Job 38:17

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Have the gates of death been revealed to you?Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

Hebrew Names Version
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

King James Version
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

English Standard Version
Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

New Century Version
Have the gates of death been opened to you? Have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

New English Translation
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness?

Amplified Bible
"Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

New American Standard Bible
"Have the gates of death been revealed to you, And have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

World English Bible
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Haue the gates of death bene opened vnto thee? or hast thou seene the gates of the shadowe of death?

Legacy Standard Bible
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Berean Standard Bible
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Contemporary English Version
Have you seen the gate to the world of the dead?

Complete Jewish Bible
Have the gates of death been revealed to you, the gates of death-like darkness?

Darby Translation
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? and hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Easy-to-Read Version
Has anyone shown you the gates to the world of the dead? Have you ever seen those gates that lead to the dark place of death?

George Lamsa Translation
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Good News Translation
Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead?

Lexham English Bible
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of deep shadow?

Literal Translation
Have death's gates been opened to you; or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Haue the gates of death bene opened vnto the or hast thou sene the dore of euerlastige treasure?

American Standard Version
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Bible in Basic English
Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

King James Version (1611)
Haue the gates of death bene opened vnto thee? Or hast thou seene the doores of the shadow of death?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Haue the gates of death ben opened vnto thee? or hast thou seene the doores of the shadowe of death?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee?

English Revised Version
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whether the yatis of deeth ben openyd to thee, and `siest thou the derk doris?

Update Bible Version
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Webster's Bible Translation
Have the gates of death been opened to thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shades of death?

New King James Version
Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?

New Living Translation
Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

New Life Bible
Have the gates of death been shown to you? Or have you seen the gates of the deep darkness?

New Revised Standard
Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee? And, the gates of the death-shade, couldst thou descry?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors?

Revised Standard Version
Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

Young's Literal Translation
Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

Contextual Overview

¹²"And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!' told Dawn, ‘Get to work!' So you could seize Earth like a blanket and shake out the wicked like cockroaches? As the sun brings everything to light, brings out all the colors and shapes, The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked— they're caught in the very act! ¹⁶"Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things, explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean? Do you know the first thing about death? Do you have one clue regarding death's dark mysteries? And do you have any idea how large this earth is? Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer. ¹⁹"Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost? Why, of course you know that. You've known them all your life, grown up in the same neighborhood with them! ²²"Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, seen the vault where hail is stockpiled, The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness for times of trouble and battle and war? Can you find your way to where lightning is launched, or to the place from which the wind blows? Who do you suppose carves canyons for the downpours of rain, and charts the route of thunderstorms That bring water to unvisited fields, deserts no one ever lays eyes on, Drenching the useless wastelands so they're carpeted with wildflowers and grass? And who do you think is the father of rain and dew, the mother of ice and frost? You don't for a minute imagine these marvels of weather just happen, do you?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the gates: Psalms 9:13, Psalms 107:18, Psalms 116:3

the shadow: Job 3:5, Job 12:22, Psalms 23:4, Psalms 107:10, Psalms 107:14, Amos 5:8, Matthew 4:16

Reciprocal: Job 10:22 - the shadow of death Job 28:3 - the stones Matthew 16:18 - and the Hebrews 4:13 - naked

Cross-References

Genesis 38:20
Judah sent the kid goat by his friend from Adullam to recover the pledge from the woman. But he couldn't find her. He asked the men of that place, "Where's the prostitute that used to sit by the road here near Enaim?" They said, "There's never been a prostitute here."

Genesis 38:24
Three months or so later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law has been playing the whore—and now she's a pregnant whore." Judah yelled, "Get her out here. Burn her up!"

Genesis 38:25
As they brought her out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, "I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things. Identify them, please. Who's the owner of the seal-and-cord and the staff?"

Proverbs 20:16
Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; beware of accepting what a transient has pawned.

Luke 16:8
"Now here's a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?.... Meaning not by which death has entered into the world, and which have been the causes and occasion of it; as the sin of man, the appointment of God, and various providences, calamities and diseases; but by which men enter into the state of the dead. Men know not experimentally what death is, nor in what way they shall go out of the world, nor at what time, nor in what place; they know not what the state of the dead is, there is no correspondence between them and the living; they do not know either what they enjoy or endure, or who precisely and with certainty are in the separate abodes of bliss or misery; the gates of these dark and invisible regions to us have never been thrown open, for mortals to look into them;

or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? the same thing in other words; the Targum and Jarchi interpret this of hell.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee - That is, the gates of the world where death reigns; or the gates that lead to the abodes of the dead. The allusion here is to “Sheol,” or “Hades,” the dark abodes of the dead. This was supposed to be beneath the ground, and was entered by the grave, and was inclosed by gates and bars; see the notes at Job 10:21-22. The transition from the reference to the bottom of the sea to the regions of the dead was natural, and the mind is carried forward to a subject further beyond the ken of mortals than even the unfathomable depths of the ocean. The idea is, that God saw all that occurred in that dark world beneath us, where the dead were congregated, and that his vast superiority to man was evinced by his being able thus to penetrate into, and survey those hidden regions. It is common in the Classical writers to represent those regions as entered by gates. Thus, Lucretius, i. 1105,

- Haec rebus erit para janua letl,

Hae se turba foras dabit omnis materai.

- “The doors of death are ope,

And the vast whole unbounded ruin whelms.”

Good.

So Virgil, Aeneid ii. 661,

- Pater isti janua leto,

“The door of death stands open.”

Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? - The doors which lead down to the gloomy realms where death spreads its dismal shades. This expression is more emphatic than the former, for the word צלמות tsalmâveth “shadow of death,” is more intensive in its meaning than the word מות mâveth, “death.” There is the superadded idea of a deep and dismal shadow; of profound and gloomy darkness; see the word explained in the notes at Job 3:5; compare Job 10:21-22. Man was unable to penetrate those gloomy abodes and to reveal what was there; but God saw all with the clearness of noon-day.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 38:17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? — Dost thou know in what the article of death consists? This is as inexplicable as the question, What is animal life?

The doors of the shallow of death? — צלמות tsalmaveth, the intermediate state, the openings into the place of separate spirits. Here two places are distinguished: מות maveth, death, and צלמות tsalmaveth, the shadow of death. It will not do to say, death is the privation of life, for what then would be the shadow of that privation?