Introduction: Visionary Fragments and Nocturnal Revelation in Joban Dialogue
Job 4:13 occurs within the first speech of Elifaz, in which he recounts a mysterious, fearsome nocturnal revelation that offers theological perspective on divine justice. This verse introduces the setting and medium of that revelation, emphasizing its obscurity and psychological power:
בִּ֭שְׂעִפִּים מֵחֶזְיֹנֹ֣ות לָ֑יְלָה בִּנְפֹ֥ל תַּ֝רְדֵּמָ֗ה עַל־אֲנָשִֽׁים׃
In troubling thoughts from night visions, when deep sleep falls on men—
This verse is a prelude to a divine message delivered in verse 14ff. Its syntax is meditative and poetic, marked by prepositional layering, participial and infinitival constructions, and a focus on interior, non-verbal modes of communication such as dreams and dread. The Hebrew constructs here reveal how Biblical authors encoded experiences of transcendence through grammar.
Grammatical Feature Analysis: Prepositional Phrases and Temporal Clauses
The verse opens with the prepositional phrase בִּשְׂעִפִּים (“in disquieting thoughts” or “in musings”), from the root שׂ־ע־ף, which elsewhere denotes troubled internal divisions or anxiety (cf. Ps. 94:19). The plural form suggests multiple internal disturbances. The preposition בְּ expresses a general state or sphere in which the action occurs.
The following phrase מֵחֶזְיֹנֹות לָיְלָה (“from night visions”) builds on the prior prepositional framework. The noun חֶזְיֹון (from ח־ז־ה, “to see, behold”) often denotes prophetic visions, and here appears in the plural construct with לַיְלָה (“night”). The preceding מִן preposition may indicate source, origin, or accompaniment—“arising from night visions” or “accompanied by.” The combination of בְּ… מִן suggests overlapping dimensions: the experience of inward terror (*se‘ippim*) occurs in the context and out of the environment of nocturnal visions.
The temporal setting is introduced by the infinitive phrase בִּנְפֹל תַּרְדֵּמָה (“in the falling of deep sleep”), from the root נ־פ־ל (“to fall”) and תַּרְדֵּמָה (“deep sleep, stupor”). The infinitive construct נְפֹל with the preposition בְּ expresses a **temporal clause—“when deep sleep falls.” The feminine noun תַּרְדֵּמָה is used elsewhere (e.g., Gen. 2:21) to describe a God-induced sleep that precedes revelation or transformation.
The prepositional phrase עַל־אֲנָשִׁים (“upon men”) functions as the object of נְפֹל, specifying those affected by the sleep. The plural אֲנָשִׁים generalizes the phenomenon—it is not an isolated experience, but one known to humanity.
Exegetical Implications: Nocturnal Theology and Human Frailty
The structure of this verse situates the following revelation in a liminal psychological state. The overlapping prepositional phrases and temporal infinitive suggest that divine insight does not come in daylight clarity, but in moments of unguarded unconsciousness—when human rational defenses are down.
This pattern parallels prophetic experiences in Daniel (e.g., Dan. 7:1) and Abraham’s sleep in Genesis 15:12. The idea that YHWH reveals Himself in dreams or trances—sometimes terrifying—echoes throughout wisdom literature. Yet in Job, the effect is not peace but dread, underscoring the distance between divine intent and human comprehension.
Medieval commentators such as Ibn Ezra read this as evidence of Elifaz’s claim to prophetic authority. Others, like the Malbim, emphasize the psychological fragility of dream states and the uncertainty of revelation experienced therein.
Cross-Linguistic and Literary Parallels
In Akkadian dream literature (e.g., Gilgamesh, Enuma Anu Enlil), dreams are divine communications shrouded in symbolic content, often terrifying. Similarly, Egyptian dream books interpret night-time experiences as omens. The Hebrew here reflects that tradition but deepens its theological weight by focusing on divine intent rather than omen mechanics.
The Septuagint renders this verse: ἐν φαντασίαις νυκτερινῇ ὅτε ἂν πέσῃ βαθὺς ὕπνος ἐπ’ ἀνθρώπους, capturing both the “night visions” and the falling of sleep, and preserving the poetic solemnity of the original Hebrew structure.
Theological and Literary Significance: Hiddenness and Reverence
This verse sets a tone of awe and epistemic humility. Its layered syntax reflects the mystery of divine-human interaction: visions rise from sleep, speech emerges from silence, truth is glimpsed amid internal disturbance. The use of abstract nouns (e.g., שְׂעִפִּים, תַּרְדֵּמָה) and poetic phrasing distances the moment from rational analysis, suggesting that divine messages transcend comprehension.
The grammar thus mirrors the theme: this is not orderly instruction, but sublime disturbance. Elifaz’s experience will be unsettling—and that is the point.
When Sleep Falls, Speech Rises: Syntax of Vision in Job 4:13
Job 4:13 uses compact prepositional and temporal constructions to introduce a divine encounter veiled in mystery. Through syntactic density and poetic restraint, the verse places the reader at the threshold of revelation—where thought fragments, sleep descends, and the divine voice waits just beyond the veil.
