Job 3:16-26

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest.

18 The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

19 The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul,

21 Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

22 Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? --

23 To the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

25 For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.

Job 3:16-26 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. i.e. lit. 'whose strength is worn out.'
• [b]. Geber: so ch. 4.17; 14.10 (first), 14; 16.21 (first); 22.2 (first); 33.17 (second), 29; 34.7,9,34; 38.3; 40.7. It refers to strength, a cognate form (Gibbor) being used for 'mighty men,' 'heroes,' as Gen. 6.4; 2Sam. 23.8; Job 16.14.