Job 3:2-12

2 Iyov said,

3 "Perish the day I was born and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.'

4 May that day be darkness, may God on high not seek it, may no light shine on it,

5 may gloom dark as death defile it, may clouds settle on it, may it be terrified by its own blackness.

6 "As for that night, may thick darkness seize it, may it not be joined to the days of the year, may it not be numbered among the months;

7 may that night be desolate, may no cry of joy be heard in it;

8 may those who curse days curse it, those who[se curses] could rouse Livyatan;

9 may the stars of its twilight be dark, may it look for light but get none, may it never see the shimmer of dawn

10 because it didn't shut the doors of the womb I was in and shield my eyes from trouble.

11 "If I had been stillborn, if I had died at birth,

12 had there been no knees to receive me or breasts for me to suck.

Job 3:2-12 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.