Job 33:20

33:20 so that his life loathes food,

and his soul rejects appetizing fare. ¹ 

Job 33:22

33:22 He ²  draws near to the place of corruption,

and his life to the messengers of death. ³ 

Job 3:9

3:9 Let its morning stars ⁴  be darkened;

let it wait ⁵  for daylight but find none, ⁶ 

nor let it see the first rays ⁷  of dawn,

Job 3:16

3:16 Or why ⁸  was ⁹  I not buried ¹⁰ 

like a stillborn infant, ¹¹ 

like infants ¹²  who have never seen the light? ¹³ 

Job 3:20

Longing for Death ¹⁴ 

3:20 “Why does God ¹⁵  give ¹⁶  light to one who is in misery, ¹⁷ 

and life to those ¹⁸  whose soul is bitter,

Psalms 49:19

49:19 But he will join his ancestors; ¹⁹ 

they will never again see the light of day. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 9:2

9:2 (9:1) The people walking in darkness

see a bright light; ²¹ 

light shines

on those who live in a land of deep darkness. ²² 

John 11:9

11:9 Jesus replied, ²³  “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, ²⁴  because he sees the light of this world. ²⁵ 

[33:20]  ¹ tn Heb “food of desire.” The word “rejects” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[33:22]  ² tn Heb “his soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, “life”] draws near.”

[33:22]  ³ tn The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about death, an idea not mentioned in the Bible itself. Thus many proposals have been made for this expression. Hoffmann and Budde divide the word into לְמוֹ מֵתִּים (lÿmo metim) and simply read “to the dead.” Dhorme adds a couple of letters to get לִמְקוֹם מֵתִּים (limqom metim, “to the place [or abode] of the dead”).

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the stars of its dawn.” The word נֶשֶׁף (neshef) can mean “twilight” or “dawn.” In this context the morning stars are in mind. Job wishes that the morning stars – that should announce the day – go out.

[3:9]  ⁵ tn The verb “wait, hope” has the idea of eager expectation and preparation. It is used elsewhere of waiting on the Lord with anticipation.

[3:9]  ⁶ tn The absolute state אַיִן (’ayin, “there is none”) is here used as a verbal predicate (see GKC 480 §152.k). The concise expression literally says “and none.”

[3:9]  ⁷ sn The expression is literally “the eyelids of the morning.” This means the very first rays of dawn (see also Job 41:18). There is some debate whether it refers to “eyelids” or “eyelashes” or “eyeballs.” If the latter, it would signify the flashing eyes of a person. See for the Ugaritic background H. L. Ginsberg, The Legend of King Keret (BASORSup), 39; see also J. M. Steadman, “‘Eyelids of Morn’: A Biblical Convention,” HTR 56 (1963): 159-67.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn The verb is governed by the interrogative of v. 12 that introduces this series of rhetorical questions.

[3:16]  ⁹ tn The verb is again the prefix conjugation, but the narrative requires a past tense, or preterite.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hidden.” The LXX paraphrases: “an untimely birth, proceeding from his mother’s womb.”

[3:16]  ¹¹ tn The noun נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”) is the abortive thing that falls (hence the verb) from the womb before the time is ripe (Ps 58:9). The idiom using the verb “to fall” from the womb means to come into the world (Isa 26:18). The epithet טָמוּן (tamun, “hidden”) is appropriate to the verse. The child comes in vain, and disappears into the darkness – it is hidden forever.

[3:16]  ¹² tn The word עֹלְלִים (’olÿlim) normally refers to “nurslings.” Here it must refer to infants in general since it refers to a stillborn child.

[3:16]  ¹³ tn The relative clause does not have the relative pronoun; the simple juxtaposition of words indicates that it is modifying the infants.

[3:20]  ¹⁴ sn Since he has survived birth, Job wonders why he could not have died a premature death. He wonders why God gives light and life to those who are in misery. His own condition throws gloom over life, and so he poses the question first generally, for many would prefer death to misery (20-22); then he comes to the individual, himself, who would prefer death (23). He closes his initial complaint with some depictions of his suffering that afflicts him and gives him no rest (24-26).

[3:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:20]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the simple imperfect, expressing the progressive imperfect nuance. But there is no formal subject to the verb, prompting some translations to make it passive in view of the indefinite subject (so, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Such a passive could be taken as a so-called “divine passive” by which God is the implied agent. Job clearly means God here, but he stops short of naming him (see also the note on “God” earlier in this verse).

[3:20]  ¹⁷ sn In v. 10 the word was used to describe the labor and sorrow that comes from it; here the one in such misery is called the עָמֵל (’amel, “laborer, sufferer”).

[3:20]  ¹⁸ tn The second colon now refers to people in general because of the plural construct מָרֵי נָפֶשׁ (mare nafesh, “those bitter of soul/life”). One may recall the use of מָרָה (marah, “bitter”) by Naomi to describe her pained experience as a poor widow in Ruth 1:20, or the use of the word to describe the bitter oppression inflicted on Israel by the Egyptians (Exod 1:14). Those who are “bitter of soul” are those whose life is overwhelmed with painful experiences and suffering.

[49:19]  ¹⁹ tn Verses 18-19a are one long sentence in the Hebrew text, which reads: “Though he blesses his soul in his life, [saying], ‘And let them praise you, for you do well for yourself,’ it [that is, his soul] will go to the generation of his fathers.” This has been divided into two sentences in the translation for clarity, in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.

[49:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “light.” The words “of day” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:2]  ²¹ sn The darkness symbolizes judgment and its effects (see 8:22); the light represents deliverance and its effects, brought about by the emergence of a conquering Davidic king (see vv. 3-6).

[9:2]  ²² tn Traditionally צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet) has been interpreted as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV, NIV), but usage indicates that the word, though it sometimes refers to death, means “darkness.” The term should probably be repointed as an abstract noun צַלְמוּת (tsalmut). See the note at Ps 23:4.

[11:9]  ²³ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[11:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “he does not trip.”

[11:9]  ²⁵ sn What is the light of this world? On one level, of course, it refers to the sun, but the reader of John’s Gospel would recall 8:12 and understand Jesus’ symbolic reference to himself as the light of the world. There is only a limited time left (Are there not twelve hours in a day?) until the Light will be withdrawn (until Jesus returns to the Father) and the one who walks around in the dark will trip and fall (compare the departure of Judas by night in 13:30).