Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

JOB 3:9KJV
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Job 3:9 (KJV)

What does Job 3:9 mean?

Job 3:9 describes Job’s wish that the night of his birth would be completely dark and hopeless, with no stars shining and no hope of morning light. Job is expressing a deep desire that even the signs of hope and a new day would be withheld from the night he was born.

In this verse, Job is speaking out of his intense suffering, lamenting to his friends after losing his family, health, and wealth. He is cursing the day and night of his birth, wishing that it would be erased from memory and experience no joy or hope. The verse uses strong images of darkness and the absence of light to show just how deeply Job wishes his birth had never happened.

The Hebrew behind Job 3:9

  • "stars" (כּוֹכָב, kokhav): This word refers to the literal stars in the sky, which were often seen as signs of hope or guidance at night. Job’s wish for these to be dark emphasizes a total absence of hope.
  • "twilight" (נֶשֶׁף, neshef): This word means the time between sunset and darkness, or between night and dawn. Job singles out this period, wishing it would be especially void of light.
  • "look" (קָוָה, qavah): This verb means to wait or hope for something. Job personifies the night as if it could long for light, but he wants even that hope to be denied.
  • "dawning" (עַפְעַפָּה, aph‘appah): This word refers to the eyelids of the morning, a poetic way to describe the first light of dawn. Job wishes the night would never see this, underlining his desire for unending darkness.

Why Job 3:9 matters

  • Job’s language shows just how deep his despair is—he is not only wishing he had not been born, but that the very night of his birth would be stripped of all hope and joy.
  • The verse connects to the larger theme of Job 3, where Job curses the day and night of his birth in vivid, poetic language, showing the depth of his suffering and confusion.
  • Understanding the original Hebrew words helps us see how Job uses images of darkness, waiting, and the dawn to express feelings of utter hopelessness, not just sadness.

Where else these words appear

“dawning” Hebrew H6079 · used in 10 verses

  • Job 16:16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
  • Psalms 132:4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,
  • Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

“twilight” Hebrew H5399 · used in 12 verses

  • 1 Samuel 30:17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
  • Job 7:4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
  • Isaiah 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

“dark” Hebrew H2821 · used in 18 verses

  • Exodus 10:15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
  • Psalms 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
  • Lamentations 4:8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

“day” Hebrew H7837 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
  • Job 38:12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
  • Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!