Job 3:7

7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

Job 3:7 in Other Translations

7 Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

7 Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it.

7 Let that night be childless. Let it have no joy.

7 Oh, turn that night into pure nothingness - no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever!

7 Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein.

7 Let that night be empty. Let no joyful singing be heard in it.

7 Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout be heard in it.

7 May no children ever have been born on that night. May no shout of joy be heard in it.

Job 3:7 Meaning and Commentary

Job 3:7

Lo, let that night be solitary
Let there be no company for journeys, or doing any business; no meetings of friends, neighbours, or relations on it, for refreshment, pleasure, and recreation, after the business of the day is over, as is frequently done; let there be no associations of this kind, or any other: in the night it was usual to have feasts on various accounts, and especially on account of marriage; but now let there be none, let there be as profound a silence as if all creatures, men and beasts, were dead, and removed from off the face of the earth, and nothing to be heard and seen on it: or, "let it be barren" or "desolate" ^F5, so R. Simeon bar Tzemach interprets it, and refers to ( Isaiah 49:21 ) ; that is, let no children be born in it, and so no occasion for any joy on that account, as follows; let it be as barren as a flint ^F6:

let no joyful voice come therein;
which some even carry to the nocturnal singing of saints in private or in public assemblies, and to the songs of angels, those morning stars in heaven; but it seems rather to design natural or civil joy, or singing on civil accounts; as on account of marriage, and particularly on account of the birth of a child, and especially his own birth, and even any expressions of joy on any account; and that there might not be so much as the crowing of a cock heard, as the Targum has it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (dwmlg) "orba", Syr. "desolata", Ar. "vasta", Schmidt.
F6 "Sterilis", Schultens; "effoetus", apud Arab. in ib. See Hottinger. Smegma Orientale, l. 1. c. 7. p. 136.

Job 3:7 In-Context

5 May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it.

6 That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.

7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

8 May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 20:5; Psalms 33:3; Psalms 65:13; Isaiah 26:19; Jeremiah 51:48