In this chapter we have an account of Job’s cursing the day of his birth, and the night of his conception; Job 3:1–3; first the day, to which he wishes the most extreme darkness, Job 3:4, Job 3:5; then the night, to which he wishes the same and that it might be destitute of all joy, and be cursed…

After this opened Job his mouth order to speak, and began to speak of his troubles and afflictions, and the sense he had of them; for though, this phrase may sometimes signify to speak aloud, clearly and distinctly, and with great freedom and boldness, yet here it seems to design no more than…

And Job spake, and said. ] Or “answered and said” [[18]], though not a word was spoken to him by his friends; he answered to his own calamity, and to their silence, as Schmidt observes; and this word is sometimes used when nothing goes before, to which the answer is, as many Jewish writers observe,…

Let the day perish wherein I was born Here begins Job’s form of cursing his day, and which explains what is meant by it; and it may be understood either of the identical day of his birth, and then the sense is, that he wished that had never been, or, in other words, that he had never been born; and…

Let that day be darkness Not only dark, but darkness itself, extremely dark; and which is to be understood not figuratively of the darkness of affliction and calamity; this Job would not wish for, either for himself, who had enough of that, or for others; but literally of gross natural darkness,…

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it Let there be such darkness on it as on persons when dying, or in the state of the dead; hence the sorest afflictions, and the state of man in unregeneracy, are compared unto it, ; let there be nothing but foul weather, dirt, and darkness in it, which…

As for that night The night of conception; Job imprecated evils on the day he was born, now on the night he was conceived in, the returns of it: let darkness seize upon it; let it not only he deprived of the light of the moon and stars, but let an horrible darkness seize upon it, that it may be an…

Lo, let that night be solitary Let there be no company for journeys, or doing any business; no meetings of friends, neighbours, or relations on it, for refreshment, pleasure, and recreation, after the business of the day is over, as is frequently done; let there be no associations of this kind, or…

Let them curse it that curse the day Their own day, either their birthday, or any day on which evil befalls them; and now such as are used to this, Job would have them, while they were cursing their own day, to throw some curses upon his; or that curse the daylight in general, as adulterers and…

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark Either of the morning or evening twilight; both may be meant, rather the latter, because of the following clause; the sense is, let not these appear to adorn the heavens, and to relieve the darkness of the night, and make it more pleasant and…

Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb Or “of my belly” [[11]], or “womb”; which Aben Ezra interprets of the navel, by which the infant receives its food and nourishment before it is born, and which, if closed, he must have died in embryo; but rather it is to be understood of his…

Why died I not from the womb? &c.] That is, as soon as he came out of it; or rather, as soon as he was in it, or from the time that he was in it; or however, while he was in it, that so he might not have come alive out of it; which sense seems best to agree both with what goes before and follows…

Why did the knees prevent me? &c.] Not of the mother, as Jarchi, but of the midwife, who received him into her lap, and nourished and cherished him, washed him with water, salted, and swaddled him; or it may be of his father, with whom it was usual to take the child on his knees as soon as born,…

For now should I have lain still, and been quiet Signifying, that if the above had been his case, if he had died as soon as born, or quickly after, then he would have been laid in the grave, where he would have lain as still as on a bed; for such is the grave to dead bodies as a bed is to those…

With the kings and counsellors of the earth From whom he might descend, he being a person of great distinction and figure; and so, had he died, he would have been buried in the sepulchres of his ancestors, and have lain in great pomp and state: or rather this he says, to observe that death spares…

Or with princes that had gold A large abundance of it while they lived, but now, being dead, were no longer in the possession of it, but on a level with those that had none; nor could their gold, while they had it, preserve them from death, and now, being dead, it was no longer theirs, nor of any…

Or as an hidden untimely birth Or “hid, as one born out of time”, as Mr. Broughton reads it; the Septuagint use the same word as the apostle does, when he says the like of himself, ; the word has the signification of “falling” [[17]], and designs an abortive, which is like to fruit that falls from…

There the wicked cease from troubling At death, and in the grave; such who have been like the troubled sea, that cannot rest, have always been either devising or doing mischief while living, in the grave can do neither; there is no work nor device there; such who are never easy, and cannot sleep…

There the prisoners rest together “Are at ease”, as Mr. Broughton renders the words; such who while they lived were in prison for debt, or were condemned to the galleys, to lead a miserable life; or such who suffered bonds and imprisonment for the sake of religion, at death their chains are knocked…

The small and great are there Both as to age, and with respect to bulk and strength of body, and also to estate and dignity; children and men, or those of low and high stature, or in a mean or more exalted state of life, as to riches and honour, these all come to the grave without any difference,…

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery That labours under various calamities and afflictions, as Job did, being stripped of his substance, deprived of his children, and now in great pain of body and distress of mind; who, since he died not so soon as he wished he had, expostulates why…

Which long for death, but it cometh not Who earnestly desire, wistly look out, wish for, and expect it, and with open mouth gape for it, as a hungry man for his food, or as the fish for the bait, or the fishermen for the fish, as some [[0]] observe the word may signify; but it comes not to their…

Which rejoice exceedingly Or, “which joy till they do skip again”, as Mr. Broughton renders it, and to the same purport others [[3]]; are so elated as to skip and dance for joy: and are glad when they can find the grave; which is to be understood either of those who dig in the earth for hid…

Why is light given to a man whose way is hid Some of the Jewish writers connect this with , thus; “who rejoice and are glad when they find a grave for a man” but it should be observed that such are said to rejoice at finding a grave, not for others, but for themselves; the words stand in better…

For my sighing cometh before I eat Or, “before my bread”, or “food” [[6]]; before he sat down to eat, or had tasted of his food, there were nothing but sighing and sobbing, so that he had no appetite for his food, and could take no delight in it; and, while he was eating, his tears mingled with it,…

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me Some refer this to his fears about his children, lest they should sin and offend God, and bring down his judgments on them, and now what he feared was come to pass, ; others take in all his sorrows and troubles; which, through the changeableness…

I was not in safety This cannot refer to the time of his prosperity; for he certainly then was in safety, God having set an hedge about him, so that none of his enemies, nor even Satan himself, could come at him to hurt him: neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; which also was not true of him…