John Gill Commentary Job 33:18

"He keepeth back his soul from the pit, And his life from perishing by the sword." — Job 33:18 (ASV)

He keeps back his soul from the pit
Or, "that he may keep back" ^F14 ; for this is another end and use of God's speaking unto men; it is to preserve them for the present from going down to the grave, the pit of corruption and destruction; so called because the bodies of men, being there laid, corrupt, and are entirely destroyed by worms, and turn to rottenness and dust; and to preserve them from the bottomless pit of everlasting ruin and destruction; for the Lord's people are reproved by him, that they may not be condemned with the world, (1 Corinthians 11:32) ;

and his life from perishing by the sword ;
by the sword of men, which is one of God's sore judgments; or by the sword of the civil magistrate, the man spoken to being warned of God of committing these sins, which would bring him into the hands of such; or by the sword of divine justice; Jarchi interprets it of the sword of the angel of death; the word signifies a missive weapon, as a dart; so Mr. Broughton renders the words, "and his life from going on the dart": or, as another version has it, "lest it should go on under the cast of darts" ^F15 ; the darts of an enemy in war, or the fiery darts of Satan, (Ephesians 6:16) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (Kvxy) "ut prohibeat", Mercerus, Piscator.
• F15: Tigurine version.