Bible Strands
Job 33:17
to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job in the midst of his discourse, explaining how God uses dreams and terrors to communicate. This verse specifies the exact purpose of those divine interventions in human conduct.
The words — The Hebrew הָסִיר (ha.sir) means to turn aside or remove, paired with גֵוָה (ge.Vah), which denotes pride or self-exaltation. The text states God acts to divert a person from a wrongful deed and shield him from arrogance.
The thread — This corrective restraint appears in Genesis 20:6, where God protects Abimelech from sin, and aligns with Isaiah 2:11 and James 4:10, which describe God’s opposition to human loftiness. The theme tracks divine intervention to preserve life by halting destructive pride.
Why it lands — The text states that warnings function to redirect behavior and block arrogance. It requires the reader to accept correction immediately rather than waiting for pride to cause ruin.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 2:11 The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
- James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
- Genesis 20:6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
- 2 Chronicles 32:25 But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
- Job 17:11 My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart.
- Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- Deuteronomy 8:16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- Isaiah 23:9 The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth.
- Daniel 4:30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”