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,

Job 7:11

Job Remonstrates with God

7:11 “Therefore, ⁶  I will not refrain my mouth; ⁷ 

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain ⁸  in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 9:18

9:18 He does not allow ⁹  me to recover ¹⁰  my breath,

for he fills ¹¹  me with bitterness.

Job 10:1-2

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I ¹²  am weary ¹³  of my life;

I will complain without restraint; ¹⁴ 

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn ¹⁵  me;

tell me ¹⁶  why you are contending ¹⁷  with me.’

Job 17:8

17:8 Upright men are appalled ¹⁸  at this;

the innocent man is troubled ¹⁹  with the godless.

Proverbs 14:10

14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness, ²⁰ 

and with its joy no one else ²¹  can share. ²² 

Isaiah 38:15-17

38:15 What can I say?

He has decreed and acted. ²³ 

I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief. ²⁴ 

38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;

may years of life be restored to me. ²⁵ 

Restore my health ²⁶  and preserve my life.’

38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. ²⁷ 

You delivered me ²⁸  from the pit of oblivion. ²⁹ 

For you removed all my sins from your sight. ³⁰ 

[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.

[7:11]  ⁶ tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.

[7:11]  ⁷ sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.

[7:11]  ⁸ tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb si^ah and the Nouns si^ah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).

[9:18]  ⁹ tn The verb נָתַן (natan) essentially means “to give”; but followed by the infinitive (without the ל [lamed] here) it means “to permit; to allow.”

[9:18]  ¹⁰ tn The Hiphil of the verb means “to bring back”; with the object “my breath,” it means “get my breath” or simply “breathe.” The infinitive is here functioning as the object of the verb (see GKC 350 §114.m).

[9:18]  ¹¹ sn The meaning of the word is “to satiate; to fill,” as in “drink to the full, be satisfied.” Job is satiated – in the negative sense – with bitterness. There is no room for more.

[10:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”

[10:1]  ¹³ tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.

[10:1]  ¹⁴ tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.

[10:2]  ¹⁵ tn The negated jussive is the Hiphil jussive of רָשַׁע (rasha’); its meaning then would be literally “do not declare me guilty.” The negated jussive stresses the immediacy of the request.

[10:2]  ¹⁶ tn The Hiphil imperative of יָדַע (yada’) would more literally be “cause me to know.” It is a plea for God to help him understand the afflictions.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is רִיב (riv), meaning “to dispute; to contend; to strive; to quarrel” – often in the legal sense. The precise words chosen in this verse show that the setting is legal. The imperfect verb here is progressive, expressing what is currently going on.

[17:8]  ¹⁸ tn This verb שָׁמַם (shamam, “appalled”) is the one found in Isa 52:14, translated there “astonished.”

[17:8]  ¹⁹ tn The verb means “to rouse oneself to excitement.” It naturally means “to be agitated; to be stirred up.”

[14:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “bitterness of its soul.”

[14:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “stranger” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[14:10]  ²² tn The verb is the Hitpael of II עָרַב (’arav), which means “to take in pledge; to give in pledge; to exchange.” Here it means “to share [in].” The proverb is saying that there are joys and sorrows that cannot be shared. No one can truly understand the deepest feelings of another.

[38:15]  ²³ tn Heb “and he has spoken and he has acted.”

[38:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “because of the bitterness of my soul.”

[38:16]  ²⁵ tn The translation offered here is purely speculative. The text as it stands is meaningless and probably corrupt. It reads literally, “O lord, on account of them [the suffix is masculine plural], they live, and to all in them [the suffix is feminine plural], life of my spirit.”

[38:16]  ²⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as indicative, “you restore my health,” but the following imperatival form suggests it be understood as an imperfect of request.

[38:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”

[38:17]  ²⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).

[38:17]  ²⁹ tn בְּלִי (bÿli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”

[38:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”