There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
- BSB There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.
- NKJV There is no darkness nor shadow of death Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
- NASB “There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of injustice can hide themselves.
- NLT No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes.
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
No darkness is dark enough for evildoers to hide from God. It teaches that no one can escape God's all-seeing justice.
Overview
Elihu insists there is no shadow or gloom where workers of iniquity can conceal themselves from God. God's knowledge penetrates every hidden place, so no sin escapes His notice. This drives home the need for grace, for the only true refuge from God's searching gaze is the forgiveness found in Christ, who covers sin rather than hiding from it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Heb 4:13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
- Amos 9:2–3Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
- Prov 10:29The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
- Ps 139:11–12If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
- Jer 23:24Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
- Job 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
- Job 31:3Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
- Luke 13:27But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
- Isa 9:2The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
- Ps 5:5The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
- Isa 29:15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
- Rev 6:15–16And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
- Job 24:17For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
- Matt 7:23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
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 34:22 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.