They change the night into day, saying ‘The light is near’ in the presence of darkness.
Parallel translations
- KJV They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
- BSB They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
- NKJV They change the night into day; ‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
- NASB “They make night into day, saying, ‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
- NLT These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light.
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
Job accuses his friends of calling night day, claiming light is near amid darkness. He charges them with false, hollow optimism.
Overview
Job complains that the comforters distort reality, promising light when only darkness is present. Their easy assurances ring false against his actual suffering. The verse warns against shallow comfort that denies the depth of pain; true hope does not deny the darkness but trusts the God who alone can turn it into morning (Psalm 30:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 24:14–16The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
- Deut 28:67In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see.
- Job 7:13–14When I say, ‘My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint;’
- Job 7:3–4so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 17:12 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.