to come in contact with · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
darkness
חֹ֑שֶׁךְCho.shekh
H2822
the dark · noun, common masculine singular absolute
daytime
יוֹמָ֥םyo.Mam
H3119
daily · adverb
grope
יְֽמַשְׁשׁ֥וּye.mash.Shu
H4959
to feel of · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
noonday
בַֽצָּהֳרָֽיִםVa.tzo.ho.Ra.yim
H6672
a light (i.e. window) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine dual absolute
night
וְ֝כַלַּ֗יְלָהve.kha.Lay.lah
H3915
properly · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 12:25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
Deuteronomy 28:29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed…
Isaiah 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as…
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
Amos 8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 5:6-16
Eliphaz, having touched Job in a very tender part, in mentioning both the loss of his estate and the death of his children as the just punishment of his sin, that he might not drive him to despair, here begins to encourage him, and puts him in a way to make himself easy. Now he very much changes his voice (Gal 4:20), and speaks in the accents of kindness, as if he would atone for the hard words he had given him.
I. He reminds him that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be attributed to second causes: It doth not come forth of the dust, nor spring out of the ground, as the grass doth, Job 5:6. It doth not come of course, at certain seasons of the year, as natural productions do, by a ch…
Judicial blindness often is sent upon keen men of the world (Deu 28:29; Isa 59:10; Joh 9:39).
John Gill on Job 5:14
They meet with darkness in the daytime,.... Which may denote their infatuation in things the most plain and clear, and which are obvious to everyone's view, even to such as are of much meaner capacities the themselves; and so it sometimes is, that the greatest politicians, men of the greatest sagacity and penetration, capable of forming and conducting the wisest counsels, yet blunder in things plain and easy to everyone; which must be imputed to their being given up to a judicial blindness of mind by the Lord, who destroys the wisdom of the wise, and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent; or this may signify the defeat of their counsels, when they are in the highest pitch of est…
12 Who bringeth to nought the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot accomplish anything;
13 Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness;
And the counsel of the cunning is thrown down.
14 By day they run into darkness,
And grope in the noon-day as in the night.
15 He rescueth from the sword, that from their mouth,
And from the hand of the strong, the needy.
16 Hope ariseth for the weak,
And folly shall close its mouth.
All these attributes are chosen designedly: God brings down all haughtiness, and takes compassion on those who need it. The noun תּוּשׁיּה, coined by the Chokma, and out of Job and Proverbs found only in Mic 6:9; Isa 28:29, and even there in gnomical connection, is fo…
The Church Fathers
"During the day they will be surrounded by darkness; Like the Jews who did not know the Lord. "In the middle of the day they will fumble as during the night:" Seeing the miracles some say. "Is he a prophet? The others: "He seduces the people." They did not want to open their eyes to the light.
LITERAL INTERPRETATION. They shall meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noonday as in the night. They 'meet with darkness in the day-time,' for in the very presence of Truth, they were blinded by the deceitfulness of unbelief. For we see clearly in the day-time, but in the night the pupil of our eye is dimmed. Therefore whilst the persecutors beheld the miracles of Divine Power, and yet doubted of His Divine Nature, they were subjected to 'darkness in the day-time,' for they lost their eyesight in the light. Hence it is that 'Light' Itself admonishes them, saying, Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. It is hence that it is said of Judaea, Her sun is gone down, while it was yet day. It is hence that the Prophet again took up in himself the strain of persons in a state of penitence, in these words, We stumble at noonday as in the night, we are in dismal places as dead men. Hence again He says, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night. For 'the watchman came by night,' in that the Guardian of the human race even shewed Himself manifest in the flesh, and yet Judaea, being close pressed by the darkness of her faithlessness, never knew Him. Where it is well added in the voice of the watchman, The morning cometh, and also the night. For by His presence hath a new light shone out upon the world, and yet the former darkness remained in the hearts of unbelievers. And it is well said, They shall grope in the noonday as in the night; for we search out by groping that which we do not see with our eyes. Now the Jews had seen His undisguised miracles, and yet they still went on seeking Him, as it were groping for Him, when they said, How long dost Thou make us to doubt? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. See, the light of miracles was before their eyes, yet stumbling in the darkness of their own hearts, they continued to grope in seeking for Him. And this same blindness of theirs burst out into cruelty, and their cruelty even to the extent of overt acts of persecution. But the Redeemer of mankind could not for long be held by the hands of His persecutors.
Dictionary and topics
Assurance · .Answers to prayer — .Answers to prayer
Philosophy · provi — provi
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
MORAL INTERPRETATION. They meet with darkness in the day time. And grope in the noonday as in the night. It is good to run through these points in a moral sense, putting aside the signification of the Jewish people, and to trace out in what manner they are transacted by wicked men in general. For the minds of the wicked, when they see some things done well by their neighbours, are strained upon the stretched rack of their jealousy, and they undergo the grievous chastisement of their own malice, when with a consuming heart they see good in others. Therefore it is well said, They meet with darkness in the day time. For when their mind is grieved for the superiority of another, there is an overshadowing from the ray of the light; for oftentimes while they view the unconcealed good qualities in their neighbours, they look closely if there be any evil points lying concealed from sight, and they busy themselves in eager scrutinies, if they may chance to find somewhat with which they may be able to charge them. Sound limbs indeed are all they see, but, with the eyes of the heart closed, they seek by feeling to find a sore. And hence it is rightly subjoined, And grope in the noonday as in the night. The day of good deeds shines outwardly in a neighbour, but they 'grope as it were in the night,' because inwardly they are under the darkness of their jealous feeling. They busy themselves to get to some points which they may censure, they seek out an opening for detraction, but forasmuch as they are unable to find this, they search about in blindness without. Which is well set forth in that occasion, when from the Angels protecting Lot, the inhabitants of Sodom could not find the doorway in his house, as it is written, And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. What does it mean that, when the wicked are up in arms against him, Lot is brought back into the house, and defended, but that every righteous man, while he encounters the assaults of evil ones, is brought back into his interior, and abides undismayed. But the men of Sodom cannot find the door in Lot's house, because the corrupters of souls…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
