Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
And thine age - Thy life. This does not mean old age, but the idea is, that his life would be cheerful and happy.
Clearer than the noon-day - Margin, "Arise above the noon-day." The margin is a literal rendering; but the sense is clear in the text. The idea is, that the remainder of his life would be bright as the sun if he would return to God.
Thou shalt shine forth - Or rather, "thou art now in darkness, but thou shalt be as the morning." The word used here - tā‛upâh is from ּ ‛ûph , to cover - as with wings, to fly, to cover with darkness. In no instance does it mean to shine, or to be clear and bright; and why our translators attached that idea to it, it is now difficult to conjecture. The Chaldee and Syriac read the word as a noun, and render the passage, "and thy darkness shall be as the aurora." The Vulgate renders it, "and meridian splendor, as it were, shall arise upon thee at the evening." The Septuagint, "and thy prayer shall be like the morning star, and life shall rise upon thee from noon-day." The sense in the Hebrew is plain. He was then in darkness. Clouds and calamities were round about him, but if he would return to God, he would be permitted to enjoy a bright day of prosperity. Such a day would return to him like the morning after a long and gloomy night.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Job 11:17:
Psalms 39:5
Psalms 112:4
Isaiah 58:8
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