Job 3:5

Job 3:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
• New International Version (NIV)May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it.
• New King James Version (NKJV)May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it.

Context of Job 3:5

3"Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.' 4Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6That night—let thick darkness seize it! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. 7Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it.

Job 3:5 word by word

יִגְאָלֻ֡הוּ חֹ֣שֶׁךְ וְ֭צַלְמָוֶת תִּשְׁכָּן־עָלָ֣יו עֲנָנָ֑ה יְ֝בַעֲתֻ֗הוּ כִּֽמְרִ֥ירֵי יֽוֹם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Let darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
• and the shadow of deathצַלְמָ֫וֶתtsalmâveth · shadowH6757
• stainגָּאַלgâ'al · to redeem: redeemH1350
• it; let a cloudעֲנָנָה‛ănânâh · cloudH6053
• dwellשָׁכַןshâkan · to dwellH7931
• upon it; let the blacknessכִּמְרִירkimrîyr · darknessH3650
• of the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• terrifyבָּעַתbâ‛ath · to terrifyH1204

Cross-references for Job 3:5

• Job 10:21before I go—and I shall not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
• Job 16:16My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness,
• Job 24:17For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
• Job 28:3Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
• Job 38:17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
• Psalms 23:4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
• Psalms 44:19yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.
• Psalms 107:10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,
• Isaiah 9:2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
• Jeremiah 2:6They did not say, 'Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?'
• Jeremiah 13:16Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.
• Amos 5:8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name;
• Matthew 4:16the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."
• Luke 1:79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
• Deuteronomy 4:11And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
• Ezekiel 30:3For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

Commentaries on Job 3:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it - יגאלהו yigaluhu, "pollute or avenge it," from גאל gaal, to vindicate, avenge, etc.; hence גאל goel, the nearest of kin, whose right it was to redeem an inheritance, and avenge the death of his relative by slaying the murderer. Let this day be pursued, overtaken, and destroyed. Let natural darkness, the total privation of the solar light, rendered still more intense by death's shadow projected over it, seize…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Let darkness and the shadow of death - The Hebrew word צלמות tsalmâveth is exceedingly musical and poetical. It is derived from צל tsêl “a shadow,” and מות mâveth “death;” and is used to denote the deepest darkness; see the notes at Isaiah 9:2. It occurs frequently in the sacred Scriptures; compare Job 10:21-22; Psalm 23:4; Job 12:22; Job 16:16; Job 24:17; Job 34:22; Job 38:17; Amos 5:8; Jeremiah 2:6. It is used to denote the abode of departed spirits…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Job wished that the darkness of the place of the dead and the gloom of death had not allowed him to be born (Exodus 10:22; Proverbs 4:19; Joel 2:2; Job 10:21–22; 38:17).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Let ... the shadow of death--("deepest darkness," Is 9:2). stain it--This is a later sense of the verb [Gesenius]; better the old and more poetic idea, "Let darkness (the ancient night of chaotic gloom) resume its rights over light (Ge 1:2), and claim that day as its own." a cloud--collectively, a gathered mass of dark clouds. the blackness of the day terrify it--literally, "the obscurations"; whatever darkens the day [Gesenius]. The verb in Hebrew…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 3:5

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Colors
• Despondency
• Prayer

In the dictionaries

• Shadow of Death
• Above
• Dig
• Poetry
• Roaring
• Safety
• Solitary
• Blackness
• Color; Colors
• Dark; Darkness

Commentaries on Job 3

• 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