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“Wicked people rebel against the light. They refuse to acknowledge its ways or stay in its paths.
Job 24:13 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB “These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
  • KJV They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
  • 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.

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 3:19–20This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
  • Prov 4:19The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.
  • Jude 1:6Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
  • 2 Th 2:10–12and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
  • 2 Pet 2:20–22For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
  • John 9:39–41Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
  • 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
  • John 15:22–24If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
  • Rom 1:32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
  • John 8:31Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
  • Rom 2:17–24Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
  • John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them.”
  • Jas 4:17To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
  • Rom 3:11–17There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.
  • John 8:44You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father.
  • John 15:6If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
  • John 12:35Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.
  • Luke 12:47–48That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,
  • Job 23:11–12My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.

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.