Passage

Job 3

Book: Job · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 2. And Job answered and said: 3. Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived. 4. Let that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon it. 5. Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let all that maketh black the day terrify it. 6. As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it: Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months. 7. Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein. 8. Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to rouse up leviathan. 9. Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning: 10. Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes. 11. Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me? 12. Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck? 13. For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest, 14. With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up waste places for themselves; 15. Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver: 16. Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest. 18. There the prisoners are at ease together; They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 19. The small and the great are there: And the servant is free from his master. 20. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul; 21. Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures; 22. Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave? 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in? 24. For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groanings are poured out like water. 25. For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me. 26. I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh." (Job 3:1-26, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. 2. Job answered: 3. “Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’ 4. Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it. 5. Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it. 6. As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months. 7. Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein. 8. Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan. 9. Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning, 10. because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes. 11. “Why didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t I give up the spirit when my mother bore me? 12. Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse? 13. For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest, 14. with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves; 15. or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver: 16. or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest. 18. There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster. 19. The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master. 20. “Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul, 21. Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 22. who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 24. For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water. 25. For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me. 26. I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble comes.”" (Job 3:1-26, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 2. And Job spake, and said, ^{spake: Heb. answered} 3. Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. 4. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. 5. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. ^{stain: or, challenge} ^{let the: or, let them terrify it, as those who have a bitter day} 6. As 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. ^{let it not be: or, let it not rejoice among the days} 7. Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. 8. Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. ^{their: or, leviathan} 9. Let 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: ^{the dawning: Heb. the eyelids of the morning} 10. Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. 11. Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? 12. Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? 13. For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, 14. With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; 15. Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: 16. Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. ^{weary: Heb. wearied in strength} 18. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. 19. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. 20. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; 21. Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; ^{long: Heb. wait} 22. Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? 24. For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. ^{I eat: Heb. my meat} 25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. ^{the thing: Heb. I feared a fear, and it came upon me} 26. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came." (Job 3:1-26, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day. 2. And Job answereth and saith:, 3. Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: 'A man-child hath been conceived.' 4. That day, let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it. 5. Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days. 6. That night, let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come. 7. Lo! that night, let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it. 8. Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan. 9. Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn. 10. Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes. 11. Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp! 12. Wherefore have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck? 13. For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept, then there is rest to me, 14. With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves. 15. Or with princes, they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver. 16. (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants, they have not seen light.) 17. There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power. 18. Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor, 19. Small and great [are] there the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord. 20. Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul? 21. Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures. 22. Who are glad, unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave. 23. To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up? 24. For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters [are] my roarings. 25. For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me. 26. I was not safe, nor was I quiet, Nor was I at rest, and trouble cometh!" (Job 3:1-26, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.