Limitless Word
And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
Job 11:17 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning.
  • BSB Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
  • NKJV And your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.
  • NASB “Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning.
  • NLT Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Even darkness will be as bright as morning.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Zophar foresees Job's life shining brighter than noon, with darkness becoming like morning. He promises radiant restoration.

Overview

Zophar assures Job that repentance would turn his gloom into light surpassing midday, so that even darkness would seem like dawn. The picture of light overcoming darkness is beautiful and biblically resonant. Its fullest realization is in Christ, the light of the world, in whom even our darkest seasons give way to the brightness of His salvation (John 8:12; Proverbs 4:18).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Isa 58:8–10Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
  • Ps 37:6And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
  • Prov 4:18But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
  • Zech 14:6–7And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
  • Mic 7:8–9Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
  • Hos 6:3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
  • Ps 112:4Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
  • 1 Chr 29:10Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
  • Job 42:11–17Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
  • Mal 4:2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
  • Ps 92:14They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
  • Luke 2:26–32And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 11:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 11:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.