Job 3:13-26

13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest

14 with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

15 with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?

17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.

19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,

21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?

23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

24 For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water.

25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Job 3:13-26 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.

Cross References

• 1. Job 17:13; Job 30:23
• 2. ver 17; Job 7:8-10,21; Job 10:22; Job 13:19; Job 14:10-12; Job 19:27; Job 21:13,23; Job 27:19; Psalms 139:11; Isaiah 8:22
• 3. Job 9:24; Job 12:17; Isaiah 14:9; Ezekiel 32:28-32
• 4. Job 15:28; Jeremiah 51:37; Nahum 3:7
• 5. Job 12:21; Isaiah 45:1
• 6. Job 15:29; Job 20:10; Job 27:17; Psalms 49:16-17; Proverbs 13:22; Proverbs 28:8; Ecclesiastes 2:26; Isaiah 2:7; Zephaniah 1:11
• 7. Psalms 58:8; Ecclesiastes 4:3; Ecclesiastes 6:3
• 8. S ver 3; Psalms 71:6
• 9. ver 26; Job 30:26; Ecclesiastes 4:2; Isaiah 14:3
• 10. S ver 13; Job 17:16
• 11. Isaiah 51:14
• 12. S Genesis 15:13
• 13. Job 39:7
• 14. Job 9:22; Job 17:16; Job 21:33; Job 24:24; Job 30:23; Ecclesiastes 12:5
• 15. S 1 Samuel 1:10; Jeremiah 20:18; Ezekiel 27:30-31
• 16. Revelation 9:6
• 17. Psalms 119:127; Proverbs 2:4
• 18. Job 7:16; Ecclesiastes 4:3; Jeremiah 8:3
• 19. Proverbs 4:19; Isaiah 59:10; Jeremiah 13:16; Jeremiah 23:12
• 20. Job 6:4; Job 16:13; Job 19:6,8,12; Psalms 88:8; Lamentations 2:4; Lamentations 3:7; Hosea 2:6
• 21. Psalms 5:1; Psalms 38:9; Isaiah 35:10
• 22. Job 6:7; Job 33:20; Psalms 107:18
• 23. Psalms 22:1; Psalms 32:3; Psalms 38:8
• 24. 1 Samuel 1:15; Job 30:16; Psalms 6:6; Psalms 22:14; Psalms 42:3,4; Psalms 80:5; Isaiah 53:12; Lamentations 2:12
• 25. Job 7:9; Job 9:28; Job 30:15; Hosea 13:3
• 26. S Genesis 42:36
• 27. Isaiah 48:22; John 14:27
• 28. Job 7:4,14; Psalms 6:6; Daniel 4:5; Matthew 11:28
• 29. S ver 17; S Job 10:18; S Job 19:8