Ayub 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ¹  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ²  over my paths.

Mazmur 107:14

107:14 He brought them out of the utter darkness, ³ 

and tore off their shackles.

Yesaya 5:30

5:30 At that time ⁴  they will growl over their prey, ⁵ 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ⁶ 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ⁷ 

Yesaya 8:20

8:20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. ⁸  Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. ⁹ 

Lukas 1:79

1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, ¹⁰ 

to guide our feet into the way ¹¹  of peace.”

[19:8]  ¹ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ² tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[107:14]  ³ tn Heb “darkness and deep darkness.” See the note on the word “darkness” in v. 10.

[5:30]  ⁴ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[5:30]  sn The motif of light turning to darkness is ironic when compared to v. 20. There the sinners turn light (= moral/ethical good) to darkness (= moral/ethical evil). Now ironically the Lord will turn light (= the sinners’ sphere of existence and life) into darkness (= the judgment and death).

[8:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “to [the] instruction and to [the] testimony.” The words “then you must recall” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20a are one long sentence, reading literally, “When they say to you…, to the instruction and to the testimony.” On the identity of the “instruction” and “testimony” see the notes at v. 16.

[8:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because it has no light of dawn.” The literal translation suggests that “this word” refers to the instruction/testimony. However, it is likely that אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’) is asseverative here, as in 5:9. In this case “this word” refers to the quotation recorded in v. 19. For a discussion of the problem see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 230, n. 9. The singular pronoun in the second half of the verse is collective, referring back to the nation (see v. 19b).

[1:79]  ¹⁰ sn On the phrases who sit in darkness…and…death see Isa 9:1-2; 42:7; 49:9-10.

[1:79]  ¹¹ tn Or “the path.”