Job 38:19
in Job 38Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
KJV
Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
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This verse in Job 38
Commentary
7 notes on this verseTell Me, if thou knowest all things, in what path the light dwelleth, and what is the place of darkness? that thou mayest take each of them to the bounds thereof, and understand the paths to the house thereof. Blessed Job is tried with a weighty question, in that he is examined as to the way of light and the place of darkness, whether he should bring them each to their boundaries, and should understand the paths to the house thereof. For what is understood by the word 'light' but righteousness? and what is designated by 'darkness' but iniquity?
This site's exposition
the way to the home of light
on Job 38:19-21
Verse 21 turns openly sarcastic, “Surely you know, for you were already born”, since Job's age is nothing beside the ages the question assumes. Henry reads the irony as the chapter's method throughout, each question answerable by God alone and put to the man who has demanded answers.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
When he has said these things about the action of heavenly light on lower bodies, he mentions the light itself when he says, "Tell me, if you know everything," so that you are fit to argue with God who knows everything, "in which path does …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Where is the way where light dwelleth?.... Or the way to the place where it dwells, and what that is; and as for darkness, where is the place thereof? where these were placed when they were first separated at the creation? where light goes and dwells, when it departs from us at sun setting? and where the darkness betakes itself, and makes its abode at sun rising? What is the chamber of the sun, and the tabernacle of it? from whence it sets out, and whither it returns?
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"What is the way (to the place wherein) light dwelleth?" The origin of light and darkness. In Ge 1:3-5, 14-18, "light" is created distinct from, and previous to, light-emitting bodies, the luminaries of heaven.
Where light dwelleth - What is the source of light? Yea, what is light itself? It is not in the sun, for light was before the sun; but what is light? It is no doubt a substance; but of what kind? and of what are its particles? As to darkness, what is It? Is it philosophical to say, it is the mere privation of light? I shall think philosophy has made some advances to general accuracy and perfection when it proves to us what cold is, and what darkness is, leaving mere privations out of the question.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Where is the way where light dwelleth? - Or, rather, where is the way or path to the place where light dwells? Light is conceived of as coming from a great distance, and as having a place which might be regarded as its home. It comes in the morning, and is withdrawn at evening, and it seems as if it came from some far distant dwelling-place in the morning to illuminate the world, and then retired to its home in the evening, and thus gave place for darkness to visit the earth.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵי־ | ʾei- | where? | H335 → | 39 times |
| זֶ֣ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הַ֭דֶּרֶךְ | haderekh | [is] the way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| יִשְׁכָּן־ | yishkon- | [where] it dwells | H7931 → | 129 times |
| א֑וֹר | ʾor | light | H216 → | 121 times |
| וְ֝חֹ֗שֶׁךְ | vechoshekh | and darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| אֵי־ | ʾei- | where? | H335 → | 39 times |
| זֶ֥ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| מְקֹמֽוֹ׃ | mekomo | [is] place its | H4725 → | 401 times |
אֵי־where?
ʾei-H335 →39 times
זֶ֣הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הַ֭דֶּרֶךְ[is] the way
haderekhH1870 →707 times
יִשְׁכָּן־[where] it dwells
yishkon-H7931 →129 times
א֑וֹרlight
ʾorH216 →121 times
וְ֝חֹ֗שֶׁךְand darkness
vechoshekhH2822 →80 times
אֵי־where?
ʾei-H335 →39 times
זֶ֥הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
מְקֹמֽוֹ׃[is] place its
mekomoH4725 →401 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
Amos 4:13For behold, He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man, who turns the dawn to darkness and strides on the heights of the earth—the LORD, the God…
it leads to
- Amos 5:8
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD…
- Micah 1:3
For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
- Amos 9:6
He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is…
- Isaiah 47:4
Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is His name—is the Holy One of Israel.
- Daniel 2:28
But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your…
- Amos 5:8
Through
Psalms 18:11He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:11
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
- Psalms 97:2
Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
- Deuteronomy 4:11
Through
Psalms 105:28He sent darkness, and it became dark— yet they defied His words.
it leads to
- Psalms 99:7
He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them.
- Psalms 99:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXIX; 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.