Job 3:17-26

17 "There the wicked cease their raging, there the weary are at rest,
18 prisoners live at peace together without hearing a taskmaster's yells.
19 Great and small alike are there, and the slave is free of his master.
20 "So why must light be given to the miserable and life to the bitter in spirit?
21 They long for death, but it never comes; they search for it more than for buried treasure;
22 when at last they find the grave, they are so happy they shout for joy.
23 [Why give light] to a man who wanders blindly, whom God shuts in on every side?
24 "My sighing serves in place of my food, and my groans pour out in a torrent;
25 for the thing I feared has overwhelmed me, what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I have no peace, no quiet, no rest; and anguish keeps coming."

Job 3:17-26 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.

Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.