Job 30 · Verse 26

Job 30:26

When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Job 30:26, King James Version

Job 30:26 in other translations

BSBBut when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
WEBWhen I looked for good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness came.
ASVWhen I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
YLTWhen good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
DARBYFor I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
BBEFor I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark.
WebsterWhen I looked for good, then evil came: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

What does Job 30:26 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
26. I may be allowed to crave help, seeing that, "when I looked for good (on account of my piety and charity), yet evil," &c. light--(Job 22:28).

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

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 30:15-31

Job complains a great deal. Harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset Job. When inward temptations join with outward calamities, the soul is hurried as in a tempest, and is filled with confusion. But woe be to those who really have God for an enemy! Compared with the awful state of ungodly men, what are all outward, or even inward temporal afflictions? There is something…

Read the full comment on Job 30:15-31 →

Job 30:26 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.

כִּ֤יkiifH3588
ט֣וֹבTovgoodH2896
קִ֭וִּיתִיKi.vi.tiI waited forH6960
וַיָּ֣בֹאvai.Ya.vo'and it cameH935
רָ֑עRa'evilH7451
וַֽאֲיַחֲלָ֥הva.'a.ya.cha.Lahand I waitedH3176
לְ֝א֗וֹרle.'orfor lightH216
וַיָּ֥בֹאvai.Ya.vo'and it cameH935
אֹֽפֶל\׃'O.feldarknessH652

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

Cross references for Job 30:26

  • Jeremiah 8:15

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

  • Jeremiah 14:19

    Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!

  • Job 3:25-26

    For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

  • Psalms 97:11

    Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

  • Micah 1:12

    For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem.

  • 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.

  • Job 23:17

    Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

  • Job 19:8

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

  • Job 18:6

    The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

  • Job 18:18

    He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

  • Job 29:18

    Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

  • Jeremiah 15:18

    Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
When I looked.
3:25,26; 29:18; Jer 8:15; 14:19; 15:18; Mic 1:12
light.
18:6,18; 23:17; Ps 97:11; Isa 50:10

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

Context

  • Job 30:25

    Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

  • Job 30:26

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

  • Job 30:27

    My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

Read all of Job 30

Job 30:26 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cuando esperaba yo el bien, entonces vino el mal; y cuando esperaba luz, la oscuridad vino.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car j’attendais le bien, et le mal est arrivé; je comptais sur la lumière, et l’obscurité est venue.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn ich erwartete Gutes, und es kam Böses; und ich harrte auf Licht, und es kam Finsternis.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Expectabam bona, et venerunt mihi mala: præstolabar lucem, et eruperunt tenebræ.