New English Translation
Job 3:11
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?
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
Context of Job 3:11
9Let its morning stars be darkened; let it wait for daylight but find none, nor let it see the first rays of dawn, 10because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb on me, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes! “Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb? 12Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them? 13For now I would be lying down and would be quiet, I would be asleep and then at peace
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 a snail that melts away as it moves along! Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun!
- Jeremiah 15:10I said, “Oh, mother, how I regret that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.”
- Hosea 9:14Give them, O Lord – what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry, and breasts that cannot nurse!
- Psalms 22:9Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
- Psalms 71:6I have leaned on you since birth; you pulled me from my mother’s womb. I praise you continually.
- Psalms 139:13Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb.
- Isaiah 46:3“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, all you who are left from the family of Israel, you who have been carried from birth, you who have been supported from the time you left 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
Notes
- 1. Job 3:11 Job follows his initial cry with a series of rhetorical questions. His argument runs along these lines: since he was born (v. 10), the next chance he had of escaping this life of misery would have been to be still born (vv. 11-12, 16). In vv. 13-19 Job considers death as falling into a peaceful sleep in a place where there is no trouble. The high frequency of rhetorical questions in series is a characteristic of the Book of Job that sets it off from all other portions of the OT. The effect is primarily dramatic, creating a tension that requires resolution. See W. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 340-41. ↩
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries