Job 24:16

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

חָתַ֥ר בַּחֹ֗שֶׁךְ בָּ֫תִּ֥ים יוֹמָ֥ם חִתְּמוּ־לָ֗מוֹ לֹא־יָ֥דְעוּ אֽוֹר

Transliteration

He ḥātar baḥōšeḵ bāttîm yômām ḥittəmû-lāmô lōʾ-yādəʿû ʾôr

Grammar Details

• *ḥātar*: qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular - 'he digs through'
• *baḥōšeḵ*: preposition *bə* + definite article + noun masculine singular - 'in the darkness'
• *bāttîm*: noun masculine plural - 'houses'
• *yômām*: adverb - 'by day'
• *ḥittəmû-lāmô*: piel perfect 3rd person common plural + preposition *lə* + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - 'they seal for themselves'
• *lōʾ-yādəʿû*: negative particle + qal perfect 3rd person common plural - 'they do not know'
• *ʾôr*: noun masculine singular - 'light'

Word Meanings

• *ḥātar*: digs through/breaks into
• *baḥōšeḵ*: in the darkness/during night
• *bāttîm*: houses/homes/dwellings
• *yômām*: by day/during daylight
• *ḥittəmû-lāmô*: they seal for themselves/they shut themselves up
• *yādəʿû*: know/recognize/acknowledge
• *ʾôr*: light/daylight

Referenced Verses

• John 3:20 : 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
• Eph 5:11-13 : 11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; 12 for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. 13 But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light.
• Exod 22:2-3 : 2 If the thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him. 3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him; he shall make restitution: if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
• Job 24:13 : 13 These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof.
• Job 38:12-13 : 12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days [began], [And] caused the dayspring to know its place; 13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?
• Ezek 12:5-7 : 5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. 6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the land: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. 7 And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I digged through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.
• Ezek 12:12 : 12 And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.
• Matt 6:19 : 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
• Matt 24:43 : 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.