Job 3:8-18

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,

15 Or with princes who had gold, Who filled their houses with silver;

16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light?

17 There the wicked cease from troubling, And there the weary are at rest.

18 There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

Job 3:8-18 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.