Job 3:21-26

21 to those who long for death but it never comes-- though they dig for it more than for buried treasure?
22 They are ecstatic, delighted to find the grave.
23 Why give light to those whose paths have been hidden, to those whom God has fenced in?
24 "When my food is in front of me, I sigh. I pour out my groaning like water.
25 What I fear most overtakes me. What I dread happens to me.
26 I have no peace! I have no quiet! I have no rest! And trouble keeps coming!"

Job 3:21-26 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.

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