New Living Translation
Job 10:21
21before I leave—never to return— for the land of darkness and utter gloom.
Job 10:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
- New International Version (NIV)before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness,
- English Standard Version (ESV)before I go—and I shall not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
Context of Job 10:21
19It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave. 20I have only a few days left, so leave me alone, that I may have a moment of comfort before I leave—never to return— for the land of darkness and utter gloom. 22It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of gloom and confusion, where even the light is dark as midnight.’”
Read all of Job 10Job 10:21 word by word
בְּטֶ֣רֶם אֵ֭לֵךְ וְלֹ֣א אָשׁ֑וּב אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ חֹ֣שֶׁךְ וְצַלְמָֽוֶת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 10:21
- Job 7:8You see me now, but not for long. You will look for me, but I will be gone.
- Job 14:10“But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they?
- 2 Samuel 12:23But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”
- 2 Samuel 14:14All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.
- Isaiah 38:11I said, “Never again will I see the Lord God while still in the land of the living. Never again will I see my friends or be with those who live in this world.
- Job 3:5Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it.
- Psalms 88:6You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.
- Psalms 23:4Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
- Jeremiah 2:6They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness— a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?’
Commentaries on Job 10:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21I shall not return - I shall not return again from the dust to have a dwelling among men. To the land of darkness - See the notes on Job 3:5. There are here a crowd of obscure and dislocated terms, admirably expressive of the obscurity and uncertainty of the subject. What do we know of the state of separate spirits? What do we know of the spiritual world? How do souls exist separate from their respective bodies? Of what are they capable and what is their…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Before I go - from where “I shall not return.” To the grave, to the land of shades, to “That undiscovered country, from whose bourne No traveler returns.” To the land of darkness - This passage is important as furnishing an illustration of what was early understood about the regions of the dead. The essential idea here is that it was a land of darkness, of total and absolute night. This idea Job presents in a great variety of forms and phrases. He…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-22Verses 14-22 Job did not deny that as a sinner he deserved his sufferings; but he thought that justice was executed upon him with peculiar rigour. His gloom, unbelief, and hard thoughts of God, were as much to be ascribed to Satan's inward temptations, and his anguish of soul, under the sense of God's displeasure, as to his outward trials, and remaining depravity. Our Creator, become in Christ our Redeemer also, will not destroy the work of his hands in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20-22Earlier, Job described "Sheol" as a somewhat peaceful place (3:13–19). Now, he calls it a land of darkness and gloom (see also 7:9–10; 14:7–22).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-221. leave my complaint upon myself--rather, "I will give loose to my complaint" (Job 7:11).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 10:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 10
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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