Job 33:23

“If there be a messenger with him, etc.] Or angel, either with God, as some think; or rather with the sick man; by which messenger is meant not an angel by nature, a created angel, though sometimes such are God’s messengers, sent by him on errands to men, are interpreters of things to them, as Gabriel was to Daniel; of whom there are thousands, and who may be of service to sick men for their comfort and instruction, since it is certain they attend saints in their dying moments; yet this proves not that they are to be invoked as mediators between God and men: but rather a minister of the word is designed, who is by office an angel, a “messenger” of Christ, and of the churches; an “interpreter”…”

“Elihu refers to himself as the divinely-sent (Job 32:8; Job 33:6) "messenger," the "interpreter" to explain to Job and vindicate God's righteousness; such a one Eliphaz had denied that Job could look for (Job 5:1), and Job (Job 9:33) had wished for such a "daysman" or umpire between him and God. The "messenger" of good is antithetical to the "destroyers" (Job 33:23). with him--if there be vouchsafed to the sufferer. The office of the interpreter is stated "to show unto man God's uprightness" in His dealings; or, as UMBREIT, "man's upright course towards God" (Pro 14:2). The former is better; Job maintained his own "uprightness" (Job 16:17; Job 27:5-6); Elihu on the contrary maintains God's,…”

“If there be a messenger with him - This part of the speech of Elihu has given rise to scarcely less diversity of opinion, and to scarcely less discussion, than the celebrated passage in Job 19:25-27. Almost every interpreter has had a special view of its meaning, and of course it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine its true sense. Before the opinions which have been entertained are specified, and an attempt made to determine the true sense of the passage, it may be of interest to see how it is presented in the ancient versions, and what light they throw on it. The Vulgate renders it, “If there is for him an angel speaking, one of thousands, that he may announce the…”

“A messenger - A prophet or teacher. To expound the providence, and point out the design of God therein. One, &c. - A person rightly qualified for this great and hard work, such as there are but very few. To shew - To direct him to the right way how he may please God, and procure that mercy which he thirsts after; which is not by quarrelling with God, but by an humble confession. and supplication for mercy through Christ the redeemer. Job 33:24”

“33:23 An angel from heaven would intercede, taking the role of the mediator Job longed for (see 5:1; 9:33-34; 16:18-21).”

“a messenger: Jdg 2:1; Ch2 36:15, Ch2 36:16; Hag 1:13; Mal 2:7, Mal 3:1; Co2 5:20 an interpreter: Job 34:32; Psa 94:12; Isa 61:1-3; Act 8:30; Co1 11:30-32; Heb 12:5-12 one: Job 9:3; Ecc 7:28; Rom 11:13 to: Job 11:6, Job 34:10, Job 34:12, Job 35:14, Job 36:3, Job 36:8-13, Job 37:23; Neh 9:33; Psa 119:75; Lam 3:22, Lam 3:23, Lam 3:32, Lam 3:39-41; Eze 18:25-28; Dan 9:14 Job 33:24”

“23 If there is an angel as mediator for him, One of a thousand, To declare to man what is for his profit: 24 He is gracious to him, and saith: Deliver him, that he go not down to the pit - I have found a ransom. The former case, Job 33:15, was the easier; there a strengthening of the testimony of man's conscience by a divine warning, given under remarkable circumstances, suffices. This second case, which the lxx correctly distinguishes from the former (it translates Job 33:19, πάλιν δὲ ἤλεγξεν αὐτὸν ἐν μαλακίᾳ ἐπὶ κοίτης), is the more difficult: it treats not merely of a warning against sin and its wages of death, but of a deliverance from the death itself, to which the man is…”