3:4 That day 1 – let it be darkness; 2
let not God on high regard 3 it,
nor let light shine 4 on it!
22:28 Whatever you decide 5 on a matter,
it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29:3 when 6 he caused 7 his lamp 8
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked 9 through darkness; 10
1 tn The first two words should be treated as a casus pendens (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 69), referred to as an extraposition in recent grammarians.
2 sn This expression by Job is the negation of the divine decree at creation – “Let there be light,” and that was the first day. Job wishes that his first day be darkness: “As for that day, let there be darkness.” Since only God has this prerogative, Job adds the wish that God on high would not regard that day.
3 tn The verb דָּרַשׁ (darash) means “to seek, inquire,” and “to address someone, be concerned about something” (cf. Deut 11:12; Jer 30:14,17). Job wants the day to perish from the mind of God.
4 tn The verb is the Hiphil of יָפַע (yafa’), which means here “cause to shine.” The subject is the term נְהָרָה (nÿharah,“light”), a hapax legomenon which is from the verb נָהַר (nahar, “to gleam” [see Isa 60:5]).
5 tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.
6 tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.
7 tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”
8 sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.
9 tn Here too the imperfect verb is customary – it describes action that was continuous, but in a past time.
10 tn The accusative (“darkness”) is here an adverbial accusative of place, namely, “in the darkness,” or because he was successfully led by God’s light, “through the darkness” (see GKC 374 §118.h).