He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
(Job 28:3) KJV
There are some eyebrow-raising translations of this verse which have been rendered by people who were trying very hard to make sense out of it. Here’s an example:
Miners explore the deepest darkness.
(Job 28:3) Good News Translation
They search the depths of the earth And dig for rocks in the darkness.
If we ignore all attempts to understand this but arrange the word definitions in the sequence that they occur we can get another idea of meaning. The definition of each word is enclosed in [square brackets]. The standard translations are included but we’ll find that there are other meanings available to us when we examine each word carefully. Punctuation follows the original passage.
[at the end of time] [to put, place, set] [darkness, obscurity] ,
[the whole, all (every)] [end, completeness] :[he, she, it] [to search ( examining thoroughly )] [ a stone, a weight] [darkness, gloom of underworld] ,
(Job 28:3) Literal
[death-like shadow, deep shadow].
The passage appears to be telling us that,
at the end of time, all darkness will be set in a place:
(Job 28:3) Paraphrased
it will sink like a stone, into the gloom of the underworld.
We break this down by showing the meaning of every word, then using our context (the core accretion model) to select which part of the meaning of each word we’re going to use.
Job 28:3 Translation
| Hebrew | Literal Translation | Meaning | Transliteration |
| Gravity as a Process | |||
| ืงึตึคืฅ | An end | at the end of time | qets |
| ืฉึธืึคื | [Man] puts | to put, place, set | sum |
| ืึทืึนึืฉึถืืึฐ | to darkness | darkness | choshek |
| ืึผึฝืึฐืึธื | and every | to hang together | ulekal |
| ืชึทึผึญืึฐืึดืืช | recess | shell | taklit |
| ืึฃืึผื | he | he, she, it | hi |
| ืืึนืงึตึืจ | searches | surround | chagar |
| ืึถึืึถื | for ore | a stone | eben |
| ืึนึฃืคึถื | in the darkness | gloom of the underworld | ophel |
| ืึฐืฆึทืึฐืึธึฝืึถืช | and the shadow of death | death-like shadow | tsalmaveth |
| Job 28:3 Translation | |||
| Salvation |
Salvation
- Call upon the name of Jesus Christ,
- believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
- confess your sin.
