The Pulpit Commentary on Job 11:17

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; literally, shall arise above the noonday; i.e. "exceed it in splendour." Instead of the "thick darkness" to which Job is looking forward (Job 10:21, Job 10:22), he shall bask in a light brighter than that of the sun at noon.

Thou shalt shine forth. The Hebrew cannot possibly bear this meaning. The uncommon word used is allied with עֵיפָה, "obscurity," and, if a verb, should mean "thou shalt be obscure," rather than "thou shalt shine forth."

But it is perhaps a substantive, meaning "darkness;" and the translation of the Revised Version is perhaps correct: "Though there be darkness." Thou shalt be as the morning. "Thy light," as Professor Lee explains, "shall gradually rise and expand itself far and wide."

It shall dispel the darkness, and take its place," shining more and more unto the perfect day" (Proverbs 4:18).

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