Albert Barnes Commentary Job 11:17

"And [thy] life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning." — Job 11:17 (ASV)

And your age—your 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.

You shall shine forth—or rather, “you are now in darkness, but you shall be as the morning.” The word used here—תעפה tā‛upâh—is from עוּף ‛ ûph, to fly, 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 is now difficult to conjecture.

The Chaldee and Syriac read the word as a noun and render the passage, “and your darkness shall be as the aurora.” The Vulgate renders it, “and meridian splendor, as it were, shall arise upon you at the evening.” The Septuagint, “and your prayer shall be like the morning star, and life shall rise upon you from noon-day.” The sense in the Hebrew is plain.

He was then in darkness. Clouds and calamities were around 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.