Job 23:17

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has he covered the darkness from my face.

American King James Version (AKJV)

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has he covered the darkness from my face.

American Standard Version (ASV)

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, Neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

For I am overcome by the dark, and by the black night which is covering my face.

Webster's Revision

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

World English Bible

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.

English Revised Version (ERV)

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.

Clarke's Job 23:17 Bible Commentary

Because I was not cut off - "O, why can I not draw darkness over my face? Why may not thick darkness cover my face?" Mr. Good. This verse should be read in connection with the preceding; and then we shall have the following sense.

Job 23:16 : "The Lord hath beaten down my strength, and my soul has been terrified by his fear."

Job 23:17 : "For it is not this deep night in which I am enveloped, nor the evils which I suffer, that have overwhelmed me; I sink only through the fear which the presence of his Majesty inspires. This is my greatest affliction; sufferings, diseases, yea, death itself, are nothing in comparison of the terror which my soul feels in the presence of his tremendous holiness and justice."

Nothing can humble a pious mind so much as Scriptural apprehensions of the majesty of God. It is easy to contemplate his goodness, loving-kindness, and mercy; in all these we have an interest, and from them we expect the greatest good: but to consider his holiness and justice, the infinite righteousness of his nature, under the conviction that we have sinned, and broken the laws prescribed by his sovereign Majesty, and to feel ourselves brought as into the presence of his judgment-seat, - who can bear the thought? If cherubim and seraphim veil their faces before his throne, and the holiest soul exclaims,

I loathe myself when God Isee,

And into nothing fall;

what must a sinner feel, whose conscience is not yet purged from dead works and who feels the wrath of God abiding on him? And how without such a mediator and sacrifice as Jesus Christ is, can any human spirit come into the presence of its Judge? Those who can approach him without terror, know little of his justice and nothing of their sin. When we approach him in prayer, or in any ordinance, should we not feel more reverence than we generally do?

Barnes's Job 23:17 Bible Commentary

Because I was not cut off before the darkness - Before these calamities came upon me. Because I was not taken away in the midst of prosperity, and while I was enjoying his smiles and the proofs of his love. His trouble is, that he was spared to pass through these trials, and to be treated as if he were one of the worst of men. This is what now perplexes him, and what he cannot understand. He does not know why God had reserved him to treat him as if he were the chief of sinners.

Neither hath he covered the darkness from my face - The word "neither" is supplied here by our translators, but not improperly. The difficulty with Job was, that God had not "hidden" this darkness and calamity so that he had not seen it. He could not understand why, since he was his friend, God had not taken him away, so that all should have seen, even in his death, that he was the friend of God. This feeling is not, perhaps, very uncommon among those who are called to pass through trials. They do not understand why they were reserved to these sufferings, and why God did not take them away before the billows of calamity rolled over them.

Wesley's Job 23:17 Bible Commentary

23:17 Because - God did not cut me off by death. Before - These miseries came upon me. Covered - By hiding me in the grave.

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