Passage

Job 38.19

Book: Job · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18. Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou knowest it all.

19. Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof? 21. Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great! (Job 38:17-21, ASV)

WEB

17. Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18. Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all.

19. “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,

that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house? 21. Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! (Job 38:17-21, WEB)

KJV

17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

19. Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? ^{to the bound: or, at, etc} 21. Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? (Job 38:17-21, KJV)

YLT

17. Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see? 18. Thou hast understanding, Even unto the broad places of earth! Declare, if thou hast known it all.

19. Where [is] this, the way light dwelleth? And darkness, where [is] this, its place?

That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house. 21. Thou hast known, for then thou art born And the number of thy days [are] many! (Job 38:17-21, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: YHWH, answering Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1)
Audience: Job, with his three friends and Elihu present after their arguments have run out
Location: the land of Uz (Job 1:1), unlocated in the text and traditionally placed east or southeast of Israel
Time period: patriarchal in setting, with the date of composition disputed across a wide range

Theological reading

"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof," The question runs on into the next verse: "That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?" (38:20).

Light and darkness at home. God pictures light and darkness as residents, each with a "dwelling" or "place," and a road leading to it. The KJV tags "way" as Strong's H1870, the ordinary word for a road or path, and the next verse speaks of "the paths to the house thereof." The challenge is practical: could Job escort light or darkness home? He would need to know where they live.

The barbed reply. Verse 21 adds, "Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great!" The irony recalls the opening question, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" (38:4). Light was there before Job, and the one who set its place was God. Genesis gives the same order: light is called into being and divided from the darkness before any human appears (Genesis 1:3-5).

Not a statement about physics. Because the verse gives light a "way," it is sometimes read as anticipating the travel of light or its speed. The word is the common Hebrew word for a road, and nothing in the verse specifies speed or measurement. The picture is poetic, light going out from a dwelling place, and the question is one Job cannot answer. The codex treats the scientific reading as an over-reach; see Bible Anticipates Science.

God's opening charge was against one who "darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge" (38:2), and Job later takes those words to himself (42:3). The one who knows the way to the dwelling of light is the one Job must answer.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

Concepts:

Bible Anticipates Science

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.