Job 19:8
in Job 19He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
KJV
He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
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This verse in Job 19
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe hath fenced up my way, that I cannot pass: and He hath set darkness in my paths. He saw his 'way fenced up' with strokes, when anxiously desiring to pass into a state of security, he was not able to escape the scourges, and whereas he saw himself smitten, and yet did not find in himself a life worthy of such smiting, as it were 'in the paths' of the heart he met with 'the darkness' of his own ignorance, in that he could not fathom the cause wherefore he was so scourged.
This site's exposition
drawn His net around me
on Job 19:6-9
Job answers Bildad's doctrine at 18:8 by naming the net's owner: "it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me". Barnes notes that Job's error is honest and profound. Job reads suffering as God's hostility because he cannot see the court of chapters 1 and 2.
This site's exposition
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass
Barnes takes the figure from a traveller whose road is suddenly shut by rocks or fences. Henry adds that the darkness hides even the hope of a later deliverance from Job's sight. God blocks the way and darkens it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"No speech," Job says, "can describe my misfortunes. As those who are surrounded on every side by a wall or are oppressed by darkness, I cannot proceed any further. So, it is impossible for me to escape these calamities."
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, a cure is found in adversities by the man himself who escapes adversities in two ways. In the first way, by his power, and he excludes this saying, "He has obstructed my path and I cannot pass," as if he should say: He has …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Would I make any motion, take any steps towards deliverance? I cannot do what I would; nay, if I would please myself with the prospect of a deliverance hereafter, I cannot do it; it is not only out of my reach, but out of my sight: God hath set darkness in my paths, and there is none to tell me how long," Ps. lxxiv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
A certain number for an uncertain. Strange - That you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity. Erred - If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than reproaches.
He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He hath fenced up my way - This may allude to the mode of hunting the elephant, described at the conclusion of the preceding chapter; or to the operations of an invading army. See under Job 19:11 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He hath fenced up my way - This figure is taken from a traveler, whose way is obstructed by trees, rocks, or fences, so that he cannot get along, and Job says it was so with him. He was traveling along in a peaceful manner on the journey of life, and all at once obstructions were put in his path, so that he could not go farther. This does not refer, particularly, to his spiritual condition, if it does at all. It is descriptive of the obstruction of his plans, rather than of spiritual darkness or distress. And he hath set darkness in my paths - So that I cannot see - as if all around the traveler should become suddenly dark, so that he could not discern his way. The “language” here would well express the spiritual darkness which the friends of God sometimes experience, though it is by no means certain that Job referred to that. All the dealings of God are to them mysterious, and there is no light in the soul - and they are ready to sink down in despair.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָרְחִ֣י | ʾarechi | way my | H734 → | 58 times |
| גָ֭דַר | gadar | he has walled up | H1443 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶעֱב֑וֹר | ʾeevor | I will pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| וְעַ֥ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נְ֝תִיבוֹתַ֗י | netivotai | paths my | H5410 → | 26 times |
| חֹ֣שֶׁךְ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| יָשִֽׂים׃ | yasim | he puts | H7760 → | 584 times |
אָרְחִ֣יway my
ʾarechiH734 →58 times
גָ֭דַרhe has walled up
gadarH1443 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶעֱב֑וֹרI will pass
ʾeevorH5674 →556 times
וְעַ֥לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
נְ֝תִיבוֹתַ֗יpaths my
netivotaiH5410 →26 times
חֹ֣שֶׁךְdarkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
יָשִֽׂים׃he puts
yasimH7760 →584 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 4:19But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
it leads to
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Isaiah 59:9–10
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
- Jeremiah 23:12
“Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.
- Job 18:5–6
Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
- 1 Samuel 2:9
He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- John 12:35
Through
Psalms 88:8You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
it leads to
- Psalms 31:11
Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends— they flee when they see me on the street.
- Psalms 31:11
Through
Job 3:23Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
it leads to
- Hosea 2:6
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 3:7
He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.
- Hosea 2:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 19:8-11 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.