Job 3:3-13

3 1"Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.'
4 Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.
5 Let gloom and 2deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 That night--let thick 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 cry enter it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up 3Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see 4the eyelids of the morning,
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11 "Why 5did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?
12 Why did 6the 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,

Job 3:3-13 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 6

  • 1. [Job 10:18, 19]; See Jeremiah 20:14-18
  • 2. Job 10:21, 22; Job 12:22; Job 24:17; Job 28:3; Job 34:22; Job 38:17; Psalms 23:4; Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16
  • 3. Job 41:1
  • 4. Job 41:18
  • 5. Job 10:18, 19
  • 6. Genesis 30:3; Genesis 50:23; Isaiah 66:12
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.