Job 5:14 · Bible study
Job 5:14 Commentary: Darkness at Noon
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Job 5:14 describes God bringing darkness at noon upon the crafty.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God confounds the cunning by making them stumble in plain situations, humbling their pride.
- Key words: “meet” (H6298, pagash, encounter, run into), “darkness” (H2822, choshekh, obscurity), “grope” (H4959, mashash, feel blindly).
- Main debate: Whether this verse only applies to the wicked or also describes how God sometimes treats the righteous for discipline.
- Theological theme: Divine sovereignty over human wisdom; God brings down the proud and lifts the humble.
- Best use: A warning against self-reliance and a comfort that God sees through every scheme.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
WEB World English Bible 2000
They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
KJV King James Version 1769
They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
By day they meet darkness, And as night--they grope at noon.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noonday as in the night.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
De día se topan con tinieblas, y en mitad del día andan á tientas como de noche:
De dia eles se encontram com as trevas, e ao meio-dia andam apalpando como de noite.
Ils rencontrent les ténèbres au milieu du jour,
daß sie des Tages in der Finsternis laufen und tappen am Mittag wie in der Nacht.
Des daags ontmoeten zij de duisternis, en gelijk des nachts tasten zij in de middag.
Di giorno essi incorron nelle tenebre, in pien mezzodì brancolan come di notte;
We dnie taczają się jako w ciemnościach, a jako w nocy macają w południe.
днем они встречают тьму и в полдень ходят ощупью, как ночью.
他們白晝 遇見 黑暗，午間 摸索 如在夜間。
In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 5:14
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 5:14 describes God’s active judgment on the cunning. Eliphaz uses the stark image of meeting darkness in broad daylight to show that God confounds the plans of the crafty. Barnes notes that where there is no real obstacle, the cunning become perplexed, as if sudden darkness fell at midday. Gill calls this a judicial blindness, infatuation in things most plain and clear. Clarke adds that they act as if the sun were extinct and their eyes put out. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown connect the verse to Deuteronomy 28:29 and Isaiah 59:10, where darkness at noon is a sign of divine curse. The point is consistent: human wisdom, no matter how sharp, can be instantly overturned by God. This offers both a sober warning against pride and a comfort to those who suffer under the schemes of the clever, God sees, and He acts.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God actively humbles the proud and brings confusion on their schemes, while delivering the needy and giving them hope.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The identity of 'they' | Refers to the crafty and cunning, those who trust in their own devices rather than in God. | Some read it as all who oppose God; others see it as specifically false counselors or the wealthy who exploit the poor. |
| The nature of the darkness | It is a metaphor for confusion, failure, or divine judgment. | Some interpret it as literal supernatural darkness (like the Exodus plague), while others see it as psychological blindness or moral confusion. |
| Whether Eliphaz's theology is endorsed | God does humble the proud and help the needy, a consistent biblical theme. | Eliphaz uses this to argue Job must have sinned; the book of Job undermines this direct cause-effect view of suffering. |
| The role of divine sovereignty | God is in control of human plans and can frustrate them at will. | Does God actively 'send' darkness, or does He simply allow the consequences of folly to unfold? (Calvinist vs. Arminian emphases.) |
Historical & Cultural Context
Eliphaz speaks as the first of Job’s friends, representing traditional wisdom from the ancient Near East. His speech in Job 5 argues that God’s ways are marked by a single purpose, to do good (Cambridge Bible). The surrounding verses (5:10, 16) describe God sending rain, raising the lowly, but also frustrating the plans of the crafty. Darkness at noon was a familiar image in the ancient world. Eclipses, sudden sandstorms, or the thick darkness of Exodus 10:22 showed divine intervention in the natural order. Deuteronomy 28:29 threatens Israel with this very condition as a covenant curse: grope at noonday like the blind. Eliphaz applies this principle to Job’s situation: if Job suffers, it must be because he has trusted in his own wisdom. Yet the book of Job complicates this retribution theology. The reader knows Job is innocent. Eliphaz’s confident assertion is not entirely wrong, God does humble the proud, but it is misapplied. The historical context thus highlights a tension: Eliphaz speaks orthodox truths, but uses them as a weapon rather than a comfort. For the original audience, this verse reinforced that God sees through human pretension and acts to restore justice, but the book as a whole asks whether suffering always fits such neat categories.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 5:14. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts.
Reception History
Christians have historically read this verse as a warning against pride and a call to trust in God’s wisdom. Early church writers like Gregory of Nyssa used similar imagery to describe the blindness of sin. During the Reformation, John Calvin cited Job 5:14 to illustrate God’s sovereignty over the plans of the wicked. In modern times, the verse is often noted for its literary power, darkness at noon as a symbol of divine reversal, and for the irony that Eliphaz, who speaks these words, is himself blind to Job’s innocence. Across traditions, the verse has been sung in hymns and quoted in sermons as a reminder that human cleverness cannot outrun God’s justice.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God sees through our schemes. The crafty meet darkness because the One who sees all exposes their plans (v.12, 13).
- God sends darkness to humble the proud. At the height of their confidence, they grope like the blind (v.14).
- God saves the poor and gives hope. The same God who brings down the proud lifts up the needy (v.15, 16).
Five-point outline
- Introduction: Eliphaz’s retribution theology, our wisdom is not as secure as we think.
- The crafty rely on their own insight, but God frustrates their enterprise (v.12).
- At noon, when clarity should be greatest, they are plunged into confusion (v.14).
- This divine judgment is both warning and invitation: turn from self-reliance to God.
- Conclusion: The poor have hope because God is the defender of the helpless (v.15, 16).
Illustration hooks
- A brilliant strategist who overlooks one obvious flaw and loses everything, like a chess grandmaster missing a simple checkmate.
- A company that cuts ethical corners to succeed, only to collapse under a whistleblower report.
- A person who manipulates others for advantage, but finds their own schemes turned against them.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “If God can bring darkness at noon, how do I know I’m not walking in darkness myself?”
- “Does every setback mean God is judging my pride?”
- “How do I trust God’s wisdom when my own plans fall apart?”
Leading a Discussion
This verse is part of Eliphaz’s first speech, where he argues that God’s justice is visible in the world: He humbles the proud and lifts the lowly. But as you discuss, remember that Eliphaz’s theology is not the final word in Job. Use this passage to explore what it means to trust in God’s wisdom versus our own.
Discussion questions
- Read Job 5:12, 16. What do these verses tell us about God’s character?
- The verb “meet” in v.14 (Hebrew pagash) can mean “run into” or “encounter.” How does that change the feel of the verse?
- Why would “darkness in the daytime” be such a disturbing image in the ancient world?
- Eliphaz applies this to Job. Is it fair to assume that suffering always comes from personal sin? What does the rest of Job teach us?
- In what areas of life are you most tempted to rely on your own wisdom instead of God’s?
- How does knowing God actively defends the poor (v.15) change how you pray about injustice?
- Share a time when a plan of yours failed unexpectedly. Looking back, how did you see God at work in that darkness?
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)
| Deuteronomy 28:29 | You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. |
| Job 12:25 | They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man. |
| Proverbs 4:19 | The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over. |
| Isaiah 59:10 | We grope for the wall like the blind. Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. Among those who are strong, we are like dead men. |
| Amos 8:9 | It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. |
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
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that God causes people to act foolishly in broad daylight as if it were night. This happens so that their pride is reduced and their evil plans fail.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes compares the confusion that comes from dishonest schemes to sudden darkness at midday. His point is that God allows the crafty to trip over obstacles they should have seen, while giving clear success to the honest. This pattern makes God trustworthy.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges sees God’s chastisements as part of his overall plan to do good. It says Job should be happy in his suffering because God uses it to give him greater blessings later.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight the ironic terror of this judgment: even at midday, when light should be strongest, the afflicted are plunged into darkness and forced to grope like blind men in the night. The point is that God's judgment can strip away the most basic comfort of daylight itself.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill sees the darkness at noon as a picture of God-given spiritual blindness that strikes even the sharpest minds. He applies it to the Jews under judgment, to Deists who flee the light of revelation, and to anyone in a land of Gospel light who still gropes in spiritual night. For Gill, this is not mere ignorance but a willful running into darkness.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Some read this verse as showing that wise people sometimes suffer unfair treatment from God. Others understand it as pointing to deeper spiritual truths. Both seek to be faithful to Scripture.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that the Hebrew word for true wisdom refers to real accomplishment based on objective facts. They also explain that God stops the wise from achieving their plans by sending a spirit of sleep over them.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange sees Eliphaz as a noble but flawed sage whose discourse is theologically correct yet heartless. The poet deliberately shows that Eliphaz applies general truths about sin and suffering to Job without compassion, assuming Job’s guilt and missing the deeper purposes of his trial.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that some understand sin itself rather than affliction to come from the dust. He adds that God causes adversity according to his own will.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that in simple matters people still make disastrous choices for themselves. He clarifies that the darkness here does not mean misery but ignorance and error. Such people grope like blind persons trying to find their way, completely uncertain what to do.