“There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of injustice can hide themselves.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
- KJV There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, 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.
- 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 4:13There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
- Amos 9:2–3Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.
- Prov 10:29The way of Yahweh is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
- Ps 139:11–12If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”;
- Jer 23:24Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I can’t see him?” says Yahweh. “Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says Yahweh.
- Job 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.
- Job 31:3Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
- Luke 13:27He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’
- Isa 9:2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
- Ps 5:5The arrogant shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
- Isa 29:15Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
- Rev 6:15–16The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
- Job 24:17For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
- Matt 7:23Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who 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.