Job 3:1

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

Job Regrets His Birth

3:1 After this Job opened his mouth ²  and cursed ³  the day he was born. ⁴ 

Job 30:27

30:27 My heart ⁵  is in turmoil ⁶  unceasingly; ⁷ 

the days of my affliction confront me.

Job 38:23

38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,

for the day of war and battle? ⁸ 

[3:1]  ¹ sn The previous chapters (1-2) were prose narrative, this chapter, however, commences the poetic section of the book (chs. 3-41) containing the cycles of speeches.

[3:1]  ² sn The detailed introduction to the speech with “he opened his mouth” draws the readers attention to what was going to be said. As the introduction to the poetic speech that follows (3:3-26), vv. 1-2 continue the prose style of chapters 1-2. Each of the subsequent speeches is introduced by such a prose heading.

[3:1]  ³ tn The verb “cursed” is the Piel preterite from the verb קָלַל (qalal); this means “to be light” in the Qal stem, but here “to treat lightly, with contempt, curse.” See in general H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS); and A. C. Thiselton, “The Supposed Power of Words in the Biblical Writings,” JTS 25 (1974): 283-99.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “his day” (so KJV, ASV, NAB). The Syriac has “the day on which he was born.” The context makes it clear that Job meant the day of his birth. But some have tried to offer a different interpretation, such as his destiny or his predicament. For this reason the Syriac clarified the meaning for their readers in much the same way as the present translation does by rendering “his day” as “the day he was born.” On the Syriac translation of the book of Job, see Heidi M. Szpek, Translation Technique in the Peshitta to Job (SBLDS).

[30:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “my loins,” “my bowels” (archaic), “my innermost being.” The latter option is reflected in the translation; some translations take the inner turmoil to be literal (NIV: “The churning inside me never stops”).

[30:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “boils.”

[30:27]  ⁷ tn The last clause reads “and they [it] are not quiet” or “do not cease.” The clause then serves adverbially for the sentence – “unceasingly.”

[38:23]  ⁹ sn The terms translated war and battle are different Hebrew words, but both may be translated “war” or “battle” depending on the context.