Job 3:4

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Let that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon it.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הַיּ֥וֹם הַה֗וּא יְֽהִ֫י חֹ֥שֶׁךְ אַֽל־יִדְרְשֵׁ֣הוּ אֱל֣וֹהַּ מִמָּ֑עַל וְאַל־תּוֹפַ֖ע עָלָ֣יו נְהָרָֽה׃

Transliteration

hayyôm hahûʾ yəhî ḥōšek ʾal-yidrəšēhû ʾĕlôah mimmāʿal wə-ʾal-tôpaʿ ʿālāyw nəhārâ

Grammar Details

*hayyôm*: definite article + noun, masculine singular - the day
*hahûʾ*: definite article + demonstrative pronoun, masculine singular - that
*yəhî*: verb, Qal jussive, 3rd masculine singular - let it be
*ḥōšek*: noun, masculine singular - darkness
*ʾal-yidrəšēhû*: negative particle + verb, Qal imperfect jussive, 3rd masculine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - let not seek it
*ʾĕlôah*: noun, masculine singular - God
*mimmāʿal*: preposition + noun - from above
*wə-ʾal-tôpaʿ*: conjunction + negative particle + verb, Hiphil jussive, 3rd feminine singular - and let not shine
*ʿālāyw*: preposition with 3rd masculine singular suffix - upon it
*nəhārâ*: noun, feminine singular - light

Word Meanings

*yidrəšēhû*: seek it/care for it/inquire after it
*ʾĕlôah*: God/deity
*mimmāʿal*: from above/from on high
*tôpaʿ*: shine/beam/appear
*nəhārâ*: light/daylight/brightness

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

🔄 Compare with

ESVNIVCSBNLTNASBNET

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Exod 10:22-23 : 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; 23 they saw not one another, neither rose any one from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Deut 11:12 : 12 a land which Jehovah thy God careth for: the eyes of Jehovah thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Joel 2:2 : 2 a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
Amos 5:18 : 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.
Matt 27:45 : 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
Acts 27:20 : 20 And when neither sun nor stars shone upon [us] for many days, and no small tempest lay on [us,] all hope that we should be saved was now taken away.
Rev 16:10 : 10 And the fifth {G32} poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Job 3:5-10
6 verses
89%
5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.
6As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it: Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months.
7Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein.
8Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
10Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
Job 3:3
83%
3Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.
Amos 5:20
80%
20Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Job 18:5-6
2 verses
76%
5Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, And the spark of his fire shall not shine.
6The light shall be dark in his tent, And his lamp above him shall be put out.
Job 23:17
76%
17Because I was not cut off before the darkness, Neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.
Job 10:20-22
3 verses
75%
20Are not my days few? cease then, And let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21Before I go whence I shall not return, [Even] to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
22The land dark as midnight, [The land] of the shadow of death, without any order, And where the light is as midnight.
Jer 20:14
75%
14Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Job 17:12-13
2 verses
74%
12They change the night into day: The light, [say they], is near unto the darkness.
13If I look for Sheol as my house; If I have spread my couch in the darkness;
Lam 3:2
74%
2He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
Job 34:22
74%
22There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Ps 139:11-12
2 verses
73%
11If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, And the light about me shall be night;
12Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike [to thee].
Job 38:19
73%
19Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
Job 10:3
73%
3Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, That thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
Zeph 1:15
73%
15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Job 18:18
73%
18He shall be driven from light into darkness, And chased out of the world.
Job 22:11
73%
11Or darkness, so that thou canst not see, And abundance of waters cover thee.
Isa 13:10
73%
10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
Job 3:16
73%
16Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.
Job 3:23
73%
23[ Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?
Job 36:20
73%
20Desire not the night, When peoples are cut off in their place.
Job 36:32
72%
32He covereth his hands with the lightning, And giveth it a charge that it strike the mark.
Ps 109:12
72%
12Let there be none to extend kindness unto him; Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children.
Job 19:8
72%
8He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
Zech 14:6
72%
6And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves:
Mic 3:6
72%
6Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
Jer 20:16
72%
16And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;
Job 29:3
72%
3When his lamp shined upon my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;
Job 5:14
72%
14They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.
Eccl 6:4
72%
4for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;
Amos 5:18
72%
18Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.
Job 24:16-17
2 verses
72%
16In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.
17For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
Amos 8:9
71%
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
Ezek 32:8
71%
8All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Jer 13:16
71%
16Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Job 3:20
71%
20Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;
Job 9:34
71%
34Let him take his rod away from me, And let not his terror make me afraid:
Ps 143:3
71%
3For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; He hath smitten my life down to the ground: He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
Lam 3:6
71%
6He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
Job 20:26
70%
26All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown [by man] shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent.