Job 3 · Verse 4

Job 3:4

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
Job 3:4, King James Version

Job 3:4 in other translations

BSBIf only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.
WEBLet that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.
ASVLet that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon it.
YLTThat day--let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.
DARBYThat day — let it be darkness, let not God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:
BBEThat day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;
WebsterLet that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

What does Job 3:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. let not God regard it--rather, more poetically, "seek it out." "Let not God stoop from His bright throne to raise it up from its dark hiding-place." The curse on the day in Job 3:3, is amplified in Job 3:4, 5; that on the night, in Job 3:6-10.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Let that day be darkness - The meaning is exactly the same with our expression, "Let it be blotted out of the calendar." However distinguished it may have been, as the birthday of a man once celebrated for his possessions, liberality, and piety, let it no longer be thus noted; as he who was thus celebrated is now the sport of adversity, the most impoverished, most afflicted, and most wretched of human beings. Let not God regard it from above - אל ידרשהו al yidreshehu, "Let Him not require it" - let Him not consider it essential to the completion of the days of the year; and therefore he adds, neither let the light shine upon it. If it must be a part of duration, let it not be distinguished by the light of the sun.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 3:1-10

For seven days Job's friends sat by him in silence, without offering consolidation: at the same time Satan assaulted his mind to shake his confidence, and to fill him with hard thoughts of God. The permission seems to have extended to this, as well as to torturing the body. Job was an especial type of Christ, whose inward sufferings, both in the garden and on the cross, were the most dreadful; and arose in a great…

Read the full comment on Job 3:1-10 →

Job 3:4 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.

הַיּ֥וֹםhai.Yomthe dayH3117
הַה֗וּאha.Hu'<the> thatH1931
יְֽהִ֫יye.Hilet it beH1961
חֹ֥שֶׁךְCho.shekhdarknessH2822
אַֽל\־'al-may notH408
יִדְרְשֵׁ֣הוּyid.re.She.huhe care for itH1875
אֱל֣וֹהַּ'e.Lo.ahGodH433
מִמָּ֑עַלmi.Ma.'al<from> aboveH4605
וְאַל\־ve.'al-and may notH408
תּוֹפַ֖עto.Fa'it shine forthH3313
עָלָ֣יו'a.Lavon itH5921
נְהָרָֽה\׃ne.ha.RahdaylightH5105

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

Cross references for Job 3:4

  • Matthew 27:45

    Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

  • Amos 5:18

    Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

  • Revelation 16:10

    And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

  • Deuteronomy 11:12

    A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

  • Joel 2:2

    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.

  • Exodus 10:22-23

    And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

  • Acts 27:20

    And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
darkness.
Ex 10:22,23; Joe 2:2; Am 5:18; Mt 27:45; Ac 27:20; Re 16:10
God regard.
De 11:12

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

Context

  • Job 3:3

    Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

  • Job 3:4

    Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

  • Job 3:5

    Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

Read all of Job 3

Job 3:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Sea aquel día sombrío, y Dios no cuide de él desde arriba, ni claridad sobre él resplandezca.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ce jour-là, qu’il soit ténèbres; que ✝Dieu ne s’en enquière pas d’en haut, et que la lumière ne resplendisse pas sur lui!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Jener Tag sei Finsternis! nicht frage Gott nach ihm droben, und nicht erglänze über ihm das Licht!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dies ille vertatur in tenebras: non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.