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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JOB SPAKE, AND SAID. Or "answered and said" t, 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 E... [ Continue Reading ]
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;... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Psalms 23:4; let there be nothing but foul
weather, dirt, and darkness... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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,... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 deligh... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE IT SHUT NOT UP THE DOORS OF MY [MOTHER'S] WOMB,.... Or "of my
belly" m, 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 mot... [ Continue Reading ]
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 afte... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 spar... [ Continue Reading ]
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 a... [ Continue Reading ]
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" s, and designs an
abortive, which is like to fruit... [ Continue Reading ]
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 sl... [ Continue Reading ]
[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 k... [ Continue Reading ]
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 differenc... [ Continue Reading ]
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 wh... [ Continue Reading ]
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 some a observe the word may signify; but it
comes not to their... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH REJOICE EXCEEDINGLY,.... Or, "which joy till they do skip
again", as Mr. Broughton renders it, and to the same purport others d;
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 trea... [ Continue Reading ]
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 st... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR MY SIGHING COMETH BEFORE I EAT,.... Or, "before my bread", or
"food" g; 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,... [ Continue Reading ]
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 chan... [ Continue Reading ]
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
h... [ Continue Reading ]