questions
- What physical details does Elihu use to describe the sufferer’s condition? Which detail stands out to you most?
- How does Elihu interpret these symptoms? Does he see them as random misfortune or as something else? What clues in the surrounding verses (especially vv.16-19, 23-24) support your answer?
- The Hebrew verb for ‘loathes’ (zahem) is intensive: a thorough disgust. How does the loss of appetite for even desirable food serve as a ‘message’ from God, in Elihu’s view?
- Barnes calls the wasting flesh part of God’s ‘disciplinary arrangements.’ In your own words, what does discipline mean here, punishment, training, or something else?
- Verse 22 uses two terms: ‘soul’ (nephesh) and ‘life’ (chaiyah). Some commentators distinguish them as higher self vs. animal life. Does that distinction matter for how you read the passage?
- The ‘destroyers’ have been interpreted as angels of death or as the death pangs themselves. Which reading do you find more meaningful, and why?
- Elihu’s message is that God speaks in suffering, but he also promises an interpreter and a ransom (v.23-24). How does this shape the way we should approach a time of serious illness, either our own or a loved one’s? What hope does it offer?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 3:6 | When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. |
| Job 3:24 | For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water. |
| Psalms 107:17 | Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities. |
| Psalms 107:18 | Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death. |
| Jeremiah 3:19 | “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’ |
| Amos 5:11 | Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take taxes from him of wheat, you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. |
| Job 7:5 | My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh. |
| Job 13:28 | though I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the immortal spirit nears corruption while the animal life nears the dead. This shows both parts of a person will face different endings.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes sees the sickness causing Job to hate food and lose his strength as part of God’s discipline. He also views Job’s visible bones and near death as ways God humbles him by showing what awaits us all.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Elihu says God speaks to people in ways that reflect his greatness (comp. Job 35:14). He also says Job’s claim that God is arbitrary comes from Job himself asking why God gives no explanation.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes notes that the person described here loses all desire for food because his life force makes him despise bread and his sensitive spirit turns away from meat. His body weakens so much it can no longer be seen and his hidden bones begin to rattle. His spirit moves toward death and his life force heads toward those who bury the dead.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that Job’s pain makes him hate even bread (a basic food) and desire rich dishes he once liked. His body becomes so thin that bones show through and he seems near death.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that when sickness removes a person’s appetite it also takes away pride. His body loses its usual shape and his bones show through. Destroyers are angels sent by God to end life.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch interpret the destroyers in verse 22 as destroying angels sent by God, not merely death or its pains. This angelological reading fits the Elihu speeches, which they see as
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the messenger described here is a superhuman angelic mediator, not a human prophet or teacher. This angel is one of many in God's host, not a figure of uniquely high rank, and his role points only indirectly toward the Gospel.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that God sometimes uses painful afflictions to show a person his wrongdoing. He believes these trials come from God as a way to reveal righteousness and bring someone back to Him.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley identifies "the destroyers" as the pangs of death itself, personified agents ready to seize the sufferer. His point is vivid and immediate: death is not a distant event but a present, active force closing in.