Job 3:5

shadow of death stain it Rather, claim it, lit. redeem it. Let it become part of the possession of darkness. The word, however, does not mean reclaim, as if the idea were that the day had been won from darkness by light and was to be reconquered. The translation "shadow of death" possibly rests on a false etymology; at the same time it is perhaps the best that can be given, and Hitzig's conjecture that the Hebrews themselves came to see the word "death" in the termination of the form may not be far astray, comp. Job 38:17. The word originally means "deepest darkness."

the blackness of the day lit. blacknesses. The word probably means "all that makes black the day," eclipses, supernatural obscurations and the like all ominous darknesses that terrify a day.