Job 24:17 · Bible study
Job 24:17 Commentary: The Wicked and the Shadow of Death
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Does the wicked's knowledge of darkness mean familiarity or terror? Examines the Hebrew grammar and the interpretive debate.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The wicked feel at home in darkness, recoiling from daylight as others do from night.
- Key words: יַחְדָּו (together), צַלְמָוֶת (deep darkness), יַכִּיר (he is acquainted with)
- Main debate: Does 'know the terrors' mean familiarity with darkness or fear of being exposed?
- Theological theme: The inversion of moral perception, sin blinds and reorients desire toward what is destructive.
- Best use: A diagnostic text for examining the hidden loves of the heart; also a key piece in Job's argument against retribution theology.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
WEB World English Bible 2000
For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
KJV King James Version 1769
For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
When together, morning is to them death shade, When he discerneth the terrors of death shade.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death; for they are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Porque la mañana es á todos ellos como sombra de muerte; si son conocidos, terrores de sombra de muerte los toman.
Porque a manhã é para todos eles como sombra de morte; pois são conhecidos dos pavores de sombra de morte.
Pour eux, le matin c’ est l’ombre de la mort, ils en éprouvent toutes les terreurs.
Denn wie wenn der Morgen käme, ist ihnen allen die Finsternis; denn sie sind bekannt mit den Schrecken der Finsternis.
Want de morgenstond is hun te zamen de schaduw des doods; als men hen kent, zijn zij in de strikken van des doods schaduw.
Il mattino è per essi come ombra di morte; appena lo scorgono provano i terrori del buio.
Ale zaranek jest im jako cień śmierci; jeźli ich kto pozna, przypada na nich strach cienia śmierci.
Ибо для них утро — смертная тень, так как они знакомы с ужасами смертной тени.
他們 看早晨 如 幽暗，因為 他們曉得 幽暗 的驚駭。
For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 24:17
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Job 24:17 describes criminals (murderer, adulterer, thief) who rebel against light and operate at night. The morning terrifies them because it exposes their deeds. The phrase 'shadow of death' (צַלְמָוֶת, tzalmavet) consistently refers to deep darkness, often linked to the realm of death (Job 3:5). The verb יַכִּיר (yakkir), 'he knows,' is the main hinge. Barnes, Cambridge, and Gill read it as 'they are familiar with': the wicked know the terrors of darkness intimately and feel at home in them. Keil and Delitzsch agree that yakkir implies an experiential knowledge that 'enters into the subject.' The KJV rendering 'if one know them' treats the verb as indefinite, but most modern translations follow the familiar-knowledge reading. What unites the interpreters: all see this verse as exposing the inner world of those who love darkness rather than light.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Familiarity interpretation: Barnes, Gill, Cambridge: the wicked are so at home in darkness that they 'know' its terrors as their element, not as something that frightens them.
- Terror interpretation: Some readers emphasize that the wicked dread being caught; morning brings them terror, and they 'know' that terror well.
What is clear: The wicked love darkness and hate light, and their deeds are hidden by night.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'know' (יַכִּיר) | The verb denotes some form of knowledge or acquaintance. | Barnes, Gill, and Cambridge argue for experiential familiarity (they are at home in darkness). Others read it as cognitive recognition (they recognize the terrors). |
| Identity of the wicked | They are criminals who deliberately operate at night (murderer, adulterer, thief). | Some see specific archetypes; others see them as representatives of all who reject God's moral order. |
| The phrase 'shadow of death' | It refers to deep darkness, often associated with death and Sheol. | Whether it is purely metaphorical for night or carries connotations of the realm of the dead varies among interpreters. |
| Theological implication for Job's argument | The passage shows that wickedness can go unpunished in this life. | Some see it as a description of present impunity; others as a foreshadowing of eventual doom (cf. vv.18, 24). |
Historical & Cultural Context
Job 24 sits within Job's third cycle of speeches. His friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar) insist that the wicked always suffer and the righteous prosper. Job disagrees, citing evidence that the wicked often flourish. Verses 13, 17 describe a class of criminals, murderers, adulterers, thieves, who deliberately avoid daylight. In the ancient Near East, night provided cover for crimes that would be seen and punished by day. 'Rebellion against the light' is both literal (they work at night) and moral (they reject God's order). The word יַחְדָּו (yachdav, 'together') emphasizes that these diverse offenders share the same hatred of exposure. The phrase 'shadow of death' (צַלְמָוֶת) appears frequently in Job (e.g., Job 3:5, 10:21, 38:17). It conveys the deepest darkness, often associated with Sheol. The criminals' familiarity with this darkness is an ironic twist: what terrifies others comforts them. Job uses this portrait to challenge his friends' claim that God always punishes wickedness swiftly. Instead, the wicked seem to have made peace with darkness itself.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew verb יַכִּיר (yakkir, 3ms imperfect of H5234) can be parsed either as 'he knows' (active voice) or, with the prefixed ki, 'if one knows.' The KJV adopts the latter ('if one know them'), but most modern translations and commentators, including Barnes, Gill, and the Cambridge Bible, read it as 'they know' (with the subject being each of the wicked). The supplied sources note no other significant textual variants.
Reception History
Early Jewish interpretation (e.g., Talmud, Ralbag) connected this verse to the practices of thieves who marked houses by day for night burglary. Christian commentators from the Reformation onward used it to describe the psychology of sin: Matthew Henry called it a picture of those who 'sin against the light' and use 'a thousand arts to conceal their villanies.' In the nineteenth century, Keil and Delitzsch emphasized the experiential force of 'know,' while Cox (as cited by the Cambridge Bible) compared it to Shakespeare’s lines on thieves who tremble at dawn. The verse appears infrequently in liturgy but has been used in sermons on conscience, exposure, and the inversion of moral values.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Light and darkness reversed. The wicked treat morning as if it were midnight. For them, daylight is dangerous, it reveals what they hide (John 3:19, 20).
- Familiarity with terror. The verb 'know' (יַכִּיר) implies intimate acquaintance. These criminals are not afraid of darkness; they are at home in it, even its most terrifying aspects.
- A mirror for the soul. The verse forces hearers to ask: what do I love? Am I drawn to the light, or do I prefer shadows?
Five-point outline
- Who are these people? Rebels against the light (v.13), they choose darkness deliberately.
- What do they do? Murder, adultery, theft (vv.14, 16), each crime requires concealment.
- How do they perceive morning? As thick darkness, the exact opposite of how others see it.
- What do they know? The terrors of the shadow of death, they are experts in darkness, not victims of it.
- Why does it matter? Job uses this to show that wickedness often goes unpunished in this life, challenging the retribution dogma of his friends.
Illustration hooks
- A person who dreads sunrise because it means facing the consequences of the night before, a DUI, an affair, a lie.
- The feeling of being caught on camera: that moment when hidden actions become public.
- A child afraid of the dark versus a burglar who knows every shadow, the same darkness, opposite responses.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Is it possible to be so comfortable with sin that we stop fearing its consequences?
- When has a 'morning' in my life exposed something I wanted to keep hidden?
- How does Job’s description of the wicked apply to people today who feel no shame about their actions?
Leading a Discussion
This passage invites us to examine the human heart's relationship with darkness. Job presents a gallery of sinners who have so embraced the night that daylight itself becomes a threat. The key interpretive question, whether 'know the terrors' means familiarity or fear, shapes how we understand the wicked's inner life. Use these questions to explore both the text and its implications.
Discussion questions
- Read Job 24:13, 17 aloud. What specific crimes are described, and what do they have in common?
- The Hebrew word יַחְדָּו ('together') appears in verse 17. What does that word add to the description of these criminals?
- According to the commentators, what does the phrase 'the morning is to them as thick darkness' mean?
- Why do you think the verb 'know' (יַכִּיר) is debated? Does it make a difference whether the wicked are terrified of darkness or comfortable with it?
- How does this passage challenge the friends' claim that God always punishes the wicked immediately?
- In what ways might a person today 'rebel against the light'?
- What does this verse teach us about the nature of sin and its effect on perception?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 3:5 | Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes the day black terrify it. |
| Psalms 73:18 | Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. |
| Psalms 73:19 | How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors. |
| Jeremiah 2:26 | As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so the house of Israel is ashamed— they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, |
| II Corinthians 5:10 | For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. |
| II Corinthians 5:11 | Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and I hope that we are revealed also in your consciences. |
| Revelation of John 6:16 | They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, |
| Revelation of John 6:17 | for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that these people know the darkness well because they have lived in it. They feel safe only in its familiar gloom and fear the light that would show their sins.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges sees the shadow of death as midnight itself. These people know only the darkness of night because they have never known true light.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes sees the morning as a shadow of death for those who suffer. They live in constant fear because they understand this darkness means certain destruction.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to the word "together" or "alike": the morning is equally hateful and terrifying to every kind of evildoer—murderer, thief, adulterer—just as thick darkness is to others. He notes that either these criminals are terrified when discovered, or they are so familiar with darkness that they delight in its terrors as others delight in daylight.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Christians who hold this view understand that the light of morning is just as frightening for some people as the shadow of death is for others. They recognize that fear of this light exists among humanity.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch stresses that wicked men become so familiar with darkness that night feels like morning to them, because they know its terrors and how to avoid them. This familiarity, not surprise or terror,
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that such sinners deliberately choose darkness to hide their evil deeds. He believes they rebel against the light of God’s law and their own consciences even though they claim to know God.