Job 22:11
in Job 22it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Or darkness, so that thou canst not see, And abundance of waters cover thee.
KJV
Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
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This verse in Job 22
Commentary
9 notes on this verseOr darkness, that thou canst not see - The sense of this passage, in the connection that the particle or gives it with the preceding verse, is not easy to be ascertained. To me it seems very probable that a letter has been lost from the first word; and that או o which we translate Or, was originally אור or Light. The copy used by the Septuagint had certainly this reading; and therefore they translate the verse thus: Το φως σοι εις σκοτος απεβη; Thy Light is changed into darkness; that is, Thy prosperity is turned into adversity. Houbigant corrects the text thus: instead of או חשך לא תראה o chosech lo tireh, or darkness thou canst not see, he reads חשך לא אור תראה chosech lo or tireh, darkness, not light, shalt thou behold; that is, Thou shalt dwell in thick darkness. Mr. Good translates: “Or darkness which thou canst not penetrate, and a flood of waters shall cover thee.” Thou shalt either be enveloped in deep darkness, or overwhelmed with a flood. The versions all translate differently; and neither they nor the MSS. give any light, except what is afforded by the Septuagint. Coverdale is singular: Shuldest thou then send darcknesse? Shulde not the water floude runne over the? Perhaps the meaning is: “Thou art so encompassed with darkness, that thou canst not see thy way; and therefore fallest into the snares and traps that are laid for thee.”
This site's exposition
snares surround you
on Job 22:10-11
Eliphaz reasons backward from Job's condition to the charges just made. The suffering is offered as proof of the sin, while the sin has no evidence apart from the suffering it is meant to explain. Barnes notes that the book's opening frame has already shown this reasoning false.
This site's exposition
it is so dark you cannot see
Barnes reads the darkness and the flood of water as emblems of calamity, citing Psalm 69. Wesley takes the waters as many afflictions. With the snares of verse 10, they are what Eliphaz says the wickedness of verse 5 has brought.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He shows the reason why they come on him suddenly when he then says, "You thought that you would not see darkness," that is, you would not arrive at these doubts in which you do not know what to do, which refers to the snares. …
And thou thoughtest thou wouldest not see darkness; and that thou wouldest not be borne down with the force of overflowing waters. As if he said in plain speech; 'Thou didst promise thyself security of peace in hope, and therefore thou wast glad for thine assurance as for the light, nor ever thoughtest for thyself to be oppressed with tribulation.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
No sin makes a louder cry there than unmercifulness; and, accordingly, sudden fear troubles thee; and, though thou wilt not own it, it is guilt of this kind that creates thee all this terror." Zophar had insinuated this, ch. xx.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Or - Either thou art troubled with fear of further evils or with the gross darkness of thy present state of misery. Waters - Variety of sore afflictions, which are frequently compared to water.
Or darkness, that thou canst not see,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Or darkness - Darkness and night in the Scriptures are emblems of calamity. That thou canst not see - Deep and fearful darkness; total night, so that nothing is visible. That is, the heaviest calamities had overwhelmed him. And abundance of waters - An emblem, also, of calamities; Job 27:20; Psa 69:1-2; Psa 73:10.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
or darkness so that you do not see That is to say, You shall not put your eyes and your trust in strength, and say..
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Is not God in the height of heaven and will not lower Himself to see.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| חֹ֥שֶׁךְ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִרְאֶ֑ה | tireh | you will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְֽשִׁפְעַת־ | veshifat- | and abundance of | H8229 → | |
| מַ֥יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| תְּכַסֶּֽךָּ׃ | tekhaseka | it covers you | H3680 → | 152 times |
אוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
חֹ֥שֶׁךְdarkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִרְאֶ֑הyou will see
tirehH7200 →1300 times
וְֽשִׁפְעַת־and abundance of
veshifat-H8229 →
מַ֥יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
תְּכַסֶּֽךָּ׃it covers you
tekhasekaH3680 →152 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
Jonah 2:3For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
it leads to
- Psalms 42:7
Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
- Lamentations 3:54
The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
- Psalms 69:1–2
Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- Psalms 42:7
Through
Job 19:8He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:7
He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.
- Job 3:23
Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
- Lamentations 3:9
He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.
- Proverbs 4:19
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
- Lamentations 3:7
Through
Lamentations 3:54The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
it leads to
- Jonah 2:3–5
For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
- Jonah 2:3–5
About Job
This page draws on 9 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 XVI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.