Job 19 · Verse 8

Job 19:8

He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Job 19:8, King James Version

Job 19:8 in other translations

BSBHe has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
WEBHe has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
ASVHe hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
YLTMy way He hedged up, and I pass not over, And on my paths darkness He placeth.
DARBYHe hath hedged up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
BBEMy way is walled up by him so that I may not go by: he has made my roads dark.
WebsterHe hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

What does Job 19:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. Image from a benighted traveller.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 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).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 19:8-22
How doleful are Job's complaints! What is the fire of hell but the wrath of God! Seared consciences will feel it hereafter, but do not fear it now: enlightened consciences fear it now, but shall not feel it hereafter. It is a very common mistake to think that those whom God afflicts he treats as his enemies. Every creature is that to us which God makes it to be; yet this does not excuse Job's relations and friends. How uncertain is the friendship of men! but if God be our Friend, he will not fail us in time of need. What little reason we have to indulge the body, which, after all our care, is consumed by diseases it has in itself. Job recommends himself to the compassion of his friends, and justly blames their harshness. It is very distressing to one who loves God, to be bereaved at once of outward comfort and of inward consolation; yet if this, and more, come upon a believer, it does not weaken the proof of his being a child of God and heir of glory.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Job 19:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אָרְחִ֣י'a.re.Chiway myH734
גָ֭דַרGa.darhe has walled upH1443
וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808
אֶעֱב֑וֹר'e.'e.VorI will passH5674
וְעַ֥לve.'Aland onH5921
נְ֝תִיבוֹתַ֗יne.ti.vo.Taipaths myH5410
חֹ֣שֶׁךְCho.shekhdarknessH2822
יָשִֽׂים\׃ya.Simhe putsH7760

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 19:8

  • Job 3:23

    Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

  • Lamentations 3:7

    He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

  • Psalms 88:8

    Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

  • Lamentations 3:9

    He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

  • Proverbs 4:19

    The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

  • Hosea 2:6

    Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

  • Isaiah 50:10

    Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

  • John 8:12

    Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

  • Job 30:26

    When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

  • Joshua 24:7

    And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

  • Jeremiah 23:12

    Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 13:16

    Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
fenced.
3:23; Ps 88:8; La 3:7,9; Ho 2:6
set.
Jos 24:7; Pr 4:19; Isa 50:10; Jer 13:16; 23:12; Joh 8:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 19:7

    Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

  • Job 19:8

    He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

  • Job 19:9

    He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

Read all of Job 19

Job 19:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cercó de vallado mi camino, y no pasaré; y sobre mis veredas puso tinieblas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il a fermé mon chemin et je ne puis passer, et il a mis des ténèbres sur mes sentiers;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Er hat meinen Weg verzäunt, daß ich nicht hinüber kann, und auf meine Pfade legte er Finsternis.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Semitam meam circumsepsit, et transire non possum: et in calle meo tenebras posuit.