Job 3:11-19

Job Wishes He Had Died

11 "Why did I not die at birth? [Why] did I [not] come forth from [the] womb and expire?
12 Why did [the] knees receive me and the breasts, that I could suck?
13 For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace; I would be asleep; then {I would be at rest}
14 with kings and counselors of [the] earth, who {rebuild} ruins for themselves,
15 or with high officials {who have gold}, who fill up their houses [with] silver.
16 Or [why] was I not hidden like a miscarriage, like infants [who] did not see [the] light?
17 There [the] wicked cease from troubling, and there [the] {weary} are at rest;
18 [the] prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear [the] oppressor's voice.
19 [The] small and [the] great [are] there, and [the] slave [is] free from his masters.

Job 3:11-19 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.

Footnotes 6

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.