Job 3:19-26

19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
21 who long for death, but it comes not; and search for it more than for hid treasures;
22 who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave;
23 to the man who does not know which way he goes and whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 I never had prosperity, nor did I secure myself, neither was I at rest; yet trouble came.

Job 3:19-26 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010