Job 18:6

6 The light hath been dark in his tent, And his lamp over him is extinguished.

Job 18:6 Meaning and Commentary

Job 18:6

The light shall the dark in his tabernacle
Not the light of the eye, in the tabernacle of his body, rather the light of nature and reason in him; and when that "light [that is] in [a man becomes] darkness", as our Lord says, "how great [is] that darkness!" ( Matthew 6:23 ) ; but best of all it designs the light of prosperity in his house and family, which should be quite obscured:

and his candle shall be put out with him;
which sometimes signifies the spirit of man, his rational soul, called "the candle of the Lord", ( Proverbs 20:27 ) ; which, though it dies not when man dies, yet its light is extinct with respect to the things of this life, and all its thoughts and reasonings are no more about civil matters, and the affairs of this world; in that sense this light is put out, and those thoughts perish with him, ( Psalms 146:4 ) ; but more frequently it is used for outward prosperity, which if it continues with a man as long as he lives, as it often does, yet, when he dies, it ceases and is no more; it does not descend with him into the grave, and he cannot carry it into another world, but it is put out in "obscure darkness"; see ( Job 21:17 ) ( Proverbs 20:20 ) .

Job 18:6 In-Context

4 (He is tearing himself in his anger.) For thy sake is earth forsaken? And removed is a rock from its place?

5 Also, the light of the wicked is extinguished. And there doth not shine a spark of his fire.

6 The light hath been dark in his tent, And his lamp over him is extinguished.

7 Straitened are the steps of his strength, And cast him down doth his own counsel.

8 For he is sent into a net by his own feet, And on a snare he doth walk habitually.