Albert Barnes Commentary Job 33:27

"He singeth before men, and saith, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, And it profited me not:" — Job 33:27 (ASV)

He looks upon men - Margin, “or, he shall look upon men, and say, I have sinned.” Umbreit renders this, Nun singt er jubelnd zu den Menschen - “now he sings joyfully among men.” So Noyes, “He shall sing among men, and say.” Professor Lee, “He shall fully consider or pronounce right to men, so that one shall say, I have sinned.” Coverdale says, “Such respect has he for men. Therefore let a man confess and say, I have offended.” The Septuagint renders it, Εἷτα τότε ἀπομέμψεται ἄνθρωπος αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ (Eita tote apomempsetai anthrōpos autos heautō), “then shall a man blame himself,” etc. These various renderings arise from the difference of meaning attached to the Hebrew word ישׁר (yāshor).

According to our interpretation, it is derived from שׁיר (shı̂yr) — “to sing,” and then the meaning would be, “he sings before men.” Thus, the reference would be to the sufferer, meaning that he would have occasion to rejoice among men. See Gesenius on the word. According to the other view, the word is derived from שׁור (shûr) — “to look round”; “to care for, or regard.” According to this, the reference is to God, meaning that He carefully and attentively observes people in such circumstances. If He sees evidence that there is true penitence, He has compassion and saves. This idea certainly fits better with the scope of the passage than the former, and it seems to me this should be regarded as correct.

And if any say, I have sinned - Hebrew “And says.” This means that if the sufferer, under the pressure of his afflictions, is willing to confess his faults, then God is ready to show him mercy. This agrees with what Elihu intended to state about the design of afflictions: that they were intended to bring people to reflection and to be a means of wholesome discipline. There is no doubt that Elihu meant all this to be understood by Job as applicable to himself, for Elihu clearly means for it to be understood that he had not seen in Job the evidence of a penitent mind, such as he supposed afflictions were designed to produce.

And perverted that which was right - This means that, regarding the workings and views of the divine government, he had held to error or had cherished wrong understandings of the divine character. Or it may mean that he had dealt unjustly with people in his interactions with them.

And it profited me not - The word used here (שׁוה (shâvâh)) properly means to be even or level, then to be equal, or of like value. Here it may mean that he now saw it was no advantage to him to have acted wickedly, since it brought such punishment upon him. Or it may mean that the benefit he received from his wicked life was not equivalent to the pain he had been called to suffer because of it. This is the common interpretation. Rosenmuller, however, suggests another: that by this language the one speaking designs to express his sense of divine mercy, meaning, “My afflictions are in no sense equal to what I deserve. I have not been punished as I might justly have been, for God has intervened to spare me.” It seems to me, however, that the former interpretation fits best with the meaning of the words and the scope of the passage. It would then be the reflection of a man on his bed of suffering: that the course of life which brought him there had been attended with no advantage but had plunged him into deserved sorrows, from which he could be rescued only by the grace of God.