Job 3:4-14

4 "May that day be darkness; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it.
5 "Let 1darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 "As for that night, let darkness seize it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months.
7 "Behold, let that night be barren; Let no joyful shout enter it.
8 "Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to 2rouse Leviathan.
9 "Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it wait for light but have none, And let it not see the breaking dawn;
10 Because it did not shut the opening of my mother's womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.
11 "3Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?
12 "Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?
13 "For now I 4would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,
14 With 5kings and with 6counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt 7ruins for themselves;

Job 3:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 3

In this chapter we have an account of Job's cursing the day of his birth, and the night of his conception; Job 3:1-3; first the day, to which he wishes the most extreme darkness, Job 3:4,5; then the night, to which he wishes the same and that it might be destitute of all joy, and be cursed by others as well as by himself, Job 3:6-9; The reasons follow, because it did not prevent his coming into the world, and because he died not on it, Job 3:10-12; which would, as he judged, have been an happiness to him; and this he illustrates by the still and quiet state of the dead, the company they are with, and their freedom from all trouble, oppression, and bondage, Job 3:13-19; but however, since it was otherwise with him, he desires his life might not be prolonged, and expostulates about the continuance of it, Job 3:20-23; and this by reason of his present troubles, which were many and great, and came upon him as he feared they would, and which had made him uneasy in his prosperity, Job 3:24-26.

Cross References 7

  • 1. Jeremiah 13:16
  • 2. Job 41:1, 25
  • 3. Job 10:18, 19
  • 4. Job 3:13-19; Job 7:8-10, 21; Job 10:21, 22; Job 14:10-15, 20-22; Job 16:22; Job 17:13-16; Job 19:25-27; Job 21:13, 23-26; Job 24:19, 20; Job 26:5, 6; Job 34:22
  • 5. Job 12:18
  • 6. Job 12:17
  • 7. Job 15:28; Isaiah 58:12

Footnotes 3

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