The Meaning of Job 34:22 Explained

Job 34:22

KJV: There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

YLT: There is no darkness nor death-shade, For workers of iniquity to be hidden there;

Darby: There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

ASV: There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[There is] no darkness,  nor shadow of death,  where the workers  of iniquity  may hide  themselves. 

What does Job 34:22 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 34:1-37 - The Almighty Must Be Just
Elihu stands in Job 34:10 as God's apologist. God's absolute and impartial justice is at all times a matter of untold comfort. There will be no cause of ultimate complaint, but from the lips of the holiest beings in the universe, most able to pass an opinion, the cry will ascend, "Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages"¦. Thy righteous acts have been made manifest," Revelation 15:3-4, r.v.
Ponder those last words. God's righteous acts have not yet been made manifest; it is therefore foolish and wrong to pass judgment upon an unfinished program. Wait, mortal man, until, at the great white throne, God shall unfold His inner reasons. If it is not fit to say to a king, "Thou art vile," how much less to Him who lives through the ages, while the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away without hand! [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 34

1  Elihu accuses Job for charging God with injustice
10  God omnipotent cannot be unjust
31  Man must humble himself unto God
34  Elihu reproves Job

What do the individual words in Job 34:22 mean?

[There is] no darkness and no shadow of death may hide themselves Where the workers of iniquity
אֵֽין־ חֹ֭שֶׁךְ וְאֵ֣ין צַלְמָ֑וֶת לְהִסָּ֥תֶר שָׁ֝֗ם פֹּ֣עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן

אֵֽין־  [There  is]  no 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
חֹ֭שֶׁךְ  darkness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹשֶׁךְ  
Sense: darkness, obscurity.
וְאֵ֣ין  and  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
צַלְמָ֑וֶת  shadow  of  death 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צַלְמָוֶת  
Sense: death-shadow, deep shadow, deep darkness, shadow of death.
לְהִסָּ֥תֶר  may  hide  themselves 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Nifal, Infinitive construct
Root: סָתַר  
Sense: to hide, conceal.
שָׁ֝֗ם  Where 
Parse: Adverb
Root: שָׁם  
Sense: there, thither.
פֹּ֣עֲלֵי  the  workers 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: פָּעַל  
Sense: to do, make.
אָֽוֶן  of  iniquity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָוֶן 
Sense: trouble, wickedness, sorrow.