The Meaning of Job 38:17 Explained

Job 38:17

KJV: Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

YLT: Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see?

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

ASV: Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 38:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 38:1-18 - Divine Power And Human Ignorance
When the storm had ceased and the thunder was hushed, a voice spoke out of the golden splendor of the sky. See Job 37:21-22. Job had challenged God to answer him and now he is taken at his word. We recall Horeb's ancient cave, where, after wind and earthquake, there came a sound of gentle stillness. "Arise," said the Eternal to Job, "and gird thyself," Job 38:3. In after years, under similar circumstances, the Spirit entered Ezekiel to strengthen him. Surely some such strengthening was forthwith given the patriarch!
A sublime series of questions is now addressed to him, not by a God of judgment and wrath, but by a Father arguing and pleading with His child and pointing out two things: first, the inability of mortal man to understand the ways of God; and second, the minuteness and tenderness of God's providence. Job had thought of Him as remote, but He is near and is ordering all things wisely and lovingly. Can He forget His child? [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 38

1  God challenges Job to answer
4  God, by his mighty works, convinces Job of ignorance
31  and weakness

What do the individual words in Job 38:17 mean?

have been revealed to you the gates of death Or the doors of the shadow of death have you seen
הֲנִגְל֣וּ לְ֭ךָ שַׁעֲרֵי־ מָ֑וֶת וְשַׁעֲרֵ֖י צַלְמָ֣וֶת ؟ תִּרְאֶֽה

הֲנִגְל֣וּ  have  been  revealed 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
לְ֭ךָ  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
שַׁעֲרֵי־  the  gates 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: שַׁעַר  
Sense: gate.
מָ֑וֶת  of  death 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָוֶת  
Sense: death, dying, Death (personified), realm of the dead.
וְשַׁעֲרֵ֖י  Or  the  doors 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: שַׁעַר  
Sense: gate.
צַלְמָ֣וֶת  of  the  shadow  of  death 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צַלְמָוֶת  
Sense: death-shadow, deep shadow, deep darkness, shadow of death.
؟ תִּרְאֶֽה  have  you  seen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.