Job 24:16

24:16 In the dark the robber ¹  breaks into houses, ² 

but by day they shut themselves in; ³ 

they do not know the light. ⁴ 

Job 38:12

38:12 Have you ever in your life ⁵  commanded the morning,

or made the dawn know ⁶  its place,

[24:16]  ¹ tn The phrase “the robber” has been supplied in the English translation for clarification.

[24:16]  ² tc This is not the idea of the adulterer, but of the thief. So some commentators reverse the order and put this verse after v. 14.

[24:16]  ³ tc The verb חִתְּמוּ (khittÿmu) is the Piel from the verb חָתַם (khatam, “to seal”). The verb is now in the plural, covering all the groups mentioned that work under the cover of darkness. The suggestion that they “seal,” i.e., “mark” the house they will rob, goes against the meaning of the word “seal.”

[24:16]  ⁴ tc Some commentators join this very short colon to the beginning of v. 17: “they do not know the light. For together…” becomes “for together they have not known the light.”

[38:12]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew idiom is “have you from your days?” It means “never in your life” (see 1 Sam 25:28; 1 Kgs 1:6).

[38:12]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) with a double accusative.