Job 3:11-26

11 "Why 1did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?
12 Why did 2the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth who 3rebuilt ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not as a hidden 4stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at 5rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of 6the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
20 "Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to 7the bitter in soul,
21 who 8long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for 9hidden treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose 10way is hidden, whom God has 11hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes 12instead of[a] my bread, and my 13groanings are poured out like water.
25 14For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes."

Job 3:11-26 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.

Cross References 14

  • 1. Job 10:18, 19
  • 2. Genesis 30:3; Genesis 50:23; Isaiah 66:12
  • 3. [Isaiah 58:12]
  • 4. Psalms 58:8; Ecclesiastes 6:3; [1 Corinthians 15:8]
  • 5. Job 17:16
  • 6. Exodus 3:7
  • 7. Proverbs 31:6
  • 8. Revelation 9:6
  • 9. Proverbs 2:4
  • 10. Isaiah 40:27
  • 11. [Job 1:10]; See Job 19:8
  • 12. [Psalms 42:3; Psalms 80:5; Psalms 102:9]
  • 13. Psalms 22:1; Psalms 38:8
  • 14. [Proverbs 10:24]

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.