Job 3:23

Job 3:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in?
• New Living Translation (NLT)Why is life given to those with no future, those God has surrounded with difficulties?

Context of Job 3:23

21to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, 22who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 24For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. 25What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

Job 3:23 word by word

לְ֭גֶבֶר אֲשֶׁר־דַּרְכּ֣וֹ נִסְתָּ֑רָה וַיָּ֖סֶךְ אֱל֣וֹהַּ בַּעֲדֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• to a manגָּבֶרgeber · great manH1397
• whose wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
• is hidסָתַרsâthar · to hideH5641
• and whom Godאֱלֹהַּ'ĕlôahh 'ĕlôahh · godH433
• hath hedged inסוּךְsâkak ώâkak · to fenceH5526

Cross-references for Job 3:23

• Isaiah 40:27Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
• Job 12:14What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released.
• Job 19:8He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
• Psalms 31:8You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.
• Lamentations 3:7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.
• Hosea 2:6Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.

Commentaries on Job 3:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23To a man whose way is hid - Who knows not what is before him in either world, but is full of fears and trembling concerning both. God hath hedged in? - Leaving him no way to escape; and not permitting him to see one step before him. There is an exact parallel to this passage in Lamentations 3:7, Lamentations 3:9; : He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone. Mr. Good translates the verse thus: To the man whose…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Why is light given “to a man uhose way is hid?” That is, who does not know what way to take, and who sees no escape from the misery that surrounds him. Whom God hath hedged in - See Notes, Job 1:10. The meaning here is, that God had surrounded him as with a high wall or hedge, so that he could not move freely. Job asks with impatience, why light, that is, life, should be given to such a man? Why should he not be permitted to die? This closes the complaint…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-26Verses 20-26 Job was like a man who had lost his way, and had no prospect of escape, or hope of better times. But surely he was in an ill frame for death when so unwilling to live. Let it be our constant care to get ready for another world, and then leave it to God to order our removal thither as he thinks fit. Grace teaches us in the midst of life's greatest comforts, to be willing to die, and in the midst of its greatest crosses, to be willing to live…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
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. whose way is hid--The picture of Job is drawn from a wanderer who has lost his way, and who is hedged in, so as to have no exit of escape (Ho 2:6; La 3:7, 9).Read the comment

Topics related to Job 3:23

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Despondency

In the dictionaries

• God
• Above
• Dig
• Roaring
• Safety
• Solitary
• Job, Book of

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