Job 5 14

Job 5:14 kjv

They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

Job 5:14 nkjv

They meet with darkness in the daytime, And grope at noontime as in the night.

Job 5:14 niv

Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.

Job 5:14 esv

They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.

Job 5:14 nlt

They find it is dark in the daytime,
and they grope at noon as if it were night.

Job 5 verses

Job 5 14 Meaning

Job 5:14 describes the plight of those who rely on their own cunning and wicked schemes. God intervenes in such a way that their clarity is completely taken from them. Even in situations that should be clear and straightforward, they are utterly confused, unable to navigate or succeed. It signifies a profound intellectual and spiritual disorientation imposed by divine judgment, rendering even the brightest moments as obscure as the darkest night.

Job 5 14 Context

Job 5:14 is spoken by Eliphaz the Temanite, who is responding to Job's lament in his first discourse (Job 4-5). Eliphaz attempts to comfort Job by upholding a conventional view of divine justice: the righteous prosper, and the wicked suffer. In this specific passage (5:11-16), Eliphaz describes how God takes an active role in thwarting the plans of the wicked and the crafty, elevating the lowly, and protecting the oppressed. Verse 14 uses vivid imagery to illustrate the helplessness and disorientation of these wicked individuals when God intervenes. It suggests that their schemes, which they might have conceived in the supposed "light" of their own wisdom, are divinely frustrated, rendering them as incapable and lost as if they were literally blind in the darkest night. This statement is part of Eliphaz's overarching argument that Job must have sinned, and therefore deserves his suffering, implying that Job is among those whose plans God is thwarting due to hidden iniquity. The cultural context views the daytime as a period of clarity, safety, and productivity, while the night signifies danger, uncertainty, and hidden threats. The profound reversal depicted here underscores God's absolute power to overturn human expectations and capabilities.

Job 5 14 Word analysis

• They meet with darkness (יפגשו חשך - yipageshu choshek): The verb "meet" (pāgash) implies an encounter, often sudden or unexpected. Here, the encounter is with "darkness" (choshek), which signifies not merely an absence of light, but often moral or spiritual obscurity, ignorance, distress, or divine judgment. It’s an unavoidable, forceful confrontation with confusion and failure.

• in the daytime (יומם - yomam): This term explicitly means "by day" or "in the daylight hours." It emphasizes the incongruity of their situation. What should be a time of clear visibility, insight, and successful execution of plans turns into a state of total confusion. It highlights the divine, supernatural nature of the disorientation, as it transcends natural circumstances.

• and grope (ויגששו - vayeghashgeshu): The Hebrew verb gāshash means "to feel around," "to grope," typically with one's hands in darkness. It denotes searching blindly and uncertainly. This action vividly portrays a lack of direction, understanding, or vision.

• in the noonday (צהרים - tsohorayim): Literally "double light," signifying the brightest part of the day, high noon. This intensifies the paradox presented in the first half of the verse. If they cannot see or find their way even in the blinding light of midday, their confusion is absolute and inescapable.

• as in the night (לילה - laylah): This comparative phrase reinforces the metaphor. Their experience of the noonday is equivalent to total nocturnal blindness. It powerfully communicates disorientation, loss of faculty, and ultimate futility, irrespective of the external conditions of clarity.

• Words-group analysis:

  • "They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night": This verse employs a powerful literary device called synonymous parallelism, where the second line reinforces or expands on the idea of the first, using similar concepts. The "darkness in the daytime" is parallel to "groping in the noonday as in the night." The two clauses build on each other to stress the completeness of the disorientation. It's a double emphasis on divine judgment causing mental and spiritual incapacitation where it should be least expected. The imagery implies that those whom God opposes lose their natural abilities of discernment and foresight, even when circumstances are seemingly most favorable to them. Their internal state of confusion mirrors an external night.

Job 5 14 Bonus section

The imagery in Job 5:14 goes beyond mere natural difficulty; it describes an internal, intellectual, and moral blindness brought about by divine action. This highlights God's absolute sovereignty over human understanding and the success of human endeavors. It is not just that their plans fail, but that God causes them to lose their way fundamentally. The Hebrew wisdom tradition, as often expressed in Proverbs, also connects walking in darkness with the path of the wicked and stumbling due to moral failure, emphasizing that deviation from divine wisdom leads to practical ineptitude and ultimate ruin. This verse speaks against any human presumption of self-sufficiency or reliance on shrewdness without God, positing that true clarity and successful navigation through life's complexities ultimately derive from Him.

Job 5 14 Commentary

Job 5:14 presents a vivid and impactful image of the divine overturning of human cleverness and wickedness. Eliphaz argues that God, in His sovereign power, intervenes to confuse and disorient those who pursue craftiness and evil. They are so thoroughly deprived of understanding and insight that even when operating under conditions of supposed clarity – the light of day or the brilliance of noonday – they are reduced to blindly groping about as if in pitch darkness. This signifies not just a failure of their plans, but an absolute incapacitation of their faculties, rendering their wisdom futile and their schemes self-defeating. It serves as a stark reminder that human ingenuity, when pitted against divine purpose or founded on unrighteousness, will inevitably collapse into disarray and confusion.

• Example: A person relying on manipulation and deceit to advance in business may suddenly find their elaborate schemes unraveling, not due to an obvious mistake, but a cascade of unforeseen errors, even when all the variables seem to favor them. They find themselves inexplicably lost in their own 'well-lit' plans.
• Example: One who continually spreads falsehoods for personal gain might find their arguments falling flat, unable to convince even the most naive audience, as if their words carry no weight and their logic has become obscured even to themselves.