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

15No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me. 16God has made me sick at heart; the Almighty has terrified me. Darkness is all around me; thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.

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 he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.
• 2 Kings 22:20So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city.’” So they took her message back to the king.
• Isaiah 57:1Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
• Job 15:22They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.
• Job 18:6The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.
• Job 19:8God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.
• Job 22:11That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover 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