Job 3:9

Job 3:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
• New International Version (NIV)May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,
• English Standard Version (ESV)Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning,
• New King James Version (NKJV)May the stars of its morning be dark; May it look for light, but have none, And not see the dawning of the day;

Context of Job 3:9

7Let that night be empty. Let no joyful singing be heard in it. 8Let those who curse the day (those who know how to wake up Leviathan) curse that night. Let its stars turn dark before dawn. Let it hope for light and receive none. Let it not see the first light of dawn 10because it did not shut the doors of the womb ⌞from which I came⌟ or hide my eyes from trouble. 11“Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born and breathe my last breath when I came out of the womb?

Job 3:9 word by word

יֶחְשְׁכוּ֮ כּוֹכְבֵ֪י נִ֫שְׁפּ֥וֹ יְקַו־לְא֥וֹר וָאַ֑יִן וְאַל־יִ֝רְאֶ֗ה בְּעַפְעַפֵּי־שָֽׁחַר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Let the starsכּוֹכָבkôkâb · starH3556
• of the twilightנֶ֫שֶׁףnesheph · twilightH5399
• thereof be darkחָשַׁךְchâshak · to darkenH2821
• let it lookקָוָהqâvâh · to awaitH6960
• for lightאוֹר'ôr · lightH216
• none; neither let it seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• the dawningעַפְעַף‛aph‛aph · eyelidH6079
• of the dayשַׁ֫חַרshachar · dawnH7837

Cross-references for Job 3:9

• Job 30:26When I waited for good, evil came. When I looked for light, darkness came.
• Jeremiah 8:15We hoped for peace, but nothing good has happened. We hoped for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
• Jeremiah 13:16Honor the Lord your God before it gets dark, before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight. You will look for light, but the Lord will turn it into the shadow of death and change it into deep darkness.
• Job 41:18When Leviathan sneezes, it gives out a flash of light. Its eyes are like the first rays of the dawn.

Commentaries on Job 3:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Let the stars of the twilight thereof - The stars of the twilight may here refer to the planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury, as well as to the brighter fixed stars. Let it look for light - Here the prosopopoeia or personification is still carried on. The darkness is represented as waiting for the lustre of the evening star, but is disappointed; and these for the aurora or dawn, but equally in vain. He had prayed that its light, the sun, should not…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark - That is, be extinguished, so that it shall be total darkness - darkness not even relieved by a single star. The word here rendered “twilight” נשׁף nesheph means properly a breathing; and hence, the evening, when cooling breezes “blow,” or gently breathe. It is used however, to denote both the morning and the evening twilight, though here probably it means the latter. He wishes that the evening of that night…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Venus and Mercury, known as the morning stars, announce the arrival of dawn (38:7).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. dawning of the day--literally, "eyelashes of morning." The Arab poets call the sun the eye of day. His early rays, therefore, breaking forth before sunrise, are the opening eyelids or eyelashes of morning.Read the comment

Topics related to Job 3:9

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Despondency
• Prayer

In the dictionaries

• Above
• Dig
• Poetry
• Roaring
• Safety
• Solitary
• Astronomy
• Dawn; Dawning
• Job, Book of
• Twilight

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