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Commentary on Job 3 verses 1–10
Long was Job's heart hot within him; and, while he was musing, the fire burned, and the more for being stifled and suppressed. At length he spoke with his tongue, but not such a good word as David spoke after a long pause: Lord, make me to know my end, Psa 39:3, Psa 39:4. Seven days the prophet Ezekiel sat down astonished with the captives, and then (probably on the sabbath day) the word of the Lord came to him, Eze 3:15, Eze 3:16. So long Job and his friends sat thinking, but said nothing; they were afraid of speaking what they thought, lest they should grieve him, and he durst not give vent to his thoughts, lest he should offend them. They came to comfort him, but, finding his afflictions very extraordinary, they began to think comfort did not belong to him, suspecting him to be a hypocrite, and therefore they said nothing. But losers think they may have leave to speak, and therefore Job first gives vent to his thoughts. Unless they had been better, it would however have been well if he had kept them to himself. In short, he cursed his day, the day of his birth, wished he had never been born, could not think or speak of his own birth without regret and vexation. Whereas men usually observe the annual return of their birthday with rejoicing, he looked upon it as the unhappiest day of the year, because the unhappiest of his life, being the inlet into all his woe. Now,
I. This was bad enough. The extremity of his trouble and the discomposure of his spirits may excuse it in part, but he can by no means be justified in it. Now he has forgotten the good he was born to, the lean kine have eaten up the fat ones, and he is filled with thoughts of the evil only, and wishes he had never been born. The prophet Jeremiah himself expressed his painful sense of his calamities in language not much unlike this: Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me! Jer 15:10. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, Jer 20:14, etc. We may suppose that Job in his prosperity had many a time blessed God for the day of his birth, and reckoned it a happy day; yet now he brands it with all possible marks of infamy. When we consider the iniquity in which we were conceived and born we have reason enough to reflect with sorrow and shame upon the day of our birth, and to say that the day of our death, by which we are freed from sin (Rom 6:7), is far better. Ecc 7:1. But to curse the day of our birth because then we entered upon the calamitous scene of life is to quarrel with the God of nature, to despise the dignity of our being, and to indulge a passion which our own calm and sober thoughts will make us ashamed of. Certainly there is no condition of life a man can be in in this world but he may in it (if it be not his own fault) so honour God, and work out his own salvation, and make sure a happiness for himself in a better world, that he will have no reason at all to wish he had never been born, but a great deal of reason to say that he had his being to good purpose. Yet it must be owned, if there were not another life after this, and divine consolations to support us in the prospect of it, so many are the sorrows and troubles of this that we might sometimes be tempted to say that we were made in vain (Psa 89:47), and to wish we had never been. There are those in hell who with good reason wish they had never been born, as Judas, Mat 26:24. But, on this side hell, there can be no reason for so vain and ungrateful a wish. It was Job's folly and weakness to curse his day. We must say of it, This was his infirmity; but good men have sometimes failed in the exercise of those graces which they have been most eminent for, that we may understand that when they are said to be perfect it is meant that they were upright, not that they were sinless. Lastly, Let us observe it, to the honour of the spiritual life above the natural, that though many have cursed the day of their first birth, never any cursed the day of their new-birth, nor wished they never had had grace, and the Spirit of grace, given them. Those are the most excellent gifts, above life and being itself, and which will never be a burden.
II. Yet it was not so bad as Satan promised himself. Job cursed his day, but he did not curse his God - was weary of his life, and would gladly have parted with that, but not weary of his religion; he resolutely cleaves to that, and will never let it go. The dispute between God and Satan concerning Job was not whether Job had his infirmities, and whether he was subject to like passions as we are (that was granted), but whether he was a hypocrite, who secretly hated God, and if he were provoked, would show his hatred; and, upon trial, it proved that he was no such man. Nay, all this may consist with his being a pattern of patience; for, though he did thus speak unadvisedly with his lips, yet both before and after he expressed great submission and resignation to the holy will of God and repented of his impatience; he condemned himself for it, and therefore God did not condemn him, nor must we, but watch the more carefully over ourselves, lest we sin after the similitude of this transgression.
1.The particular expressions which Job used in cursing his day are full of poetical fancy, flame, and rapture, and create as much difficulty to the critics as the thing itself does to the divines: we need not be particular in our observations upon them. When he would express his passionate wish that he had never been, he falls foul upon the day, and wishes,
(1.)That earth might forget it: Let it perish (Job 3:3); let it not be joined to the days of the year, Job 3:6. "Let it be not only not inserted in the calendar in red letters, as the day of the king's nativity useth to be" (and Job was a king, Job 29:25), "but let it be erased and blotted out, and buried in oblivion. Let not the world know that ever such a man as I was born into it, and lived in it, who am made such a spectacle of misery."
(2.)That Heaven might frown upon it: Let not God regard it from above, Job 3:4. "Every thing is indeed as it is with God; that day is honourable on which he puts honour, and which he distinguishes and crowns with his favour and blessing, as he did the seventh day of the week; but let my birthday never be so honoured; let it be nigro carbone notandus - marked as with a black coal for an evil day by him that determines the times before appointed. The father and fountain of light appointed the greater light to rule the day and the less lights to rule the night; but let that want the benefit of both." [1.] Let that day be darkness (Job 3:4); and, if the light of the day be darkness, how great is that darkness! how terrible! because then we look for light. Let the gloominess of the day represent Job's condition, whose sun went down at noon. [2.] As for that night too, let it want the benefit of moon and stars, and let darkness seize upon it, thick darkness, darkness that may be felt, which will not befriend the repose of the night by its silence, but rather disturb it with its terrors.
(3.)That all joy might forsake it: "Let it be a melancholy night, solitary, and not a merry night of music and dancing. Let no joyful voice come therein (Job 3:7); let it be a long night, and not see the eye-lids of the morning (Job 3:9), which bring joy with them."
(4.)That all curses might follow it (Job 3:8): "Let none ever desire to see it, or bid it welcome when it comes, but, on the contrary, let those curse it that curse the day. Whatever day any are tempted to curse, let them at the same time bestow one curse upon my birthday, particularly those that make it their trade to raise up mourning at funerals with their ditties of lamentation. Let those that curse the day of the death of others in the same breath curse the day of my birth." Or those who are so fierce and daring as to be ready to raise up the Leviathan (for that is the word here), who, being about to strike the whale or crocodile, curse it with the bitterest curse they can invent, hoping by their incantations to weaken it, and so to make themselves master of it. Probably some such custom might there be used, to which our divine poet alludes. "Let it be as odious as the day wherein men bewail the greatest misfortune, or the time wherein they see the most dreadful apparition;" so bishop Patrick, I suppose taking the Leviathan here to signify the devil, as others do, who understand it of the curses used by conjurors and magicians in raising the devil, or when they have raised a devil that they cannot lay.
2.But what is the ground of Job's quarrel with the day and night of his birth? It is because it shut not up the doors of his mother's womb, Job 3:10. See the folly and madness of a passionate discontent, and how absurdly and extravagantly it talks when the reins are laid on the neck of it. Is this Job, who was so much admired for his wisdom that unto him men gave ear, and kept silence at his counsel, and after his words they spoke not again? Job 29:21, Job 29:11. Surely his wisdom failed him, (1.) When he took so much pains to express his desire that he had never been born, which, at the best was a vain wish, for it is impossible to make that which has been not to have been. (2.) When he was so liberal of his curses upon a day and a night that could not be hurt, or made any the worse for his curses. (3.) When he wished a thing so very barbarous to his own mother as that she had not brought him forth when her full time had come, which must inevitably have been her death, and a miserable death. (4.) When he despised the goodness of God to him in giving him a being (such a being, so noble and excellent a life, such a life, so far above that of any other creature in this lower world), and undervalued the gift, as not worth the acceptance, only because transit cum onere - it was clogged with a proviso of trouble, which now at length came upon him, after many years' enjoyment of its pleasures. What a foolish thing it was to wish that his eyes had never seen the light, that so they might not have seen sorrow, which yet he might hope to see through, and beyond which he might see joy! Did Job believe and hope that he should in his flesh see God at the latter day (Job 19:26), and yet would he wish he had never had a being capable of such a bliss, only because, for the present, he had sorrow in the flesh? God by his grace arm us against this foolish and hurtful lust of impatience.
The wise man is no babbler, nor does he utter through his mouth anything that cannot happen. Thus he does not curse the day as a period of time but those things that occurred on that day. For it is Scripture’s custom to call occurrences a “day.” This the psalmist teaches us, when he says, “The Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.” Thereby he does not refer to “day of trouble” as a period of time but to the trouble that happened on that day. Paul’s statement, “because the days are evil,” also has the same meaning. One can say that the day’s events are good for some and bad for others. Thus, for the people of Israel who crossed the Red Sea against their expectations, the day was good. For the Egyptians, however, the day was bad, for “they sank like lead in the mighty waters.”
Human beings are apt to curse and grumble against the misfortunes that befall them. God, in fact, does not expect insensitivity on our part. But when we are in tribulations and suffer those afflictions that strike us, God expects that we not abandon ourselves to blasphemous words but use those that demonstrate our grief and express the seriousness of our misery.
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SUMMARY
Job 3:2 serves as a profoundly significant narrative hinge, marking the dramatic cessation of Job's seven days of silent, agonizing grief and the commencement of his vocal, deeply personal lament. This brief declaration signals a pivotal shift from the narrative exposition of Job's calamities and his initial stoic endurance to the raw, poetic dialogue that will dominate the remainder of the book, as Job begins to articulate his profound anguish, questioning, and despair in the face of inexplicable suffering.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 3:2, though brief, is rich in literary significance. It functions as a powerful Transition, moving the narrative from the prose account of Job's suffering to the poetic dialogue that constitutes the core of the book. This abrupt shift underscores the dramatic intensity of the moment. The verse also employs Foreshadowing, hinting at the profound and often agonizing theological and philosophical debate that will unfold between Job and his friends. It signals that Job's initial stoicism has reached its breaking point, and a new phase of verbal wrestling with his circumstances is about to begin. Furthermore, there is an element of Dramatic Irony, as the friends, who have come to comfort Job, are about to be confronted not with words of patient endurance, but with a raw, almost blasphemous lament that challenges conventional wisdom about suffering and divine justice.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 3:2 encapsulates the profound human need to articulate suffering, even when it involves questioning God. It affirms that lament is not a sign of weak faith but often a deeply honest and necessary expression within a relationship with a sovereign God. This verse initiates a theological exploration of divine justice, the nature of suffering, and the limits of human understanding. It sets the stage for Job's wrestling with the traditional retribution theology espoused by his friends, forcing a deeper consideration of God's ways beyond simplistic cause-and-effect explanations.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 3:2, in its stark simplicity, offers a profound lesson for navigating our own seasons of intense suffering. It reminds us that while there is a time for silent endurance and processing, there also comes a crucial moment when we must break that silence and give voice to our pain, our questions, and our laments. Job's decision to speak, even if his initial words are born of despair, validates the human need for honest expression before God and others. It teaches us that authentic faith does not demand stoic silence in the face of agony, but rather invites us into a raw, vulnerable dialogue with the divine. This act of speaking out, of wrestling with our deepest sorrows and doubts, can be a vital part of the healing process, allowing us to acknowledge the full weight of our experience and preventing the corrosive effects of suppressed grief. It encourages us to bring our whole selves—our pain, our anger, our confusion—before God, trusting that He is big enough to handle our lament and that true comfort often begins with honest articulation.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did Job wait seven days to speak, and what is the significance of this delay?
Answer: Job's seven-day silence (and his friends' accompanying silence) is a profound cultural and spiritual marker. In ancient Near Eastern mourning rituals, a seven-day period was common for intense grief, signifying deep respect for the deceased or the magnitude of the suffering. For Job, this period likely represents the initial shock and overwhelming nature of his losses, during which he was physically and emotionally incapacitated, able only to sit in the dust. The significance of this delay is manifold: it underscores the sheer depth of his anguish, allowing the full weight of his calamities to settle; it highlights the initial, silent empathy of his friends; and it builds dramatic tension, making his eventual breaking of silence in Job 3:2 all the more powerful and intentional. His speaking is not a casual utterance but a deliberate, agonizing response to an unbearable reality.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 3:2, marking the beginning of Job's profound lament, finds its ultimate echo and fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. While Job's suffering was a test of his righteousness, Christ's suffering was a perfect, substitutionary act for the sins of humanity. Yet, in His humanity, Jesus fully embraced the experience of lament, validating the very human need to express profound anguish. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus "began to be sorrowful and troubled," crying out to God with "loud cries and tears" (Hebrews 5:7), asking for the cup to be removed (Matthew 26:39). On the cross, Jesus' ultimate lament—"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)—mirrors Job's desperate cry, demonstrating that even the Son of God, in His perfect obedience, did not suppress the agony of His suffering. Christ's lament, unlike Job's, was not born of confusion about His own sin, but out of bearing the sin of the world, thereby sanctifying human suffering and validating the expression of pain before God. He is the one who truly "spake, and said" in the depths of unimaginable agony, yet His lament ultimately led to victory over death and the promise that He would "wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 21:4).