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They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
Job 24:13 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
  • BSB Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
  • NKJV “There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths.
  • NASB ¶“Others have been with those who rebel against the light; They do not want to know its ways Nor stay in its paths.
  • NLT “Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths.

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 turns to those who rebel against the light, refusing its ways. It matters because it introduces sins of darkness committed in secret.

Overview

Job describes a class of wicked who hate the light and reject its paths. Light here symbolizes both daylight and moral truth, which these rebels shun. The contrast between light and darkness runs through Scripture and culminates in Christ, the Light of the world, whom evildoers reject because their deeds are evil (John 3:19-20).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • John 3:19–20And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
  • Prov 4:19The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
  • Jude 1:6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
  • 2 Th 2:10–12And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
  • 2 Pet 2:20–22For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
  • John 9:39–41And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
  • 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
  • John 15:22–24If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
  • Rom 1:32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
  • John 8:31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
  • Rom 2:17–24Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
  • John 12:40He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
  • Jas 4:17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
  • Rom 3:11–17There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
  • John 8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
  • John 15:6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
  • John 12:35Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
  • Luke 12:47–48And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
  • Job 23:11–12My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 24:13YouTube · 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 24:13 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.