Job 3:4-14

4 May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice among the days of the year, May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Oh, may that night be barren! May no joyful shout come into it!
8 May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its morning be dark; May it look for light, but have none, And not see the dawning of the day;
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 "Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves,

Job 3:4-14 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 1

  • [a]. Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read be joined.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.