Job 38:17

17 Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

Job 38:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:17

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
&c.] Meaning not by which death has entered into the world, and which have been the causes and occasion of it; as the sin of man, the appointment of God, and various providences, calamities and diseases; but by which men enter into the state of the dead. Men know not experimentally what death is, nor in what way they shall go out of the world, nor at what time, nor in what place; they know not what the state of the dead is, there is no correspondence between them and the living; they do not know either what they enjoy or endure, or who precisely and with certainty are in the separate abodes of bliss or misery; the gates of these dark and invisible regions to us have never been thrown open, for mortals to look into them;

or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
the same thing in other words; the Targum and Jarchi interpret this of hell.

Job 38:17 In-Context

15 And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.

16 Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?

17 Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

18 Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.

19 Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;