Job 23:17

Job 23:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
• New International Version (NIV)Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
• English Standard Version (ESV)yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

Context of Job 23:17

15Therefore I would be terrified at His presence; When I consider [all of this], I tremble in dread of Him. 16For God has made my heart faint, And the Almighty has terrified me, But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me], Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.

Job 23:17 word by word

כִּֽי־לֹ֣א נִ֭צְמַתִּי מִפְּנֵי־חֹ֑שֶׁךְ וּ֝מִפָּנַ֗י כִּסָּה־אֹֽפֶל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Because I was not cut offצָמַתtsâmath · to destroyH6789
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
• hath he coveredכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
• the darknessאֹ֫פֶל'ôphel · darknessH652
• from my faceפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440

Cross-references for Job 23:17

• Job 6:9I wish that it would please God to crush me, That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.
• 2 Kings 22:20“Therefore, behold, [King Josiah,] I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be taken to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil (catastrophe) which I will bring on this place.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.
• Isaiah 57:1The righteous man perishes [at the hand of evil], and no one takes it to heart; Faithful and devout men are taken away, while no one understands That the righteous person is taken away [to be spared] from disaster and evil.
• Job 15:22He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered], And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].
• Job 18:6The light will be dark in his tent, And his lamp beside him will be put out.
• Job 19:8He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has set darkness upon my paths.
• Job 22:11Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And a flood of water covers you.

Commentaries on Job 23:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Because I was not cut off - "O, why can I not draw darkness over my face? Why may not thick darkness cover my face?" Mr. Good. This verse should be read in connection with the preceding; and then we shall have the following sense. Job 23:16; : "The Lord hath beaten down my strength, and my soul has been terrified by his fear." Job 23:17; : "For it is not this deep night in which I am enveloped, nor the evils which I suffer, that have overwhelmed me; I…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Because I was not cut off before the darkness - Before these calamities came upon me. Because I was not taken away in the midst of prosperity, and while I was enjoying his smiles and the proofs of his love. His trouble is, that he was spared to pass through these trials, and to be treated as if he were one of the worst of men. This is what now perplexes him, and what he cannot understand. He does not know why God had reserved him to treat him as if he…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-17Verses 13-17 As Job does not once question but that his trials are from the hand of God, and that there is no such thing as chance, how does he account for them? The principle on which he views them is, that the hope and reward of the faithful servants of God are only laid up in another life; and he maintains that it is plain to all, that the wicked are not treated according to their deserts in this life, but often directly the reverse. But though the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-17Terrified in His presence: See Psalms 77:3; 88:16; 119:120. Job had earlier complained about being in darkness (Job 19:8). Eliphaz and Bildad said this fate is for the evil person (15:22; 22:1; 18:6, 18).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Because I was not taken away by death from the evil to come (literally, "from before the face of the darkness," Is 57:1). Alluding to the words of Eliphaz (Job 22:11), "darkness," that is, calamity. cut off--rather, in the Arabic sense, brought to the land of silence; my sad complaint hushed in death [Umbreit]. "Darkness" in the second clause, not the same Hebrew word as in the first, "cloud," "obscurity." Instead of "covering the cloud (of evil) from…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 23:17

• Doubting

In the dictionaries

• Bitter
• Complaint

Commentaries on Job 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings