New Living Translation
Job 3:11
11“Why wasn’t I born dead? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
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 remain dark. Let it hope for light, but in vain; may it never see the morning light. 10Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to see all this trouble. “Why wasn’t I born dead? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb? 12Why was I laid on my mother’s lap? Why did she nurse me at her breasts? 13Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace. I would be asleep and 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 58:8May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.
- Jeremiah 15:10Then I said, “What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay— yet they all curse me.”
- Hosea 9:14O Lord, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth and breasts that give no milk.
- Psalms 22:9Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
- Psalms 71:6Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!
- Psalms 139:13You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
- Isaiah 46:3“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born.
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
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