Revised Literal Translation
Job 38:17
17Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
Job 38:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
- New International Version (NIV)Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
Context of Job 38:17
15And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. 16Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. 19Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
Read all of Job 38Job 38:17 word by word
הֲנִגְל֣וּ לְ֭ךָ שַׁעֲרֵי־מָ֑וֶת וְשַׁעֲרֵ֖י צַלְמָ֣וֶת תִּרְאֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Job 38:17
- Psalms 9:13Have mercy upon me, O Yhwh; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:
- Psalms 107:18Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
- Psalms 116:3The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
- Job 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
- Job 12:22He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
- Psalms 23:4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
- Psalms 107:10Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
- Amos 5:8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Yhwh is his name:
- Matthew 4:16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Commentaries on Job 38:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? - Dost thou know in what the article of death consists? This is as inexplicable as the question, What is animal life? The doors of the shallow of death? - צלמות tsalmaveth, the intermediate state, the openings into the place of separate spirits. Here two places are distinguished: מות maveth, death, and צלמות tsalmaveth, the shadow of death. It will not do to say, death is the privation of life, for what then…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Have the gates of death been opened unto thee - That is, the gates of the world where death reigns; or the gates that lead to the abodes of the dead. The allusion here is to “Sheol,” or “Hades,” the dark abodes of the dead. This was supposed to be beneath the ground, and was entered by the grave, and was inclosed by gates and bars; see the notes at Job 10:21-22. The transition from the reference to the bottom of the sea to the regions of the dead was…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-24Verses 12-24 The Lord questions Job, to convince him of his ignorance, and shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we thus try ourselves, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. By the tender mercy of our God, the Day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness, whose hearts are turned to it as clay to the seal, 2Co 4:6. God's way in the government of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-41God challenges Job. Job admits he cannot judge the moral world. God shows Job's ignorance of the natural world's elements related to the realm of heaven, weather, animals, and birds (38:4–21; 22–38; 39–39:30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. seen--The second clause heightens the thought in the first. Man during life does not even "see" the gates of the realm of the dead ("death," Job 10:21); much less are they "opened" to him. But those are "naked before God" (Job 26:6).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 38:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 38
- 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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries