Job 3:9

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Let 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:

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

יֶחְשְׁכוּ֮ כּוֹכְבֵ֢י נִ֫שְׁפּ֥וֹ יְקַו־לְא֥וֹר וָאַ֑יִן וְאַל־יִ֝רְאֶ֗ה בְּעַפְעַפֵּי־שָֽׁחַר׃

Transliteration

yeḥšəkû kôkəbê nišpô yəqaw-ləʾôr wāʾāyin wəʾal-yirʾeh bəʿapʿappê-šāḥar

Grammar Details

*yeḥšəkû*: verb, Qal imperfect jussive, 3rd masculine plural - let them grow dark
*kôkəbê*: noun, masculine plural construct - stars of
*nišpô*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - its twilight
*yəqaw-ləʾôr*: verb, Piel imperfect jussive, 3rd masculine singular + preposition + noun - let it wait for light
*wāʾāyin*: conjunction + particle of negation - but there is none
*wəʾal-yirʾeh*: conjunction + negative particle + verb, Qal imperfect jussive, 3rd masculine singular - and let it not see
*bəʿapʿappê-šāḥar*: preposition + noun, feminine dual construct + noun - in the eyelids of dawn

Word Meanings

*yeḥšəkû*: grow dark/be darkened/become black
*kôkəbê*: stars of/constellations of
*nišpô*: its twilight/its dusk
*yəqaw*: wait for/hope for/look for
*wāʾāyin*: but there is none/but it is not
*yirʾeh*: see/look upon/perceive
*ʿapʿappê-šāḥar*: eyelids of dawn/rays of morning

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

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Job 41:18 : 18 His sneezings flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
Jer 8:15 : 15 We looked for peace, but no good came; [and] for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
Jer 13:16 : 16 Give 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 30:26 : 26 When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

Job 3:3-8
6 verses
87%
3Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.
4Let that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon it.
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.
Isa 13:10
78%
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 3:10
77%
10Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
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.
Eccl 12:2-3
2 verses
76%
2before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
3in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened,
Joel 3:15
75%
15The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Amos 5:20
75%
20Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Job 10:21-22
2 verses
75%
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.
Job 25:5
75%
5Behold, even the moon hath no brightness, And the stars are not pure in his sight:
Job 17:12-13
2 verses
75%
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;
Job 23:17
75%
17Because I was not cut off before the darkness, Neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.
Isa 8:22
74%
22and they shall look unto the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.
Job 3:16
74%
16Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.
Mic 3:6
74%
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.
Job 9:7
74%
7That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And sealeth up the stars;
Job 38:19
73%
19Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
Job 24:16-17
2 verses
73%
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.
Job 5:14
73%
14They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.
Job 22:11
73%
11Or darkness, so that thou canst not see, And abundance of waters cover thee.
Job 19:8
73%
8He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
Job 18:18
73%
18He shall be driven from light into darkness, And chased out of the world.
Lam 3:2
72%
2He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
Job 3:23
72%
23[ Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?
Job 36:20
72%
20Desire not the night, When peoples are cut off in their place.
Job 29:3
72%
3When his lamp shined upon my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;
Ps 139:11-12
2 verses
72%
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 3:20
72%
20Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;
Isa 59:9
71%
9Therefore is justice far from us, neither doth righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.
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.
Job 10:18
71%
18Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me.
Isa 5:30
71%
30And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.
Job 30:26
71%
26When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Lam 3:6
71%
6He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
Prov 7:9
71%
9In the twilight, in the evening of the day, In the middle of the night and in the 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.
Job 11:17
71%
17And [thy] life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
Eccl 6:4
71%
4for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;
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.
Jer 4:23
71%
23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.