Job 22 · Verse 11

Job 22:11

Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

Job 22:11, King James Version

Job 22:11 in other translations

BSB	it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
WEB	or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.
ASV	Or darkness, so that thou canst not see, And abundance of waters cover thee.
YLT	Or darkness--thou dost not see, And abundance of waters doth cover thee.
DARBY	Or darkness, that thou canst not see, and floods of waters cover thee.
BBE	Your light is made dark so that you are unable to see, and you are covered by a mass of waters.
Webster	Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

What does Job 22:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

11. that--so that thou. abundance--floods. Danger by floods is a less frequent image in this book than in the rest of the Old Testament (Job 11:16; 27:20).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 11 Or 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."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 22:5-14

Eliphaz brought heavy charges against Job, without reason for his accusations, except that Job was visited as he supposed God always visited every wicked man. He charges him with oppression, and that he did harm with his wealth and power in the time of his prosperity.

Read the full comment on Job 22:5-14 →

Job 22:11 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.

אוֹ\־'ov-orH176

חֹ֥שֶׁךְCho.shekhdarknessH2822

לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808

תִרְאֶ֑הtir.'Ehyou will seeH7200

וְֽשִׁפְעַת\־ve.shif.'at-and abundance ofH8229

מַ֥יִםMa.yimwaterH4325

תְּכַסֶּֽךָּ\׃te.kha.Se.kait covers youH3680

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

Cross references for Job 22:11

Psalms 69:1-2
To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
Lamentations 3:54
Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
Jonah 2:3
For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Lamentations 3:2
He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
Job 38:34
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Matthew 8:12
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Job 5:14
They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
Job 18:18
He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
Job 19:8
He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Joel 2:2-3
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Job 18:6
The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
Psalms 124:4-5
Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

darkness.
18:6,18; 19:8; Pr 4:19; Isa 8:22; La 3:2; Joe 2:2,3; Mt 8:12
abundance.
Ps 42:7; 69:1,2; 124:4; La 3:54; Jon 2:3

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

Context

Job 22:10
Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
Job 22:11
Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
Job 22:12
Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Read all of Job 22

Job 22:11 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	O tinieblas, porque no veas; y abundancia de agua te cubre.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Ou bien, ce sont des ténèbres, de sorte que tu ne vois pas, et le débordement des eaux te couvre.
German Elberfelder 1871	Oder siehst du nicht die Finsternis und die Wasserflut, die dich bedeckt?
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et putabas te tenebras non visurum, et impetu aquarum inundantium non oppressum iri?