English Standard Version
Job 3:11
11"Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?
Job 3:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
- New International Version (NIV)“Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Why wasn’t I born dead? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
Context of Job 3:11
9Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning, 10because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. "Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? 12Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? 13For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
Read all of Job 3Job 3:11 word by word
לָ֤מָּה לֹּ֣א מֵרֶ֣חֶם אָמ֑וּת מִבֶּ֖טֶן יָצָ֣אתִי וְאֶגְוָֽע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 3:11
- Psalms 58:8Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
- Jeremiah 15:10Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.
- Hosea 9:14Give them, O Lord— what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
- Psalms 22:9Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
- Psalms 71:6Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
- Psalms 139:13For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
- Isaiah 46:3"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb;
Commentaries on Job 3:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Why died I not from the womb - As the other circumstance did not take place, why was I not still-born, without the possibility of reviviscence? or, as this did not occur, why did I not die as soon as born? These three things appear to me to be clearly intended here: - Dying in the womb, or never coming to maturity, as in the case of an abortion. Being still-born, without ever being able to breathe. 3. Or, if born alive, dying within a short time after…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Why died I not from the womb? - Why did I not die as soon as I was born? Why were any pains taken to keep me alive? The suggestion of this question leads Job in the following verses into the beautiful description, of what he would have been if he had then died. He complains, therefore, that any pains were taken by his friends to keep him alive, and that he was not suffered peacefully to expire. Gave up the ghost - A phrase that is often used in the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-19Verses 11-19 Job complained of those present at his birth, for their tender attention to him. No creature comes into the world so helpless as man. God's power and providence upheld our frail lives, and his pity and patience spared our forfeited lives. Natural affection is put into parents' hearts by God. To desire to die that we may be with Christ, that we may be free from sin, is the effect and evidence of grace; but to desire to die, only that we may be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-24Job's language shifts from wishing he was never born to grief. He goes from hating life towards an attraction for death. Job asks "why" seven times, as he has grief for his situation (3:11, 12, 16, 20, 23; see Psalms 10:1; 22:1; Jeremiah 20:18; Lamentations 5:20).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 3:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries