Job 3:20

Longing for Death ¹ 

3:20 “Why does God ²  give ³  light to one who is in misery, ⁴ 

and life to those ⁵  whose soul is bitter,

Ruth 1:20

1:20 But she replied ⁶  to them, ⁷  “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! ⁸  Call me ‘Mara’ ⁹  because the Sovereign One ¹⁰  has treated me very harshly. ¹¹ 

Psalms 88:3-18

88:3 For my life ¹²  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ¹³ 

88:4 They treat me like ¹⁴  those who descend into the grave. ¹⁵ 

I am like a helpless man, ¹⁶ 

88:5 adrift ¹⁷  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ¹⁸ 

88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, ¹⁹ 

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

88:7 Your anger bears down on me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ²⁰ 

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ²¹ 

88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?

Do the departed spirits ²²  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ²³ 

88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced ²⁴  in the dark region, ²⁵ 

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? ²⁶ 

88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer confronts you.

88:14 O Lord, why do you reject me,

and pay no attention to me? ²⁷ 

88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. ²⁸ 

I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. ²⁹ 

88:16 Your anger overwhelms me; ³⁰ 

your terrors destroy me.

88:17 They surround me like water all day long;

they join forces and encircle me. ³¹ 

88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; ³² 

those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. ³³ 

[3:20]  ¹ sn Since he has survived birth, Job wonders why he could not have died a premature death. He wonders why God gives light and life to those who are in misery. His own condition throws gloom over life, and so he poses the question first generally, for many would prefer death to misery (20-22); then he comes to the individual, himself, who would prefer death (23). He closes his initial complaint with some depictions of his suffering that afflicts him and gives him no rest (24-26).

[3:20]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:20]  ³ tn The verb is the simple imperfect, expressing the progressive imperfect nuance. But there is no formal subject to the verb, prompting some translations to make it passive in view of the indefinite subject (so, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Such a passive could be taken as a so-called “divine passive” by which God is the implied agent. Job clearly means God here, but he stops short of naming him (see also the note on “God” earlier in this verse).

[3:20]  ⁴ sn In v. 10 the word was used to describe the labor and sorrow that comes from it; here the one in such misery is called the עָמֵל (’amel, “laborer, sufferer”).

[3:20]  ⁵ tn The second colon now refers to people in general because of the plural construct מָרֵי נָפֶשׁ (mare nafesh, “those bitter of soul/life”). One may recall the use of מָרָה (marah, “bitter”) by Naomi to describe her pained experience as a poor widow in Ruth 1:20, or the use of the word to describe the bitter oppression inflicted on Israel by the Egyptians (Exod 1:14). Those who are “bitter of soul” are those whose life is overwhelmed with painful experiences and suffering.

[1:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “said.” For stylistic reasons the present translation employs “replied” here.

[1:20]  ⁷ tn The third person feminine plural form of the pronominal suffix indicates the women of the village (see v. 19) are the addressees.

[1:20]  ⁸ sn The name Naomi means “pleasant.”

[1:20]  ⁹ sn The name Mara means “bitter.”

[1:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Shaddai”; traditionally “the Almighty.” The etymology and meaning of this divine name is uncertain. It may be derived from: (1) שָׁדַד (shadad, “to be strong”), cognate to Arabic sdd, meaning “The Strong One” or “Almighty”; (2) שָׁדָה (shadah, “mountain”), cognate to Akkadian shadu, meaning “The Mountain Dweller” or “God of the Mountains”; (3) שָׁדַד (shadad, “to devastate”) and שַׁד (shad, “destroyer”), Akkadian Shedum, meaning “The Destroyer” or “The Malevolent One”; or (4) שֶׁ (she, “who”) plus דִּי (diy, “sufficient”), meaning “The One Who is Sufficient” or “All-Sufficient One” (HALOT 1420-22 s.v. שַׁדַּי, שַׁדָּי). In terms of use, Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is presented as the sovereign king/judge of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he blesses/protects and also takes away life/happiness. In light of Naomi’s emphasis on God’s sovereign, malevolent deprivation of her family, one can understand her use of this name for God. For discussion of this divine name, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.

[1:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “caused me to be very bitter”; NAB “has made it very bitter for me.”

[88:3]  ¹² tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[88:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[88:6]  ¹⁹ tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.

[88:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[88:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.

[88:10]  ²² tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).

[88:11]  ²³ tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[88:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “known.”

[88:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.

[88:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”

[88:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[why] do you hide your face from me?”

[88:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and am dying from youth.”

[88:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I carry your horrors [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew form אָפוּנָה (’afunah), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. It may be an adverb meaning “very much” (BDB 67 s.v.), though some prefer to emend the text to אָפוּגָה (’afugah, “I am numb”) from the verb פוּג (pug; see Pss 38:8; 77:2).

[88:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “passes over me.”

[88:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “they encircle me together.”

[88:18]  ³² tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”

[88:18]  ³³ tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”