There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.
Elihu is answering Job, who had said he was righteous and that serving God was no use. Verse 22 puts his reply at its sharpest: no darkness is deep enough to hide a person from God.
The eye that treats all alike
Elihu says God's judgment searches everyone. Rank and wealth make no difference to it.
F. B. HoleElihu goes on to speak of God's searching judgment. It is impartial. The rich are subject to it just as much as the poor. What is more, there is "no gloom or deep darkness" where those who work evil may hide themselves. He went on to say that God's judgments are always right. God acts as He sees fit. He breaks mighty men in pieces and overthrows them. Yet He also hears the cry of the afflicted.
Why darkness fails as a hiding place
The verse does not say wrongdoers never try to hide. It says hiding fails, because darkness only works on human eyes.
Leslie M. GrantGod's eyes see what man does not, for His eyes observe all the ways of man and every step he takes (v.21). Men may seek darkness to hide themselves, but their efforts in this matter are futile (v.22). They love darkness more than light. But the darkness hides them only from the eyes of other people. They are foolish enough to think it can also fool God.
Older translations render "deep darkness" as "death-shade" or "shadow of death". One version puts verses 21 and 22 like this:
William KellyFor His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees all his steps. There is no darkness nor death-shade, where the workers of iniquity may hide.
A Judge who needs no investigation
Because God sees everything, He never has to gather evidence before He judges.
Samuel RidoutHe is Judge — the all-seeing One, from whom no secret can be hidden. Of Him the psalmist wrote, "You have searched me and known me" (Ps. 139). His eye is upon every step of man; evil cannot hide itself from Him. He does not need to study a man's ways, but at a glance, as it were, knows him and enters into judgment with him... His all-seeing eye pierces the innermost corners of the heart. How can we then think that He Himself needs to be judged?
A king who counted on the dark
One king trusted secrecy, and God exposed him.
William J. HockingDavid sinned terribly in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, and he did it in secret. But God knew the whole sordid story, and exposed his guilt to all Israel. (2 Sam. 12:12) The king said to himself that the darkness would surely cover him. But he had to learn that darkness hides nothing from the Lord. To his shame, he found that the light of day exposed his secret sin (Ps. 139:11-12).
Why none of God's ways are random
If God misses nothing, His dealings are never random — with a nation, with a man, or with His own children.
C. StanleyHe shows where Job had gone so badly wrong. First, in saying, "I am righteous." Then in saying it was no use serving God... God is then shown to be just in all His ways. Whether man sees it or not, there is a need for every act of God and for everything God allows. That is true whether He deals with a nation or with a man... So whatever God does in the world, and however He disciplines His own children, all His ways are in righteousness and truth. That discipline may be chastening. It may even be removal by death (1 Cor 11:30-31).
The darkness that hides no one from God is where His light comes. Some brought Him nothing but their sins, and found this:
The Christian's FriendThey had only their sins to bring to God. But they came with the blessed sense that, through His mercy, the Day-star from on high had visited them. He came to shine on those who lived in darkness and in the shadow of death. (See Job 10:21-22; 34:22.)
Summary
- Seen — God's eyes watch every way and every step of a man. His judgment is impartial: it reaches the rich as much as the poor.
- Sought — men do seek darkness. But it hides them only from other people, and they are wrong to think it also fools God.
- Shallow — David told himself the darkness would cover him. Instead God exposed his secret sin before all Israel.
- Settled — God needs no investigation. He knows a man at a glance, and His eye reaches the innermost corners of the heart.
- Shining — the answer is not better hiding but open confession. The Day-star from on high comes to those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death.