Job 15:22

15:22 He does not expect ¹  to escape from darkness; ² 

he is marked for the sword; ³ 

Job 18:6

18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;

his lamp above him is extinguished. ⁴ 

Job 18:18

18:18 He is driven ⁵  from light into darkness

and is banished from the world.

Job 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ⁶  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ⁷  over my paths.

Job 22:11

22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, ⁸ 

and why a flood ⁹  of water covers you.

[15:22]  ¹ tn This is the meaning of the Hiphil imperfect negated: “he does not believe” or “he has no confidence.” It is followed by the infinitive construct functioning as the direct object – he does not expect to return (to escape) from darkness.

[15:22]  ² sn In the context of these arguments, “darkness” probably refers to calamity, and so the wicked can expect a calamity that is final.

[15:22]  ³ tn Heb “he is watched [or waited for] by the sword.” G. R. Driver reads it, “he is marked down for the sword” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 78). Ewald suggested “laid up for the sword.” Ball has “looks for the sword.” The MT has a passive participle from צָפָה (tsafah, “to observe, watch”) which can be retained in the text; the meaning of the form can then be understood as the result of the inspection (E. Dhorme, Job, 217).

[18:6]  ⁴ tn The LXX interprets a little more precisely: “his lamp shall be put out with him.”

[18:18]  ⁵ tn The verbs in this verse are plural; without the expressed subject they should be taken in the passive sense.

[19:8]  ⁶ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ⁷ tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[22:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the RSV follow the LXX in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.

[22:11]  ⁹ tn The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.