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Thursday, May 15th, 2025
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Read the Bible

New King James Version

Job 28:3

Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Readings, Select;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Darkness;   Earth, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Easton Bible Dictionary - Mine;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Mines;   Holman Bible Dictionary - God;   Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Mining and Metals;   Wisdom;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Mines, Mining;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Stone;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Further;   Mine;   Perfect;   Shadow of Death;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Darkness;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
A miner puts an end to the darkness;he probes the deepest recessesfor ore in the gloomy darkness.
Hebrew Names Version
Man sets an end to darkness, And searches out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
King James Version
He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
English Standard Version
Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
New Century Version
Miners bring lights and search deep into the mines for ore in thick darkness.
New English Translation
Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for the ore in the deepest darkness.
Amplified Bible
"Man puts an end to darkness [by bringing in a light], And to the farthest bounds he searches out The rock buried in gloom and deep shadow.
New American Standard Bible
"Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
World English Bible
Man sets an end to darkness, And searches out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
Geneva Bible (1587)
God putteth an end to darkenesse, and he tryeth the perfection of all things: he setteth a bond of darkenesse, and of the shadowe of death.
Legacy Standard Bible
Man puts an end to darkness,And to the farthest limit he searches outThe rock in thick darkness and shadow of death.
Berean Standard Bible
Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.
Contemporary English Version
Miners carry lanterns deep into the darkness to search for these metals.
Complete Jewish Bible
Miners conquer the darkness and dig as far in as they can, to the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
Darby Translation
[Man] putteth an end to the darkness, and exploreth to the utmost limit, the stones of darkness and of the shadow of death.
Easy-to-Read Version
Miners carry lights deep into caves to search for these rocks in the deepest darkness.
George Lamsa Translation
God sets an end to darkness, and knows the end of everything, the deep and dark mine and the shadow of death.
Good News Translation
Miners explore the deepest darkness. They search the depths of the earth And dig for rocks in the darkness.
Lexham English Bible
He puts an end to darkness, and he searches out the farthest limits for the ore in gloom and deep shadow.
Literal Translation
He sets an end to darkness, and to every extremity He searches out a stone of darkness and death-shade.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The darcknes shal once come to an ende, he can seke out the grounde of all thinges: the stones, the darcke, & the horrible shadowe,
American Standard Version
Man setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
Bible in Basic English
Man puts an end to the dark, searching out to the farthest limit the stones of the deep places of the dark.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Man setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out to the furthest bound the stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death.
King James Version (1611)
Hee setteth an ende to darkenesse, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkenesse and the shadow of death.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The darkenesse shall once come to an ende: he can seke out the grounde of all thinges, the stones, the darke, and the shadowe of death.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
He has set a bound to darkness, and he searches out every limit: a stone is darkness, and the shadow of death.
English Revised Version
Man setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out to the furthest bound the stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
God hath set tyme to derknessis, and he biholdith the ende of alle thingis.
Update Bible Version
[Man] sets an end to darkness, And searches out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
Webster's Bible Translation
He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shades of death.
New Living Translation
They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore.
New Life Bible
Man looks into the deepest darkness. And he goes out to the farthest part of the earth to look for rocks in the dark places.
New Revised Standard
Miners put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
An end, hath one set to the darkness, and, into every extremity, is, he, making search, for the stone of darkness and death-shade;
Douay-Rheims Bible
He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death.
Revised Standard Version
Men put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
Young's Literal Translation
An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, A stone of darkness and death-shade.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

Contextual Overview

1 "Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined. 2 Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore. 3 Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. 4 He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. 5 As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire; 6 Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. 7 That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon's eye seen it. 8 The proud lions [fn] have not trodden it,Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. 9 He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

searcheth: Proverbs 2:4, Ecclesiastes 1:13, Habakkuk 2:13, Matthew 6:33, Luke 16:8

the stones: Job 10:21, Job 10:22, Job 12:22, Job 38:16, Job 38:17

Reciprocal: Job 3:5 - the shadow

Cross-References

Genesis 1:28
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Genesis 9:1
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Genesis 1:28">[fn]
Genesis 13:16
And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
Genesis 24:60
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: "Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them."
Genesis 28:1
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
Genesis 28:6
Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"
Genesis 28:17
And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"
Genesis 28:18
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
Genesis 35:11
Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
Genesis 41:52
And the name of the second he called Ephraim: [fn] "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He setteth an end to darkness,.... Some understand this and what follows of God, who, by making the luminaries, has fixed the periods and revolutions of light and darkness, of day and night; or who has determined the times before appointed, for the discoveries of things in nature, as mines of gold, silver, and precious stones, how long they should lie in darkness, and then be brought to light, and who searches out the perfection of all things in nature; and makes them known to men, when he himself and his ways are not to be found out unto perfection by men; but rather this is to be understood of the miner that digs for the above metals, who, when he opens a mine, lets in natural light, or carries artificial light along with him, and so puts an end to the darkness which had reigned there before, even from the creation:

and searcheth out all perfection; searches thoroughly the mines he opens, and gets all he can out of them, and searches perfectly into the nature of the ore; he finds, and tries, and proves it, what it is, its worth and value:

the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death; searches and digs through them, to get at what he is seeking; or brings stones, precious stones, to light, which lay in darkness from the beginning, and in such places which were the shadow of death, and looked dismal and horrible, and even threatened with death, to get into and fetch them out: so spiritual miners, that search into the mines of the Scriptures, should not be discouraged with darkness and difficulties that may attend their search; but should continue it, in order to find out truths that have lain in darkness, more precious than gold and silver, and the richest gems; and such who search for them in like manner as miners do shall find them, Proverbs 2:4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He setteth an end to darkness - That is, man does. The reference here is undoubtedly to the operations of mining, and the idea is, that man delves into the darkest regions; he goes even to the outer limits of darkness; he penetrates everywhere. Probably the allusion is derived from the custom of carrying torches into mines.

And searcheth out all perfection - Makes a complete search; examines everything; carries the matter to the utmost. The idea is not that he searches out all perfection - as our translation would seem to convey; but that he makes a complete and thorough search - and yet after all he does not come to the true and highest wisdom.

The stones of darkness - The last stone, says Herder, in the mining investigations in the time of Job; the corner or boundary stone, as it were, of the kingdom of darkness and night. Prof. Lee supposes that there is allusion here to the fact that stones were used as “weights,” and that the idea is, that man had ascertained the “exact weight” of the gross darkness, that is, had taken an accurate admeasurement of it, or had wholly investigated it. But this solution seems far-fetched. Schultens supposes the center of the earth to be denoted by this expression. But it seems to me that the words “stone” and “darkness” are to be separated, and that the one is not used to qualify the other. The sense is, that man searches out everything; he perfectly and accurately penetrates everywhere, and examines all objects; “the stone” (אבן 'eben), that is, the rocks, the mines; “the darkness” (אפל 'ôphel), that is, the darkness of the cavern, the interior of the earth; “and the shadow of death” (צלמות tsalmâveth), that is, the most dark and impenetrable regions of the earth. So it is rendered by Coverdale: “The stones, the dark, and the horrible shadow.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 28:3. He setteth an end to darkness — As it is likely Job still refers to mining, the words above may be understood as pointing out the persevering industry of man in penetrating into the bowels of the earth, in order to seek for metals and precious stones. Even the stones that lay hidden in the bowels of the earth he has digged for and brought to light, and has penetrated in directions in which the solar light could not be transmitted; so that he appears to have gone to the regions of the shadow of death. Mr. Good translates: "Man delveth into the region of darkness; and examineth, to the uttermost limit, the stones of darkness and death-shade."


 
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