The Meaning of Job 33:4 Explained

Job 33:4

KJV: The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

YLT: The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Mighty doth quicken me.

Darby: The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

ASV: The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The Spirit  of God  hath made  me, and the breath  of the Almighty  hath given me life. 

What does Job 33:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 33:1-33 - The Interpreter
It is not wonderful that Elihu has been mistaken for the Mediator Himself, so helpfully does he interpose between Job and his Maker. He dwells especially on his own likeness to Job in his manhood, and quotes this as the reason why he could specially help him: I also am formed out of the clay. So also our High Priest is man. Elihu takes up Job's words protesting his innocence, and he insists that Job was not right in those protestations, or in the conclusions that he drew from them.
Then follows one of the grandest passages in the book. Elihu tells how God speaks in nature and through conscience, and is often disregarded; and how then he speaks by revelation, opening the ears of men to withdraw them from their purpose. He shows that God often lays a man upon a bed of pain, that He may speak to his heart. Happy is the afflicted if an interpreter stands beside him to point the path to repentance. Finally, broken and penitent, he turns back to God, and sees His face with joy, and sings before men the story of his restoration. Thus Elihu argues that affliction is often sent as discipline to read to man God's deepest truth. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 33

1  Elihu offers himself instead of God to reason with Job
8  He excuses God from giving man an account of his ways, by his greatness
14  God calls man to repentance by visions, by afflictions, and by his ministry
31  He incites Job to attention

What do the individual words in Job 33:4 mean?

The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life
רֽוּחַ־ אֵ֥ל עָשָׂ֑תְנִי וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת שַׁדַּ֣י תְּחַיֵּֽנִי

רֽוּחַ־  The  Spirit 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
אֵ֥ל  of  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֵל 
Sense: god, god-like one, mighty one.
עָשָׂ֑תְנִי  has  made  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular, first person common singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
וְנִשְׁמַ֖ת  and  the  breath 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: נְשָׁמָה  
Sense: breath, spirit.
שַׁדַּ֣י  of  the  Almighty 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שַׁדַּי  
Sense: almighty, most powerful.
תְּחַיֵּֽנִי  gives  me  life 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person feminine singular, first person common singular
Root: חָיָה  
Sense: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health.