King James Version

Job 33:18

He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

Study

Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

יַחְשֹׂ֣ךְyachsokherefrainחָשַׂךְverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “refrain”, an unfinished actionH2820to restrain or (reflex.) refrain; by implication, to refuse, spare, preserve; to observeassuage, [idiom] darken, forbear, hinder, hold back, keep (back), punish, refrain, reserve, spare, withhold.נַ֭פְשׁוֹnafshvocreatureנֶפֶשׁnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “creature”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5315properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, [idiom] dead(-ly), desire, [idiom] (dis-) contented, [idiom] fish, ghost, [phrase] greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, [idiom] jeopardy of) life ([idiom] in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally,…מִנִּיminifromמִןpreposition — “from”H4480properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many sensesabove, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, [idiom] neither, [idiom] nor, (out) of, over, since, [idiom] then, through, [idiom] whether, with.שָׁ֑חַתshachatdestructionשַׁחַתnoun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “destruction”, the ordinary formH7845a pit (especially as a trap); figuratively, destructioncorruption, destruction, ditch, grave, pit.וְ֝חַיָּת֗וֹvechayatvoand lifeחַיconjunction, noun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and life”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH2416alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively[phrase] age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, [phrase] merry, multitude, [phrase] (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.מֵעֲבֹ֥רmeavorfrom alienateעָבַרpreposition, verb, qal, infinitive construct — “from alienate”, the to-form of the verbH5674to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically, to cover (in copulation)alienate, alter, [idiom] at all, beyond, bring (over, through), carry over, (over-) come (on, over), conduct (over), convey over, current, deliver, do away, enter, escape, fail, gender, get over, (make) go (away, beyond, by, forth, his way…בַּשָּֽׁלַחbashalachin dartשֶׁלַחpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in dart”, the ordinary formH7973a missile of attack, i.e. spear; also (figuratively) a shoot of growth; i.e. branchdart, plant, [idiom] put off, sword, weapon.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

That He may keep back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

He keepeth back his soul from the pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.

Young’s Literal Translation

He keepeth back his soul from corruption, And his life from passing away by a dart.

World English Bible

He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

Darby Translation

He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing away by the sword.

Douay-Rheims

Rescuing his soul from corruption: and his life from passing to the sword.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

That He may keep back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

He spares also his soul from death, and suffers him not to fall in war.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ἐφείσατο δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ θανάτου, καὶ μὴ πεσεῖν αὐτὸν ἐν πολέμῳ.