Job 24:17

"In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don’t know the light."

Key Reflection

This verse metaphorically describes wicked people who operate in secrecy and deceit. By digging into others' homes at night and hiding during the day, they avoid detection, symbolizing their efforts to steal or harm while keeping their true nature hidden from the light of truth and justice.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death -They dread the light as one does usually the deepest darkness. The morning or light would reveal their deeds of wickedness, and they therefore avoid it. As the shadow of death -As the deepest darkness; see the notes atJob 3:5. If one know them -If they are recognized. Or, more probably, this means “they,” that is, each one of them, “are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death,” or with the deepest darkness. By this rendering the common signification of the word (יכירyakı̂yr) will be retained, and the translation will accord with the general sense of the passage. The meaning is, that they are familiar with the blackest night.

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