Job 3:11

Job laments his misfortune

11 Why didn't I die at birth, come forth from the womb and die?

Job 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Job 3:11

Why died I not from the womb?
&c.] That is, as soon as he came out of it; or rather, as soon as he was in it, or from the time that he was in it; or however, while he was in it, that so he might not have come alive out of it; which sense seems best to agree both with what goes before and follows after; for since his conception in the womb was not hindered, he wishes he had died in it; and so some versions render it to this sense F14:

[why] did I [not] give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
since he died not in the womb, which was desirable to him, he wishes that the moment he came out of it he had expired, and is displeased because it was not so, see ( Jeremiah 20:17 ) ( Hosea 9:11 ) ; thus what is the special favour of Providence, to be taken out of the womb alive, and preserved, he wishes not to have enjoyed, see ( Psalms 22:9 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (Mxrm) (en koilia) , Sept. "in vulva", V. L. "aut, in utero", Beza, Mercerus, Cocceius, Junius, Michaelis; so R. Abraham Peritzol, and Simeon Bar Tzemach.

Job 3:11 In-Context

9 May its evening stars stay dark; may it wait in vain for light; may it not see dawn's gleam,
10 because it didn't close the doors of my mother's womb, didn't hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Why didn't I die at birth, come forth from the womb and die?
12 Why did knees receive me and breasts let me nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down quietly; I'd sleep; rest would be mine
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