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Job Chapter
Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
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; first the
day, to which he wishes the most extreme darkness, Job 3:4; 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; The
reasons follow, because it did not prevent his coming into the world, and
because he died not on it, Job 3:10; 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; 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; 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.
Job 3:1 After
this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
YLT
1After this hath Job opened
his mouth, and revileth his day.
After this opened Job his mouth,.... order to speak, and
began to speak of his troubles and afflictions, and the sense he had of them;
for though, this phrase may sometimes signify to speak aloud, clearly and
distinctly, and with great freedom and boldness, yet here it seems to design no
more than beginning to speak, or breaking silence after it had been long kept:
be spake after his first trial and blessed the name of the Lord, and upon his
second, and reproved his wife for her foolish speaking; but upon the visit of
his three friends, and during the space of seven days, a profound silence was
kept by him and them; and when he perceived that they chose not to speak to
him, and perhaps his distemper also decreased, and his pain somewhat abated, he
broke out into the following expressions:
and cursed his day: he did not curse his God, as Satan said he
would, and his wife advised him to: nor did he curse his fellow creatures, or
his friends, as wicked men in passion are apt to do, nor did he curse himself,
as profane persons often do, when any evil befalls them; but he cursed his day;
not the day on which his troubles came upon him, for there were more than one,
and they were still continued, but the day of his birth, as appears from Job 3:3; and so the
Syriac and Arabic versions add here, "in which he was born"; and what
is meant by cursing it may be learnt from his own words in the following
verses, the substance of which is, that he wished either it had never been, or
he had never been born; but since that was impossible, that it might be
forgotten, and never observed or had in esteem, but be buried oblivion and
obscurity, and be branded with a black mark, as an unhappy day, for ever: the
wordF19"Opponitur verbum" קלל
"verbo" כבד; "significat se
pronunciasse diem inglorium", Codurcus. signifies, he made light of it,
and spoke slightly and contemptibly of it; he disesteemed it, yea, detested it,
and could not bear to think of it, and desired that it might be disrespected by
God and men; so that there is no need of such questions, whether it is in the
power of man to curse? and whether it is lawful to curse the creature? and
whether a day is capable of a curse? The frame of mind in which Job was when he
uttered these words is differently represented; some of the Jewish writers will
have it that he denied the providence of God, and thought that all things
depended upon the stars, or planets which rule on the day a man is born, and
therefore cursed his stars; whereas nothing is more evident than that Job
ascribes all that befell him to the purpose and providence of God, Job 23:14; some say
he was in the utmost despair, and had no hope of eternal life and salvation,
but the contrary to this is clear from Job 13:15; and many
think he had lost all patience, for which he was so famous; but if he had, he
would not have been so highly spoken of as he is in James 5:11; it is
true indeed there may be a mixture of weakness with respect to the exercise of
that grace at this time, and which may appear in some after expressions of his;
yet were it not for these and the like, as we could not have such an idea of
his sorrows and afflictions, and of that quick sense and perception he had of
them, so neither of his exceeding great patience in enduring them as he did;
and, besides, what impatience he was guilty of was not only graciously
forgiven, but he through the grace of God was enabled to conquer; and patience
had its perfect work in him, and he persevered therein to the end; though after
all he is not to be excused of weakness and infirmity, since he is blamed not
only by Elihu, but by the Lord himself; yea, Job himself owned his sin and
folly, and repented of it, Job 40:4.
Job 3:2 2 And Job spoke, and said:
YLT
2And Job answereth and
saith: --
And Job spake, and said. Or "answered and
said"F20ויען "et
respondit", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt, Schultens, Michaelis. , though
not a word was spoken to him by his friends; he answered to his own calamity,
and to their silence, as Schmidt observes; and this word is sometimes used when
nothing goes before, to which the answer is, as many Jewish writers observe, as
in Exodus 32:27;
Jarchi interprets it, "he cried", and so some othersF21"Clamavitquo",
Mercerus; "nam proloquens", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. render
it: from henceforwards to Job 42:6, this book
is written in a poetical style, in Hebrew metre as is thought, which at present
is pretty much unknown, even to the Jews themselves; some have been of opinion,
that the following discourses between Job and his friends were not originally
delivered in metre, but were put into this form by the penman or writer of the
book; but of this we cannot be certain; in the Targum in the king of Spain's
Bible it is, "and Job sung and said".
Job 3:3 3 “May the day perish on
which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is
conceived.’
YLT
3Let the day perish in which
I am born, And the night that hath said: `A man-child hath been conceived.'
Let the day perish wherein I was born,.... Here
begins Job's form of cursing his day, and which explains what is meant by it;
and it may be understood either of the identical day of his birth, and then the
sense is, that he wished that had never been, or, in other words, that he had
never been born; and though these were impossible, and Job knew it, and
therefore such wishes may seem to be in vain, yet Job had a design herein,
which was to show the greatness of his afflictions, and the sense he had of
them: or else of his birthday, as it returned year after year; and then his
meaning is, let it not be kept and observed with any solemnity, with feasting
and other expressions of joy, as the birthdays of great personages especially
were, and his own very probably had been, since his children's were, Job 1:4; but now he
desires it might not be so for the future, but be entirely disregarded; he
would have it perish out of his own memory, and out of the memory of others,
and even be struck out of the calendar, and not be reckoned with the days of
the month and year, Job 3:6; both may
be intended, both the very day on which he was born, and the yearly return of
it:
and the night in which it was said, there is a man child
conceived; that is, let that night perish also; he wishes it had not been,
or he had not been conceived, or for the future be never mentioned, but
eternally forgotten: Job goes back to his conception, as being the spring of
his sorrows; for this he knew as well as David, that he was shapen in iniquity,
and conceived in sin, see Job 14:4; but
rather, since the particular night or time of conception is not ordinarily,
easily, and exactly known by women themselves, and much less by men; and more
especially it could not be told what sex it was, whether male or female that
was conceived, and the tidings of it could not be brought by any; it seems
better with Aben Ezra to render the wordF23הרה
גבר "in lucem editus est vir", Mercerus;
"creatus, progenitus", Drusius, so the Targum; "conceptus et
natus est vir, vel mas", Michaelis; so Ben Melech. , "there is a man
child brought forth", which used to be an occasion of joy, John 16:21; and so
the word is used to bear or bring forth, 1 Chronicles 4:17;
see Jeremiah 20:15;
and, according to him, it was a doubt whether Job was born in the day or in the
night; but be it which it will, if he was born in the day, he desires it might
perish; and if in the night, he wishes the same to that; though the words may
be rendered in a beautiful and elegant manner nearer the original, "and
the night which said, a man child is conceived"F24והלילה אמר "et nox quae
dixit", Mercerus, Gussetius, Schultens. ; representing, by a prosopopoeia,
the night as a person conscious of the conception, as an eyewitness of it, and
exulting at it, as Schultens observes.
Job 3:4 4 May that day be darkness; May
God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it.
YLT
4That day -- let it be
darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.
Let that day be darkness,.... Not only dark, but
darkness itself, extremely dark; and which is to be understood not figuratively
of the darkness of affliction and calamity; this Job would not wish for, either
for himself, who had enough of that, or for others; but literally of gross
natural darkness, that was horrible and dreadful, as someF24חשך "horrens", Caligo, Schultens. render it: this
was the reverse of what God said at the creation, "let there be
light", Genesis 1:3, and
there was, and he called it day; but Job wishes his day might be darkness, as
the night; either that it had been always dark, and never become day, or in its
return be remarkably dark and gloomy:
let not God regard it, from above; that is, either God who
is above, and on high, the High and Holy One, the Most High God, and who is
higher than the highest, and so this is a descriptive character of him; or else
this respects the place where he is, the highest heaven, where is his throne,
and from whence he looks and takes notice of the sons of men, and of all things
done below: and this wish must be understood consistent with his omniscience,
who sees and knows all persons and things, even what are done in the dark, and
in the darkest days; for the darkness and the light are alike to him; and as
consistent with his providence, which is continually exercised about persons
and things on earth without any intermission, even on every day in the year;
and was it to cease one day, hour, or moment, all would be dissolved, and be
thrown into the utmost confusion and disorder: but Job means the smiles of his
providence, which he wishes might be restrained on this day; that he would not
cause his sun in the heavens to shine out upon it, nor send down gentle and
refreshing showers of rain on it; in which sense he is said to care for and
regard the land of Canaan, Deuteronomy 11:11;
where the same word is used as here; or the sense is, let it be so expunged
from the days of the year, the when it is sought for, and if even it should be
by God himself, let it not be found; or let him not "seek"F25אל ידרשהו "ne
requirat", Montanus, &c. after it, to do any good upon it:
neither let the light shine upon it; the light of the sun, or
the morning light, as the Targum, much less the light at noonday; even not the
diurnal light, as Schmidt interprets it, in any part of the day: light is God's
creature, and very delightful and desirable; the best things, and the most
comfortable enjoyments, whether temporal, spiritual, or eternal, are expressed
by it; and, on the other hand, a state of darkness is the most uncomfortable,
and therefore the worst and most dismal things and states are signified by it.
Job 3:5 5 May darkness and the
shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the
day terrify it.
YLT
5Let darkness and death-shade
redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most
bitter of days.
Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it,.... Let there
be such darkness on it as on persons when dying, or in the state of the dead;
hence the sorest afflictions, and the state of man in unregeneracy, are
compared unto it, Psalm 23:4; let
there be nothing but foul weather, dirt, and darkness in it, which may make it
very uncomfortable and undesirable; some render the word, "let darkness
and the shadow of death redeem it"F26יגאלהו
"vindicassent", Junius & Tremellius; "vendicent",
Cocceius; "vindicent", Schultens. , challenge and claim it as their
own, and let light have no share or property in it:
let a cloud dwell upon it; as on Mount Sinai when
the law was given; a thick dark cloud, even an assemblage of clouds, so thick
and close together, that they seem but one cloud which cover the whole heavens,
and obscure them, and hinder the light of the sun from shining on the earth;
and this is wished to abide not for an hour or two, but to continue all the
day:
let the blackness of the day terrify it; let it be
frightful to itself; or rather, let the blackness be such, or the darkness of
it such gross darkness, like that as was felt by the Egyptians; that the
inhabitants of the earth may be terrified with it, as Moses and the Israelites
were at Mount Sinai, at the blackness, tempest, thunders, and lightnings, there
seen and heard: as some understand this of black vapours exhaled by the sun,
with which the heavens might be filled, so others of sultry weather and
scorching heat, which is intolerable: others render the words, "let them
terrify it as the bitternesses of the day"F1כמרירי
יום "tanquam amaritudines dici", Schmidt,
Michaelis; "velut amarulenta diei", Schultens; so the Targum. ;
either with bitter cursings on it, or through bitter calamities in it; or,
"as those who have a bitterF2"Velut amari
diei", Mercerus; "tanquam amari diei", Montanus. day", as
in the margin of our Bibles, and in others.
Job 3:6 6 As for
that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice[a] among the
days of the year, May it not come into the number of the months.
YLT
6That night -- let thick
darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of
months let it not come.
As for that night,.... The night of
conception; Job imprecated evils on the day he was born, now on the night he
was conceived in, the returns of it:
let darkness seize upon it; let it not only he
deprived of the light of the moon and stars, but let an horrible darkness seize
upon it, that it may be an uncommon and a terrible one:
let it not be joined unto the days of the year; the solar
year, and make one of them; or, "let it not be one among them"F3אל יחד "non sit una inter
dies", Pagninus; "ne adunatur in diebus", Montanus. , let it
come into no account, and when it is sought for, let it not appear, but be
found wanting; "or let it not joy" or "rejoice among the days of
the year"F4"Ne fuisset gavisa", Junius &
Tremellius; "ne gaudeat", Vatablus, Beza, Mercerus, Piscator,
Drusius, Broughton, Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens, Michaelis. , as Jarchi, Aben
Ezra, and others interpret it, or be a joyful one, or anything joyful done or
enjoyed in it:
let it not come into the number of the months; meaning not
the intercalated months, as Sephorno, nor the feasts of the new moon, as
others, but let it not serve to make up a month, which consists of so many days
and nights, according to the course of the moon; the sense both of this and the
former clause is, let it be struck out of the calendar.
Job 3:7 7 Oh, may that night be
barren! May no joyful shout come into it!
YLT
7Lo! that night -- let it be
gloomy, Let no singing come into it.
Lo, let that night be solitary,.... Let there be no
company for journeys, or doing any business; no meetings of friends,
neighbours, or relations on it, for refreshment, pleasure, and recreation,
after the business of the day is over, as is frequently done; let there be no
associations of this kind, or any other: in the night it was usual to have
feasts on various accounts, and especially on account of marriage; but now let
there be none, let there be as profound a silence as if all creatures, men and
beasts, were dead, and removed from off the face of the earth, and nothing to
be heard and seen on it: or, "let it be barren" or
"desolate"F5גלמוד
"orba", Syr. "desolata", Ar. "vasta", Schmidt. ,
so R. Simeon bar Tzemach interprets it, and refers to Isaiah 49:21; that
is, let no children be born in it, and so no occasion for any joy on that
account, as follows; let it be as barren as a flintF6"Sterilis",
Schultens; "effoetus", apud Arab. in ib. See Hottinger. Smegma
Orientale, l. 1. c. 7. p. 136. :
let no joyful voice come therein; which some even carry to
the nocturnal singing of saints in private or in public assemblies, and to the
songs of angels, those morning stars in heaven; but it seems rather to design
natural or civil joy, or singing on civil accounts; as on account of marriage,
and particularly on account of the birth of a child, and especially his own
birth, and even any expressions of joy on any account; and that there might not
be so much as the crowing of a cock heard, as the Targum has it.
Job 3:8 8 May those curse it who
curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
YLT
8Let the cursers of day mark
it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
Let them curse it that curse the day,.... Their own
day, either their birthday, or any day on which evil befalls them; and now such
as are used to this, Job would have them, while they were cursing their own
day, to throw some curses upon his; or that curse the daylight in general, as
adulterers and murderers, who are said to rebel against the light, see Job 24:13; and as
some Ethiopians, who lived near Arabia, and so known to Job, who supposed there
was no God, and used to curse the sun when it rose and set, as various writers
relateF7Diodor. Sic. l. 3. p. 148. Strabo, Geograph. l. 17. P. 565.
, called by othersF8Herodot. Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 184. Mela de
Situ Orbis, l. 1. c. 8. Solin. Polyhistor, c. 44. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 8.
Atlantes; or it may design such persons who were hired at funerals, to mourn
for the dead, and who, in their doleful ditties and dirges, used to curse the
day on which the person was born whom they lamented; or it may be rather the
day on which he died; hence it follows:
who are ready to raise up their mourning; who were
expert at the business, and who could raise up a howl, as the Irish now do, or
make a lamentation for the dead when they pleased; such were the mourning women
in Jeremiah 9:17; and
those that were skilful of lamentation, Amos 5:16; some
render the words, "who are ready to raise up Leviathan"F9לויתן "Leviathanem", Schmidt, Michaelis. Mr.
Broughton renders the words, "who hunt Leviathan." , and interpret it
either of the whale, which, when raised up by the fishermen, they are in danger
of their vessels being overturned, and their lives lost, and then they curse
the day that ever they entered into such service, and exposed themselves to
such danger; or of fish in general, and of fishermen cursing and swearing when
they are unsuccessful: some understand this of astrologers, magicians, and
enchanters, raising spirits, and particularly the devil, who they think is
meant by Leviathan; but it seems best with a little alteration from Gussetius,
and Schultens after him, to render the words thus,"let the cursers of the
day fix a name upon it; let those that are ready "to anything, call
it" the raiser up of Leviathan;'that is, let such who either of themselves
are used to curse days, or are employed by others to do it, brand this night
with some mark of infamy; let them ascribe all dreadful calamities and dismal
things unto it, as the source and spring of them; which may be signified by
Leviathan, that being a creature most formidable and terrible, of which an
account is given in the latter part of this book; but many Jewish writersF11Vid.
Aben Ezram & Gersom in loc. R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 1. 1. Aruch in
voce לוית. So the word is used, T. Hieros. Moed
Katon, fol. 80. 4. render it "mourning", as we do.
Job 3:9 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;
YLT
9Let the stars of its
twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look
on the eyelids of the dawn.
Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark,.... Either of
the morning or evening twilight; both may be meant, rather the latter, because
of the following clause; the sense is, let not these appear to adorn the
heavens, and to relieve the darkness of the night, and make it more pleasant
and delightful, as well as to be useful to travellers and sailors:
let it look for light, but have none; that is,
either for the light of the moon and stars, to shine in the night till
daybreak, or for the light of the sun at the time when it arises; but let it
have neither; let the whole time, from sun setting to sunrising, from one
twilight to another, be one continued gross and horrible darkness; here, by a
strong and beautiful figure, looking is ascribed to the night:
neither let it see the dawning of the day; or, "let
it not see the eyelids of the morning"F12עפעפי
שחר "palpebras aurorae", Montanus,
Mercerus, &c. , or what we call "peep of day"; here, in very
elegant language, the dawn of morning light is expressed, which is like the
opening of an eye and its lids, quick and vibrating, when light is let in and perceived;
or this may be interpreted of the sun, the eye of the morning and of light, and
of its rays, which, when first darted, are like the opening of the eyelids.
Job 3:10 10 Because it did not shut up
the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
YLT
10Because it hath not shut
the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.
Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb,.... Or
"of my belly"F13בטני
"ventris mei", Mercerus, Piscator, Schmidt, Schuitens, Michaelis;
"uteri mei", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius. ,
or "womb"; which Aben Ezra interprets of the navel, by which the
infant receives its food and nourishment before it is born, and which, if
closed, he must have died in embryo; but rather it is to be understood of his
mother's womb, called his, because he was conceived and bore in it, and was
brought forth from it; and the sense is, that he complains of the night, either
that it did not close his mother's womb, and hinder the conception of him, as
Gersom, Sephorno, Bar Tzemach, and others, and is the usual sense of the phrase
of closing the womb, and which is commonly ascribed to God, Genesis 20:17 1 Samuel 1:5; which
Job here attributes to the night, purposely avoiding to make mention of the
name of God, that he might not seem to complain of him, or directly point at
him; or else the blame laid on that night is, that it did not so shut up the
doors of his mother's womb, that he might not have come out from thence into
the world, wishing that had been his grave, and his mother always big with him,
as Jarchi, and which sense is favoured by Jeremiah 20:17; a
wish cruel to his mother, as well as unnatural to himself:
nor hid sorrow from mine eyes; which it would have
done, had it done that which is complained of it did not; had it he could not
have perceived it experimentally, endured the sorrows and afflictions he did
from the Chaldeans and Sabeans, from Satan, his wife, and friends; and had
never known the trouble of loss of substance, children, and health, and felt
those pains of body and anguish of mind he did; these are the reasons of his
cursing the day of his birth, and the night of his conception.
Job 3:11 11 “Why did I not die at
birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
YLT
11Why from the womb do I not
die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!
Why died I not from the womb?.... That is, as soon as
he came out of it; or rather, as soon as he was in it, or from the time that he
was in it; or however, while he was in it, that so he might not have come alive
out of it; which sense seems best to agree both with what goes before and
follows after; for since his conception in the womb was not hindered, he wishes
he had died in it; and so some versions render it to this senseF14מרחם εν κοιλια,
Sept. "in vulva", V. L. "aut, in utero", Beza, Mercerus,
Cocceius, Junius, Michaelis; so R. Abraham Peritzol, and Simeon Bar Tzemach. :
why did I not give up
the ghost when I came out of the belly? since he died not in the
womb, which was desirable to him, he wishes that the moment he came out of it
he had expired, and is displeased because it was not so, see Jeremiah 20:17;
thus what is the special favour of Providence, to be taken out of the womb
alive, and preserved, he wishes not to have enjoyed, see Psalm 22:9.
Job 3:12 12 Why did the knees receive
me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
YLT
12Wherefore have knees been
before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
Why did the knees prevent me?.... Not of the mother,
as Jarchi, but of the midwife, who received him into her lap, and nourished and
cherished him, washed him with water, salted, and swaddled him; or it may be of
his father, with whom it was usual to take the child on his knees as soon as
born, see Genesis 50:23;
which custom obtained among the Greeks and RomansF15Homer. Iliad. 9.
Vid. Barthii Animadv. ad Claudian. in Nupt. Honor. ver. 341. ; hence the
goddess LevanaF16Kipping. Antiqu. Roman. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 10. had
her name, causing the father in this way to own his child; his concern is, that
he did not fall to the ground as he came out of his mother's womb, and with
that fall die; and that he was prevented from falling by the officious knees of
the midwife; that he was not suffered to fall, and be left there, without
having any of the usual things done to him for the comfort and preservation of
life, which was sometimes the case, Ezekiel 16:4,
or why the breasts that I should suck? since a
miscarrying womb was not given, and death did not seize him immediately upon
birth, but all proper care was taken to prevent it, he asks, why was there milk
in the breasts of his mother or nurse to suckle and nourish him? why were there
not dry breasts, such as would afford no milk, that so he might have been
starved? thus he wishes the kindest things in nature and Providence had been
withheld from him.
Job 3:13 13 For now I would have lain
still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest
YLT
13For now, I have lain down,
and am quiet, I have slept -- then there is rest to me,
For now should I have lain still, and been quiet,....
Signifying, that if the above had been his case, if he had died as soon as
born, or quickly after, then he would have been laid in the grave, where he
would have lain as still as on a bed; for such is the grave to dead bodies as a
bed is to those that lie down and sleep upon it; a place of ease and quiet,
where there is freedom from all care and thought, from all trouble, anxiety,
and distress; nay, more so than on a bed, where there is often tossing to and
fro, and great disquietude, but none to the body in the grave, that is still
and silent, where there is no uneasiness nor disturbance, see Job 17:13,
I should have slept; soundly and quietly,
which persons do not always upon their beds; sometimes they cannot sleep at
all, and when they do, they are frequently distressed with uneasy thoughts,
frightful dreams, and terrifying visions, Job 4:13; but death
is a sound sleep until the resurrection morn, which Job had knowledge of, and
faith in, and so considered the state of the dead in this light; death is often
in Scripture expressed by sleeping, Daniel 12:2; which
refers not to the soul, which in a separate state is active and vigorous, and
always employed; but to the body, which, as in sleep, so in death, is deprived
of the senses, and the exercise of them; on which account there is a great
likeness between sleep and death, and out of which a man awakes brisk and
cheerful, as the saints will at the time of their resurrection, which will be
like an awaking out of sleep:
then had I been at rest; from all toil and
labour, from all diseases and pains of body, from all troubles of whatsoever
kind, and particularly from those he now laboured under; see Gill on Job 3:17.
Job 3:14 14 With kings and counselors
of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves,
YLT
14With kings and counsellors
of earth, These building wastes for themselves.
With the kings and counsellors of the earth,.... From whom
he might descend, he being a person of great distinction and figure; and so,
had he died, he would have been buried in the sepulchres of his ancestors, and
have lain in great pomp and state: or rather this he says, to observe that
death spares none, that neither the power of kings, who have long hands, nor the
wisdom of counsellors, who have long heads, can secure them from death; and
that after death they are upon a level with others; and even he suggests, that
children that die as soon as born, and have made no figure in the world, are
equal to them:
which built desolate places for themselves; either that
rebuilt houses and cities that had lain in ruins, or built such in desolate
places, where there had been none before, or formed colonies in places before
uninhabited; and all this to get a name, and to perpetuate it to posterity: or
rather sepulchral monuments are meant, such as the lofty pyramids of the
Egyptians, and superb mausoleums of others; which, if not built in desolate
places, yet are so themselves, being only the habitations of the dead, and so they
are called the desolations of old, Ezekiel 26:20; and
this is the sense of many interpretersF17Pineda, Bolducius, Patrick,
Caryll, Schultens, and others. ; if any man desires, says VanslebF18Relation
of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 91. , a prospect and description of such ancient
burying places, let him think on a boundless plain, even, and covered with
sand, where neither trees, nor grass, nor houses, nor any such thing, is to be
seen.
Job 3:15 15 Or with princes who had
gold, Who filled their houses with silver;
YLT
15Or with princes -- they
have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
Or with princes that had gold,.... A large abundance of
it while they lived, but now, being dead, were no longer in the possession of
it, but on a level with those that had none; nor could their gold, while they
had it, preserve them from death, and now, being dead, it was no longer theirs,
nor of any use unto them; these princes, by this description of them, seem to
be such who had not the dominion over any particular place or country, but
their riches lay in gold and silver, as follows:
who filled their houses with silver; had an abundance of it,
either in their coffers, which they hoarded up, or in the furniture of their
houses, which were much of it of silver; they had large quantities of silver
plate, as well as of money; but these were of no profit in the hour of death,
nor could they carry them with them; but in the grave, where they were, those
were equal to them, of whom it might have been said, silver and gold they had
none.
Job 3:16 16 Or why was I not
hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light?
YLT
16(Or as a hidden abortion I
am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)
Or as an hidden untimely birth,.... Or "hid, as one
born out of time", as Mr. Broughton reads it; the Septuagint use the same
word as the apostle does, when he says the like of himself, 1 Corinthians 15:8;
the word has the signification of "falling"F19כגפל "sicut abortivus qui ex utero excidit, aut in
terram cadit", Michaelis. , and designs an abortive, which is like to
fruit that falls from the tree before it is ripe; and this may be said to be
"hidden", either in the belly, as the Targum, or however from the
sight of man, it being not come to any proper shape, and much less perfection;
now Job suggests, that if he had not lain with kings, counsellors, and princes,
yet at least he should have been as an abortion, and that would have been as
well to him: then
I had not been; or should have been nothing, not reckoned
anything; should not have been numbered among beings, but accounted as a
nonentity, and should have had no subsistence or standing in the world at all:
as infants which never saw light; and if not
like an untimely birth, which is not come to any perfection, yet should have
been like infants, which, though their mothers have gone their full time with
them, and they have all their limbs in perfection and proportion, yet are dead,
or stillborn, their eyes have never been opened to see any light; meaning not
the light of the law, as the Targum, but the light of the sun, or the light of
the world, see Ecclesiastes 6:3;
infants used to be buried in the wells or caves of the mummiesF20Vansleb,
ut supra, (Relation of a Voyage to Egypt,) p. 90. .
Job 3:17 17 There the wicked cease from
troubling, And there the weary are at rest.
YLT
17There the wicked have
ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.
There the wicked cease from troubling,.... At death,
and in the grave; such who have been like the troubled sea, that cannot rest,
have always been either devising or doing mischief while living, in the grave
can do neither; there is no work nor device there; such who are never easy, and
cannot sleep unless they do mischief, when dead have no power to do any, and
are quite still and inactive; such who have been troublers of good men, as profane
persons by their ungodly lives, false teachers by their pernicious doctrines
and blasphemies, cruel persecutors by their hard speeches, bitter calumnies and
reproaches, and severe usage; those, when they die themselves, cease from
giving further trouble, or when the righteous die, they can disturb them no
more; yea, a good man at death is not only no more troubled by wicked men, but
no more by his own wicked heart, nor any more by that wicked one Satan; there
and then all these cease from giving him any further molestation:
and there the weary be at rest; wicked men, either who
here tire and weary themselves with committing sin, to which they are slaves
and drudges, and especially with persecuting and troubling the saints, shall
rest front such acts of sin and wickedness, of which they will be no more
capable; or else good men, who are weary of sin, and long to be rid of it, to
whom it is a burden, and under which they groan, and are weary of the troubles
and afflictions they meet with in the world; and what with one thing and
another are weary of their lives, and desire to depart and be with Christ;
these at death and in the grave are at rest, their bodies from toil and labour,
and from all painful disorder, and pressing afflictions, and from all the oppressions
and vexations of wicked and ungodly men; their souls rest in the arms of Jesus,
from sin and all consciousness of it, from the temptations of Satan, from all
doubts and fears, and every spiritual enemy, by whom they can be no more
annoyed: some render the words, "there rest the labours of strength"F21יגיעי כח "labores
roboris", Michaelis. : such toils are over that break the strength of men;
or "the labours of violence"F23"Labores
violentiae", Schmidt. , which are imposed upon them through violence, by
cruel and imperious men; but at death and in the grave will cease and be no
more, even labour of all sorts; see Revelation 14:13.
Job 3:18 18 There
the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
YLT
18Together prisoners have
been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
There the prisoners
rest together,.... "Are at ease", as Mr. Broughton renders the words;
such who while they lived were in prison for debt, or were condemned to the
galleys, to lead a miserable life; or such who suffered bonds and imprisonment
for the sake of religion, at death their chains are knocked off, and they are
as much at liberty, and enjoy as much ease, as the dead that never were prisoners;
and not only rest together with those who were their fellow prisoners, but with
those who never were in prison, yea, with those who cast them into it; for
there the prisoners and those that imprisoned them are upon a level, enjoying
equal ease and liberty:
they hear not the voice of the oppressor; or
"exactor"F24נגש
"exactoris", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
&c. ; neither of their creditors that demanded their debt of them, and
threatened them with a prison, or that detained them in it; nor of the jail
keeper that gave them hard words as well as stripes; nor of cruel taskmasters,
who kept them to hard service in prison, and threatened them severely if they
did not perform it, like the taskmasters in Egypt, Exodus 5:11; but,
in the grave, the blustering, terrifying, voice of such, is not heard.
Job 3:19 19 The small and great are
there, And the servant is free from his master.
YLT
19Small and great [are] there
the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
The small and great are there,.... Both as to age, and
with respect to bulk and strength of body, and also to estate and dignity;
children and men, or those of low and high stature, or in a mean or more
exalted state of life, as to riches and honour, these all come to the grave
without any difference, and lie there without any distinctionF25"Grandia
cum parvis Orcus metit". Horat. Ep. l. 2. ep. 2. ver. 178. "----Mista
senum ac juvenum densantur funera". Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode. 28.
"little and great are there all one"; as Mr. Broughton renders the
words, see Revelation 20:12,
and the servant is free from his master; death
dissolves all relations among men, and takes away the power that one has
legally over another, as the husband over the wife, who at death is loosed from
the law and power of her husband, Romans 7:2; and so
parents over their children, and masters over their servants; there the master
and the servant are together, without any superiority of the one to the other:
the consideration of all the above things made death and the state of the dead
in the grave appear to Job much more preferable than life in his present
circumstances; and therefore, since it had not seized on him sooner, and as
soon as he before had wished it had, he desires it might not be long before it
came upon him, as in Job 3:20.
Job 3:20 20 “Why is light given to him
who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul,
YLT
20Why giveth He to the
miserable light, and life to the bitter soul?
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,.... That
labours under various calamities and afflictions, as Job did, being stripped of
his substance, deprived of his children, and now in great pain of body and
distress of mind; who, since he died not so soon as he wished he had,
expostulates why his life is protracted; for that is what he means by light, as
appears from the following clause, even the light of the living, or the light of
the world; which though sweet and pleasant to behold to a man in health, yet
not to one in pain of body and anguish of mind, as he was, who chose rather to
be in the dark and silent grave; this he represents as a gift, as indeed life
is, and the gift of God: the words may be rendered, "wherefore does he
give light?"F25למה יתן "quare dat", Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens,
Michaelis. that is, God, as someF26So Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator. vid. Schultens in loc. supply it, who is undoubtedly meant, though
not mentioned, through reverence of him, and that he might not seem to quarrel
with him; the principle of life is from him, and the continuance and
protraction of it, and all the means and mercies by which it is supported; and
Job asks the reasons, which he seems to be at a loss for, why it should be
continued to a person in such uncomfortable circumstances as he was in; though
these, with respect to a good man as he was, are plain and obvious: such are
continued in the world under afflictions, both for their own good, and for the
glory of God, that their graces may be tried, their sins purged away or
prevented, and they made more partakers of divine holiness; and be weaned from
this world, and fitted for another, and not be condemned with the world of the
ungodly:
and life unto the bitter in soul; whose lives
are embittered to them by afflictions, comparable to the waters of Marah, and
to wormwood and gall, which occasion bitterness of spirit in them, and bitter
complaints from them; see Job 13:26.
Job 3:21 21 Who long for death, but it
does not come, And search for it more than hidden treasures;
YLT
21Who are waiting for death,
and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
Which long for death, but it cometh not,.... Who
earnestly desire, wistly look out, wish for, and expect it, and with open mouth
gape for it, as a hungry man for his food, or as the fish for the bait, or the
fishermen for the fish, as someF1So Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator. vid. Schultens in loc. observe the word may signify; but it comes not
to their wish and expectation, or so soon as they would have it; the reason is,
because the fixed time for it is not come, otherwise it will certainly come at
God's appointed time, and often in an hour not thought of; death is not
desirable in itself, being a dissolution of nature, or as it is the sanction of
the law, or the wages of sin, or a penal evil; and though it is and may be
lawfully desired by good men, that they may be free from sin, and be in a
better capacity to serve the Lord, and that they may be for ever with him; yet
such desires should be expressed with submission to the divine will, and the
appointed time should be patiently waited for, and should not be desired merely
to be rid of present afflictions and troubles, which was the case of Job, and
of those he here describes; see Revelation 9:6,
and dig for it more than for hid treasures; which are
naturally hid in the earth; as gold and silver ore, with other metals and
precious stones; or which are of choice concealed there from the plunder of
others; the former seems rather to be meant, and in digging for which great
pains, diligence, and industry, are used, see Proverbs 2:4; and
is expressive of the very great importunity and strong desire of men in distressed
circumstances after death, seeking diligently and pressing importunately for
it; the sin of suicide not being known, or very rare, in that early time, or
however was shunned and abhorred even by those that were most weary of their
lives: some render it, "who dig for it out off hid treasures"F2ממטמונים "e thesauris", Cocceius; "ex imis
terrae latebris", Mercerus: "ex locis absconditis", Schmidt. ;
out of the bowels of the earth, and the lowest parts of it, could they but find
it there: but the Targum, Jarchi, and others, understand it comparatively, as
we do.
Job 3:22 22 Who rejoice exceedingly, And
are glad when they can find the grave?
YLT
22Who are glad -- unto joy,
They rejoice when they find a grave.
Which rejoice exceedingly,.... Or, "which joy
till they do skip again", as Mr. Broughton renders it, and to the same
purport othersF4השמחים אלי
גיל "qu laetantur ad choream usque",
Schultens, "quasi ad tripudium", Michaelis. ; are so elated as to
skip and dance for joy:
and are glad when they can
find the grave; which is to be understood either of those who dig in the earth
for hid treasure, such as is laid there by men; when they strike and hit upon a
grave where they expect to find a booty; it being usual in former times to put
much riches into the sepulchres of great personages, as Sanctius on the place
observes; so Hyrcanus, opening the sepulchre of David, found in it three
thousand talents of silver, as JosephusF5Antiqu. l. 13. c. 8. sect.
4. Ed. Hudson. relates: or rather this is said of the miserable and bitter in
soul, who long for death, and seek after it; who, when they perceive any
symptoms of its near approach, are exceedingly pleased, and rejoice at it, as
when they observe the decays of nature, or any disorder and disease upon them
which threaten with death; for this cannot be meant of the dead carrying to the
grave, who are insensible of it, and of their being put into it.
Job 3:23 23 Why is light given
to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in?
YLT
23To a man whose way hath
been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?
Why is light given to a
man whose way is hid,.... Some of the Jewish writers connect this with Job 3:22, thus;
"who rejoice and are glad when they find a grave for a man",
&c. but it should be observed that such are said to rejoice at finding a
grave, not for others, but for themselves; the words stand in better connection
with Job 3:20, from
whence the supplement is taken in our version and others; and so it is a
continuation or repetition of the expostulation why light and life, or the
light of the living, should be given to persons as before described, and here
more largely; and Job himself is principally designed, as is generally thought,
whose way, according to him, was hid from the Lord, neglected and not cared for
by him but overlooked and slighted, and no regard had to the injuries done him,
as the church also complains, Isaiah 40:27; or
front whom the way of the Lord was hid; his way in the present afflictive
dispensations of Providence, the causes and reasons of which he could not
understand; not being conscious of any notorious sin committed, indulged, and
continued in, that should bring these troubles on him: or the good and right
way was hid from him in which he should walk; he was at a loss to know which
was that way, since by his afflictions he was ready to conclude that the way he
had been walking in was not the right, and all his religion was in vain; and
according to this sense he laboured under the same temptation as Asaph did, Psalm 73:13; or his
way of escape out of his present troubles was unknown to him; he saw no way
open for him, but shut up on every side: or there was no way for others to come
to him, at least they cared not for it; he who had used to have a large levee,
some to have his counsel and advice, and to be instructed by him, others to ask
relief of him, and many of the highest rank and figure to visit, caress, and
compliment him; but now all had forsaken him, his brethren and acquaintance,
and his kinsfolk and familiar friends kept at a distance from him, as if they
knew not the way to him:
and whom God hath hedged in? not with the hedge of
his power, providence, and protection, as before; but with thorns and
afflictions, and in such manner as he could not get out, or extricate himself;
all avenues and ways of escape being blocked up, see Lamentations 3:7;
though, after all, the words may be considered as a concession, and as
descriptive of a man the reverse of himself, and be supplied thus; "indeed
light may be given to a man", a mighty man, as the wordF5לגבר "emphatice ponitur saepe, ut notetur
praepollentia", Coccei. Lexic in rad גבר.
signifies, a man strong, hale, and robust; "whose way is hid", or
"covered"F6נסתרה
"tecta", Cocceius; "velo septa est", Schultens. ; who is
hid in the secret of God's presence, and in the pavilion of his power; who
dwells in his secret place, and under the shadow of the Almighty, Psalm 31:20; who is
under the shelter of his providence, preserved from diseases of body, and
protected from the plunder and depredations of enemies, and enjoys great
affluence and prosperity, as his three friends about him did, and whom he may
point at: "and whom God hath hedged in"; as he had formerly set a
hedge about him in his providence, though now he had plucked it up; see Job 1:10.
Job 3:24 24 For my sighing comes
before I eat,[b] And my
groanings pour out like water.
YLT
24For before my food, my
sighing cometh, And poured out as waters [are] my roarings.
For my sighing cometh
before I eat,.... Or, "before my bread", or "food"F7לפני לחמי "ante cibum
meum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "ante panem meum",
Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis. ; before he sat down to eat, or had tasted of his
food, there were nothing but sighing and sobbing, so that he had no appetite
for his food, and could take no delight in it; and, while he was eating, his
tears mingled with it, so that these were his meat and his drink continually,
and he was fed with the bread and water of affliction; and therefore what were
light and life to such a person, who could not have the pleasure of one
comfortable meal?
and my roarings are poured out like the waters; he not only
wept privately and in secret, and cried more publicly both to God and in the
presence of men, but such was the force and weight of his affliction, that he
even roared out, and that like a lion; and his afflictions, which were the
cause of these roarings, are compared to waters and the pouring of them out;
for the noise these waterspouts made, and for the great abundance of them, and
for their quick and frequent returns, and long continuance, one wave and billow
rolling upon another.
Job 3:25 25 For the thing I greatly
feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me.
YLT
25For a fear I feared and it
meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me.
For the thing which I
greatly feared is come upon me,.... Some refer this to his fears about his
children, lest they should sin and offend God, and bring down his judgments on
them, and now what he feared was come to pass, Job 1:5; others
take in all his sorrows and troubles; which, through the changeableness of the
world, and the uncertainty of all things in it, and the various providences of
God, he feared would come upon him at one time or another; and this he mentions
to justify his expostulation, why light and life should be continued to such a
man, who, by reason of his fear and anxiety of mind, never had any pleasure in
his greatest prosperity, destruction from the Almighty being a terror to him; Job 31:23; but I
think it is not reasonable to suppose that a man of Job's faith in God, and
trust in him, should indulge such fears to such a degree; nor indeed that he
could ever entertain such a thought in him, nor even surmise that such shocking
calamities and distresses should come upon him as did: but this is to be
understood not of his former life, in prosperity, but of the beginning of his
afflictions; when he heard of the loss of one part of his substance, he was
immediately possessed with a fear of losing another; and when he heard of that,
he feared the loss of a third, and even of all; then of his children, and next
of his health:
and that which I was afraid of is come unto me: which designs
the same, in other words, or a new affliction; and particularly the ill opinion
his friends had of him; he feared that through these uncommon afflictions he
should be reckoned an ungodly man, an hypocrite; and as he feared, so it was;
this he perceived by the silence of his friends, they not speaking one word of
comfort to him; and by their looks at him, and the whole of their behaviour to
him.
Job 3:26 26 I am not at ease, nor am I
quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
YLT
26I was not safe -- nor was I
quiet -- Nor was I at rest -- and trouble cometh!
I was not in safety,.... This
cannot refer to the time of his prosperity; for he certainly then was in
safety, God having set an hedge about him, so that none of his enemies, nor
even Satan himself, could come at him to hurt him:
neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; which also was
not true of him before his afflictions, for he did then enjoy great peace,
rest, and quietness; he lay in his nest at ease, and in great tranquillity; and
thought and said he should die in such a state, see Job 29:18, &c.
nor is the sense of these expressions, that he did not take up his rest and
satisfaction in outward things, and put his trust and confidence in his riches,
and yet trouble came upon him; but this relates to the time of the beginning of
his troubles and afflictions, from which time he was not in safety, nor had any
rest and peace; there was no intermission of his sorrows; but as soon as one
affliction was over, another came:
yet trouble came; still one after another, there was no end
of them; or, as Mr. Broughton renders it, "and now cometh a
vexation"; a fresh one, a suspicion of hypocrisy; and upon this turns the
whole controversy, managed and carried on between him and his friends in the
following part of this book.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)