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Texts -- Job 3:1-24 (NET)

Context

II. Job’s Dialogue With His Friends
(3:1-27:33)

Job Regrets His Birth
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 3:2 Job spoke up and said : 3:3 “Let the day on which I was born perish , and the night that said , ‘A man has been conceived !’ 3:4 That day – let it be darkness ; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it! 3:5 Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it! 3:6 That night – let darkness seize it; let it not be included among the days of the year ; let it not enter among the number of the months ! 3:7 Indeed , let that night be barren ; let no shout of joy penetrate it! 3:8 Let those who curse the day curse it– those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan . 3:9 Let its morning stars be darkened ; let it wait for daylight but find none , nor let it see the first rays of dawn , 3:10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb on me, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes !
Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth
3:11 “Why did I not die at birth , and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb ? 3:12 Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them? 3:13 For now I would be lying down and would be quiet , I would be asleep and then at peace 3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate , 3:15 or with princes who possessed gold , who filled their palaces with silver . 3:16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant , like infants who have never seen the light ? 3:17 There the wicked cease from turmoil , and there the weary are at rest . 3:18 There the prisoners relax together ; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor . 3:19 Small and great are there , and the slave is free from his master .
Longing for Death
3:20 “Why does God give light to one who is in misery , and life to those whose soul is bitter , 3:21 to those who wait for death that does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasures , 3:22 who rejoice even to jubilation , and are exultant when they find the grave ? 3:23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden , and whom God has hedged in ? 3:24 For my sighing comes in place of my food , and my groanings flow forth like water .

Pericope

NET
  • Job 3:1-10 --

    II. Job's Dialogue With His Friends
    (3:1-27:33)

    Job Regrets His Birth
  • Job 3:11-19 -- Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth
  • Job 3:20-26 -- Longing for Death

Bible Dictionary

  • Death

    [isbe] DEATH - (maweth; thanatos): PHYSIOLOGICAL AND FIGURATIVE VIEW The word "Death" is used in the sense of (1) the process of dying (Gen 21:16); (2) the period of decease (Gen 27:7); (3) as a possible synonym for poison (2 Ki 4:...
    [nave] DEATH. Called in some versions &ld;Giving Up the Ghost,&rd; Gen. 25:8; 35:29; Lam. 1:19; Acts 5:10. King of Terrors Job 18:14. A Change Job 14:14. Going to your Fathers Gen. 15:15; 25:8; 35:29. Putting Off This Tabe...

  • Job

    [nave] JOB 1. A man who dwelt in Uz, Job 1:1. Righteousness of, Job 1:1, 5, 8; 2:3; Ezek. 14:14, 20. Riches of, Job 1:3. Trial of, by affliction of Satan, Job 1:13-19; 2:7-10. Fortitude of, Job 1:20-22; 2:10; Jas. 5:11. Visite...

  • Afflictions and Adversities

    [nave] AFFLICTIONS AND ADVERSITIES. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Benefits of; Benefits of, Illustrated; Consolation in; Deliverance from; Design of; Despondency in; Dispe...

  • Complaint

    [nave] COMPLAINT of Israelites against Moses, Ex. 5:21; 15:24; 16:2, 3; Num. 16:2, 3, 13, 14, 41; 20:2-4. Against God Ex. 5:22, 23; Ex. 16:8, 12; Num. 14:26-37 Num. 17:10, 11. Job 15:11-13; Job 33:12, 13; Job 34:37; Psa. 37:1; Ps...

  • Doubting

    [nave] DOUBTING. Job 4:3-6; Job 9:16-23; Job 30:20, 21 Job 3; 16; 17; 23:15-17. Psa. 22:2; Psa. 31:22; Psa. 42:5, 6; Psa. 49:5; Psa. 73:13-17; Psa. 77:3, 7-9; Prov. 24:10; Isa. 40:27, 28 Isa. 50:2. Isa. 49:14, 15; Jer. 8:18; Jer. ...

  • Despondency

    [nave] DESPONDENCY. Num. 17:12, 13; Deut. 28:65-67; Job 3:1-26; Job 17:13-16; Psa. 31:22; Psa. 77:7-9; Prov. 13:12; Isa. 2:19; Jer. 2:25; Jer. 8:20; Jer. 18:12; Lam. 3:1-21; Lam. 5:22; Hos. 10:8; Jonah 2:2-4; Mic. 7:1-7; Matt. 24:...

  • Life

    [nave] LIFE. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-topics; Brevity and Uncertainty of; Everlasting; From God; Long; Spiritual. Miscellany of Minor Sub-topics Breath of, Gen. 2:7. Called Spirit of God, Job 27:3. Tree of,...

  • Presumption

    [nave] PRESUMPTION. Ex. 5:2; Ex. 14:11, 12; Ex. 17:7; Num. 15:30; Num. 16:41; Num. 21:5; Deut. 29:19, 20; 1 Kin. 20:28; 1 Kin. 22:24; Job 15:25; Psa. 19:13; Psa. 131:1; Prov. 18:12, 13; Prov. 25:6, 7; Isa. 5:18-25; Isa. 10:15; Isa...

  • Birthday

    [nave] BIRTHDAY Celebrated by feasts, Gen. 40:20; Matt. 14:6. Cursed, Job 3; Jer. 20:14, 18.

  • Prayer

    [nave] PRAYER. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Answer to, Promised; Answered, Instances of Answered; Confession in; Importunity in, Instances of Importunity in; Intercessor...

  • Poetry

    [ebd] has been well defined as "the measured language of emotion." Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man's relation to God. "Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon, redemption, repentance are the a...

  • Dead

    [nave] DEAD Raised to life, instances of: Son of the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kin. 17:17-23; Shunammite's son, 2 Kin. 4:32-37; young man laid in Elisha's sepulchre, 2 Kin. 13:21; widow's son, Luke 7:12-15; Jairus' daughter, Luke 8:49-...

  • SHEOL

    [isbe] SHEOL - she'-ol (she'ol): 1. The Name 2. The Abode of the Dead (1) Not a State of Unconsciousness (2) Not Removed from God's Jurisdiction (3) Relation to Immortality 3. Post-canonical Period 1. The Name: This word is often t...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • REST

    [isbe] REST - (nuach, menuchah, "cessation from motion," "peace," "quiet," etc.; anapausis, [@katapausis): "Rest" in the above sense is of frequent occurrence, and is the translation of several words with various applications and s...

  • Grave

    [nave] GRAVE Prepared by Jacob, Gen. 50:5. Defilement from touching, Num. 19:16, 18. Weeping at, 2 Sam. 3:32; John 11:31; 20:11. Of parents, honored, 2 Sam. 19:37. Welcomed, Job 3:20-22. Resurrection from: Of Lazarus, John 11:...

  • LEVIATHAN

    [ebd] a transliterated Hebrew word (livyathan), meaning "twisted," "coiled." In Job 3:8, Revised Version, and marg. of Authorized Version, it denotes the dragon which, according to Eastern tradition, is an enemy of light; in 41:1 ...
    [isbe] LEVIATHAN - le-vi'-a-than (liwyathan (Job 41:1-34), from [~lawah, "to fold"; compare Arabic name of the wry neck, Iynx torquilla, abu-luwa, from kindred lawa, "to bend"): (1) The word "leviathan" also occurs in Isa 27:1, whe...
    [smith] (jointed monster) occurs five times in the text of the Authorized Version, and once in the margin of (Job 3:8) where the text has "mourning." In the Hebrew Bible the word livyathan , which is, with the foregoing exception, al...

  • DARK; DARKNESS

    [isbe] DARK; DARKNESS - dark, dark'-nes (choshekh; skotos): 1. Darkness and Light in Palestine: The day and night, light and darkness, are notable antitheses in Palestine. There the day does not slowly fade away into the night afte...

  • GHOST

    [ebd] an old Saxon word equivalent to soul or spirit. It is the translation of the Hebrew nephesh_ and the Greek _pneuma, both meaning "breath," "life," "spirit," the "living principle" (Job 11:20; Jer. 15:9; Matt. 27:50; John 19:...
    [isbe] GHOST - gost (nephesh; pneuma) : "Ghost," the middle-English word for "breath," "spirit," appears in the King James Version as the translation of nephesh ("breath," "the breath of life," animal soul or spirit, the vital prin...

  • TWILIGHT

    [isbe] TWILIGHT - twi'-lit (nesheph): The twilight of Palestine is of short duration, owing to the low latitude, there being scarcely more than an hour between sunset and complete darkness. It is a distinct boundary between daytime...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
  • I. Prologue chs. 1-2A. Job's character 1:1-5B. Job's calamities 1:6-2:101. The first test 1:6-222. The second test 2:1-10C. Job's comforters 2:11-13II. The dialogue concerning the basis of the divine-human relationship 3:1-42...
  • The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main body (3:1-42:6) in poetry. The prologue and epilogue form a frame around the main emphasis of the revelation, the poetic section, and ...
  • Satan again claimed that Job served God only because God had made it advantageous for Job to do so. Job still had his own life. Satan insinuated that Job had been willing to part with his own children and his animals (wealth)...
  • Really four men came to visit Job, though the writer did not mention Elihu's presence until chapter 32. Eliphaz seems to have been the eldest for several reasons. His name occurs first (2:11; 42:9), he spoke before the others...
  • The poetic body to the book begins with a soliloquy in which Job cursed the day of his birth. This introductory soliloquy corresponds to another one Job gave at the end of his dialogue with his three friends (chs. 29-31), esp...
  • Job evidently considered his conception as the beginning of his existence (v. 3). His poetic description of his birth sets forth his regret that he had left his mother's womb alive."Leviathan [3:8] was a seven-headed sea mons...
  • Much of Job's suffering was intellectual. He asked, "Why?"frequently in this soliloquy (vv. 11, 12, 20, 23) and in the dialogue that follows (7:20, 21; 9:29; 13:24; 21:4; 24:1)."My groaning comes at the sight of my food"(v. 2...
  • The two soliloquies of Job (chs. 3 and 29-31) enclose three cycles of dialogue between Job and his three friends. Each cycle consists of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in that order interspersed with Job's reply to e...
  • "The rest of Job's speech is more like a soliloquy which turns into a remonstration against God Himself. His theme is once more the hard servicethat men have upon earth."47In this complaint (cf. ch. 3; 6:8-13) Job compared hi...
  • Throughout his sufferings Job did not turn away from God. Often people undergoing severe affliction do forsake Him. However, Job kept God in view and kept talking to God even though he did not know what to ask, which was a ma...
  • This whole chapter, another prayer (cf. 7:7-21), is a cry to God for answers: "Let me know why . . ."(v. 2). Notice the legal setting again, especially in verse 2. Job again claimed to be not guilty (v. 7)."It is a remarkable...
  • Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
  • Job gave a soliloquy before his dialogue with his three friends began (ch. 3). Now he concluded that dialogue with another soliloquy (chs. 29-31). In this one, Job longed for his past state of blessedness (ch. 29), lamented h...
  • Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job's three friends (vv. 6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason he said he had refrained from speaking until now. However he had become convinced that advancing age does not...
  • Yahweh's purpose in directing Job's attention to such inexplicable animals on land (Behemoth) and in the water (Leviathan) seems to have been the same as His purpose in His first speech. He intended to humble Job by reminding...
  • Leviathan was something very horrific (Job 3:8). It seems to have been a water beast either in reality or in myth (Job 41). The psalmist used it figuratively to describe Egypt, a powerful and deadly enemy of Israel (Ps. 104:2...
  • This is the third Servant Song (cf. 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 52:13-53:12). Like the second song, this one is autobiographical, but unlike the first and second songs it contains no reference to the Servant. That it is the Servant who i...
  • This pericope contains two instances in which Jeremiah faced crushing discouragement in his ministry (vv. 10-14, 15-21). He confessed his frustration to the Lord, and the Lord responded with encouragement.15:10 Jeremiah addre...
  • This is another autobiographical "confession."It is a personal lament or curse poem concerning the sorrow Jeremiah had experienced for most of his life because of the calling that the Lord had laid on him."In these verses Jer...
  • The "multitudes"or "crowds"consisted of the people Matthew just mentioned in 4:23-25. They comprised a larger group than the "disciples."The disciples were not just the Twelve but many others who followed Jesus and sought to ...
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