Job 3

Job · Chapter 3

Job 3:23

1After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.2And Job spake, and said,3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.4Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.6As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.7Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.8Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:10Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.11Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?12Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?13For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,14With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;15Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:16Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.17There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.18There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.19The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.20Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;21Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;22Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?23Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?24For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.25For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.26I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
23Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
to a manלְ֭גֶבֶרLE-ge-verH1397
great man

גָּבֶר (ga.ver) man, strong man, warrior (emphasising strength or ability to fight)

whomאֲשֶׁר־'a-SHER-H0834A
which

אֲשֶׁר (a.sher) A: 1) (relative part.) 1a) which, who 1b) that which 2) (conj) 2a) that (in obj clause) 2b) when 2c) since 2d) as 2e) conditional if B: Beth+ 1) in (that) which 2) (adv) 2a) where 3) (conj) 3a) in that, inasmuch as 3b) on account of C: Mem+ 1) from (or than) that which 2) from (the place) where 3) from (the fact) that, since D: Kaph+ 1) (conj.), according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

way hisדַּרְכּ֣וֹdar-KOH1870L
way: conduct

דֶּ֫רֶךְ (de.rekh) : conduct/lifestyle 1) way, road, distance, journey, manner 1a) road, way, path 1b) journey 1c) direction 1d) manner, habit, way 1e) of course of life (fig.) 1f) of moral character (fig.)

it is hiddenנִסְתָּ֑רָהnis-TA-rahH5641
to hide

סָתַר (sa.tar) 1) to hide, conceal 1a) (Niphal) 1a1) to hide oneself 1a2) to be hidden, be concealed 1b) (Piel) to hide carefully 1c) (Pual) to be hidden carefully, be concealed 1d) (Hiphil) to conceal, hide 1e) (Hithpael) to hide oneself carefully Aramaic equivalent: se.tar (סְתַר "to hide" H5642A)

and he has made inaccessibleוַיָּ֖סֶךְvai-YA-sekhH5526A
to fence

סוּךְ (sukh) (Qal) to hedge, fence about, shut in

Godאֱל֣וֹהַּ'e-LO-ahH0433
god

אֱלָהּ (e.lah) 1) god, God 1a) god, heathen deity 1b) God (of Israel)

behind himבַּעֲדֽוֹ׃ba-'a-DOH1157
about/through/for

בַּ֫עַד (be.ad) 1) behind, through, round about, on behalf of, away from, about 1a) through (of action) 1b) behind (with verbs of shutting) 1c) about (with verbs of fencing) 1d) on behalf of (metaph. especially with Hithpael)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.