Job 3 · Verse 9

Job 3:9

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
Job 3:9, King James Version

Job 3:9 in other translations

BSBMay its morning stars grow dark; may it wait in vain for daylight; may it not see the breaking of dawn.
WEBLet the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,
ASVLet the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
YLTLet the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.
DARBYLet the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn:
BBELet its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.
WebsterLet the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

What does Job 3:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. dawning of the day--literally, "eyelashes of morning." The Arab poets call the sun the eye of day. His early rays, therefore, breaking forth before sunrise, are the opening eyelids or eyelashes of morning.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof - The stars of the twilight may here refer to the planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury, as well as to the brighter fixed stars. Let it look for light - Here the prosopopoeia or personification is still carried on. The darkness is represented as waiting for the lustre of the evening star, but is disappointed; and these for the aurora or dawn, but equally in vain. He had prayed that its light, the sun, should not shine upon it, Job 3:4; and here he prays that its evening star may be totally obscured, and that it might never see the dawning of the day. Thus his execration comprehends every thing that might irradiate or enliven it.

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 3:9 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.

יֶחְשְׁכוּ֮yech.she.Khulet them grow darkH2821
כּוֹכְבֵ֪יkokh.Vei[the] stars ofH3556
נִ֫שְׁפּ֥וֹnish.Potwilight itsH5399
יְקַו\־ye.kav-let it waitH6960
לְא֥וֹרle.'orfor lightH216
וָאַ֑יִןva.'A.yinand notH369
וְאַל\־ve.'al-and may notH408
יִ֝רְאֶ֗הyir.'Ehit lookH7200
בְּעַפְעַפֵּי\־be.'af.'a.pei-on [the] eyelids ofH6079
שָֽׁחַר\׃Sha.chardawnH7837

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

Cross references for Job 3:9

  • Job 41:18

    By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

  • Jeremiah 8:15

    We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

  • 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.

  • Job 30:26

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

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
look for light.
30:26; Jer 8:15; 13:16
the dawning of the day. Heb. the eye-lids of the morning.
41:18

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

Context

  • Job 3:8

    Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

  • Job 3:9

    Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

  • Job 3:10

    Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

Read all of Job 3

Job 3:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Oscurézcanse las estrellas de su alba; espere la luz, y no venga, ni vea los párpados de la mañana:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Que les étoiles de son crépuscule soient obscurcies; qu’elle attende la lumière, et qu’il n’y en ait point, et qu’elle ne voie pas les cils de l’aurore!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Verfinstert seien die Sterne ihrer Dämmerung; sie harre auf Licht, und da sei keines; und nicht schaue sie die Wimpern der Morgenröte!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine ejus; expectet lucem, et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ.