The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.
Parallel translations
- WEB The light shall be dark in his tent. His lamp above him shall be put out.
- KJV The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
- NKJV The light is dark in his tent, And his lamp beside him is put out.
- NASB “The light in his tent is darkened, And his lamp goes out above him.
- NLT The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.
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
The wicked man's tent grows dark as his lamp is put out. His household and prosperity come to an end.
Overview
Bildad extends the image: the light within the godless man's dwelling fails and the lamp above him is quenched. This signals the collapse of his home, security, and life. The extinguished lamp is a recurring picture of the end of the wicked, set against the promise that God will not let the lamp of the righteous be snuffed out (Psalm 18:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Ps 18:28For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.
- Job 21:17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
- Rev 18:23The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”
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 18:6 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.