Verse Lens · Context pointer
Job 33:17 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 17. 17That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Job 33:17 advances the thought unit with the words “That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” Elihu states “That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” as one poetic claim in Elihu Says God Warns through Dreams.
Read It With
- Job 33:14–33:18
Read Job 33:17 with 33:14–33:18. Read alone, “That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Elihu argues that God speaks in dreams to turn people from pride and preserve them from destructive paths.
Why It Needs Context
Job 33:17 depends on 33:14–33:18; isolating “That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” would detach a poetic premise, image, response, or transition from Elihu and “Elihu Says God Warns through Dreams.”
Read Job 33:14–18 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 33:14–33:18 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Elihu Says God Warns through Dreams.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 14. 14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Verse 15. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Verse 16. 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
Verse 17. 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
Verse 18. 18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 33:14–33:18 — Elihu Says God Warns through DreamsSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 33:14–33:18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 33:14–33:18
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗