Job 24:16
in Job 24In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.
KJV
In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
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This verse in Job 24
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIn the dark they dig through houses - Thieves in Bengal very frequently dig through the mud wall and under the clay floors of houses, and, entering unperceived, plunder them while the inhabitants are asleep. Mr. Good’s version of this paragraph I shall lay before the reader: - Job 24:15 For the dark too watcheth the eye of the adulterer; Exclaiming, No eye shall behold me. Then putteth he the muffler on his face; Job 24:16 He wormeth into houses amidst the darkness.
This site's exposition
those who rebel against the light
on Job 24:13-17
A second group joins the list, "those who rebel against the light". The murderer rises when "daylight is gone", and housebreakers "dig through houses" and "shut themselves in" by day. Clarke notes the reversal these men live by, since for them "deep darkness is their morning" and daylight threatens exposure.
This site's exposition
In the dark they dig through houses
Barnes takes the housebreaker here as a third class of sinner after the murderer and the adulterer. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that eastern houses were built of sun-dried mud brick, so thieves dug through the walls, as at Matthew 6:19. By day they seal themselves in.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the day time; they know not the light. For what is there here denoted by the title of 'houses' but consciences, wherein we dwell, when we do any thing, busying ourselves with it? Whence it is said to one on being healed, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee; i.e. henceforth, secure from the evil habit of sin, turn back to thy conscience, and be thou roused into the voice of preaching.'
Just as he watches for darkness to begin his deed, so also he does the deed in darkness, and so he then says, "They steal through houses in the dark," removing any obstacles by any kind of fraud and violence, "as they have agreed the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For this reason our law makes burglary, which is the breaking and entering of a dwelling-house in the night time with a felonious intent, to be felony without benefit of clergy. And, lastly, Job observes (and perhaps observes it as part of the present, though secret, punishment of such sinners as these) that they are in a continual terror for fear of being discovered (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
They - The robber: having on that occasion inserted the mention of the adulterer as one who acted his sin in the same manner as the night-thief did, he now returns to him again.
In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
dig through--Houses in the East are generally built of sun-dried mud bricks (so Mt 6:19). "Thieves break through," literally, "dig through" (Eze 12:7). had marked--Rather, as in Job 9:7, "They shut themselves up" (in their houses); literally, "they seal up." for themselves--for their own ends, namely, to escape detection. know not--shun.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In the dark they dig through houses - This refers, probably, to another class of wicked persons. The adulterer steals forth in the night, but it is not his way to “dig” into houses. But the persons here referred to are robbers, who conceal themselves by day, and who at night secretly enter houses for plunder. The phrase “dig through” probably has reference to the fact that houses were made of clay, or of bricks dried in the sun - a species of mud cottages, and whose walls, therefore, could be easily penetrated. In the East, nearly all the houses are made of unburned brick, and there is little difficulty in making a hole in the wall large enough to admit the human body; compare Eze 12:7. In Bengal, says Mr. Ward, it is common for thieves to dig through the walls of houses made of mud, or under the house floors, which are made merely of earth, and enter thus into the dwellings while the inmates are asleep. Rosenmuller’s Alte u. neue Morgenland “in loc.” Which they had marked for themselves in the day-time - According to this translation the idea would be, that in the day-time they carefully observed houses, and saw where an entrance might be effected. But this interpretation seems contrary to the general sense of the passage. It is said that they avoid the light, and that the night is the time for accomplishing their purposes. Probably, therefore, the meaning of this passage is, “in the day time they shut themselves up.” So it is rendered by Gesenius, Rosenmuller, Noyes, and others. The word here used, and rendered “marked” (חתם châtham), means to seal, to seal up; and hence, the idea of shutting up, or making fast; see Job 9:7, note; Isa 8:17, note. […]
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָתַ֥ר | chatar | he digs into | H2864 → | |
| בַּחֹ֗שֶׁךְ | bachoshekh | in <the> darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| בָּ֫תִּ֥ים | batim | houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יוֹמָ֥ם | yomam | by day | H3119 → | |
| חִתְּמוּ־ | chitemu- | they seal up | H2856 → | 26 times |
| לָ֗מוֹ | lamo | for themselves | ||
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָ֥דְעוּ | yadeu | they know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֽוֹר׃ | ʾor | light | H216 → | 121 times |
חָתַ֥רhe digs into
chatarH2864 →
בַּחֹ֗שֶׁךְin <the> darkness
bachoshekhH2822 →80 times
בָּ֫תִּ֥יםhouses
batimH1004 →2046 times
יוֹמָ֥םby day
yomamH3119 →
חִתְּמוּ־they seal up
chitemu-H2856 →26 times
לָ֗מוֹfor themselves
lamo
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָ֥דְעוּthey know
yadeuH3045 →945 times
אֽוֹר׃light
ʾorH216 →121 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
John 3:20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:11–13
Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
- John 7:7
The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.
- Job 24:13–17
Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
- Proverbs 4:18
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Proverbs 1:29
For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.
- Ephesians 5:11–13
Through
Job 24:13Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
it leads to
- John 3:19–20
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- Proverbs 4:19
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
- John 3:19–20
Through
Matthew 24:43But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
it leads to
- Luke 12:39
But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
- Luke 12:39
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.