Job 3:16 kjv
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
Job 3:16 nkjv
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light?
Job 3:16 niv
Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
Job 3:16 esv
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?
Job 3:16 nlt
Why wasn't I buried like a stillborn child,
like a baby who never lives to see the light?
Job 3 16 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 10:18-19 | Why then have you brought me out of the womb? ...I would have been as though I had not been. | Echoes desire for non-existence. |
| Job 14:1 | Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble. | Corroborates Job's rationale for wanting no existence. |
| Job 21:23-26 | One dies in his full vigor... and another dies in bitterness of soul... Both alike lie in the dust. | Implies equality in death, contrasting Job's living suffering. |
| Psa 58:8 | Let them be like a slug that melts away as it moves, like a stillbirth that never sees the sun. | Poetic imagery of dissolution and non-existence for the wicked. |
| Psa 139:13 | For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. | God's creative act in the womb, contrasted by Job's wish. |
| Ecc 4:2-3 | I congratulate the dead who are already dead more than the living... Better than both is he who has not yet been. | Direct parallel in longing for non-existence over life's troubles. |
| Ecc 6:3-5 | ...even if he live a thousand years... I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in futility and goes into darkness... and has not seen the sun. | Strong parallel: preferring stillbirth due to futility of life. |
| Jer 15:10 | Woe to me, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man of strife! | Jeremiah’s lament similar to Job’s cursing of his birth. |
| Jer 20:14-18 | Cursed be the day on which I was born!... Why did I come out of the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame? | Jeremiah’s cursing of his birth and desire for non-existence. |
| 1 Ki 19:4 | But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree and asked that he might die. | Elijah’s desire for death from overwhelming despair. |
| Jon 4:3 | Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. | Jonah’s desperate request for death. |
| Job 3:11 | Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? | Preceding verse in Job, expresses direct desire for immediate death. |
| Job 3:13 | For now I would have lain down in peace; I would have slept... | Context: death as a state of rest and cessation of suffering. |
| Gen 2:7 | ...the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature. | Life as God's divine gift; Job wishing to forgo this gift. |
| Ps 88:4-5 | I am counted among those who go down to the pit... laid in the lowest pit, in utter darkness. | Darkness and pit as imagery for death and forgotten state. |
| Ps 115:17 | The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. | Death as silence, contrasting with painful existence. |
| Isa 57:1-2 | The righteous perishes, and no one lays it to heart... He enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in uprightness. | Death for the righteous as a pathway to peace and rest. |
| Rom 5:12 | Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin... | Points to origin of human suffering and death in a fallen world. |
| Rom 8:22-23 | For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together... we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption... | Describes the universal groaning under suffering. |
| Php 1:21 | For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. | Apostle Paul's perspective on death, seeing it as release for believers. |
| Heb 2:14-15 | ...he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. | Addresses freedom from the fear of death; Job desires release through death. |
| Rev 21:4 | He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning... | Future hope of ultimate cessation of pain, contrasted with Job's current longing. |
Job 3 verses
Job 3 16 Meaning
Job 3:16 captures the extreme depths of Job’s despair, expressing a fervent wish for a state of utter non-existence, preferring to have never seen the light of day. He articulates a longing for the oblivion of a hidden stillbirth, which never experienced consciousness or the sorrows of life, or for the quiet demise of an infant who died before life’s realities could bring suffering. This verse portrays a yearning for peace through an absolute absence of being.
Job 3 16 Context
Job chapter 3 marks a pivotal shift in the book, moving from Job's patient endurance and worship (Job 1-2) to his profound lamentation over his suffering. After seven days of silent mourning with his friends, Job breaks his silence not to complain against God, but to express an overwhelming wish for non-existence. His curses on the day of his birth (Job 3:1-10) culminate in the desire presented in verse 16. This verse specifically articulates Job's preferred scenario: to have been a miscarriage or a stillborn infant, thus avoiding all of life’s pains and experiences. Historically, in the ancient Near East, life was largely seen as a blessing from the gods, and long life was a sign of divine favor. Childbirth and procreation were highly valued. Job's radical wish to have never lived thus powerfully subverts this prevailing cultural understanding, showcasing the unparalleled depths of his agony. His words are not merely poetic hyperbole but a raw outpouring of a soul crushed by unexplained calamity.
Job 3 16 Word analysis
- Or (כִּי, kî): This Hebrew conjunction introduces a further alternative or intensification of Job's previous wishes (v.11-15). It can be translated as "or," "for," "indeed," or "surely," here indicating another, perhaps more complete, mode of non-existence that Job desires.
- as (כְּ, kə-): A prefix used to denote comparison, meaning "like" or "as." It introduces a simile, likening his desired state to specific scenarios.
- a hidden stillbirth (נֵפֶל טָמוּן, nêfel ṭāmûn):
- Stillbirth (נֵפֶל, nêfel): This word literally means "a falling," referring to something prematurely expelled or undeveloped, often translated as miscarriage or stillbirth. In ancient contexts, a nephel was often not fully acknowledged, rarely named, and quickly interred without formal burial rituals, thus signifying obscurity and utter cessation.
- Hidden (טָמוּן, ṭāmûn): Means concealed, put away, or hidden. In this context, it emphasizes the unknown, unmourned, and unremembered nature of a stillbirth. It signifies the perfect anonymity and freedom from public sorrow or a life of hardship.
- I would not be (אֵינֶנִּי, ʾênennî): A strong statement meaning "I am not" or "I would not exist." It conveys a definitive desire for absolute non-existence, rather than just having died later.
- As (כְּ, kə-): Again, the comparative prefix, introducing another analogy for non-existence.
- infants (כְּיוּנְקִים, kəyûnqîm): This word literally refers to "sucklings" or "nursing babies," implying extreme youth and innocence, before conscious awareness or capacity for suffering develops.
- who never saw light (לֹא רָאוּ אוֹר, lōʾ rāʾû ʾôr):
- Saw light (רָאוּ אוֹר, rāʾû ʾôr): The phrase "to see light" is a common biblical idiom for coming into existence, experiencing life, or being born (Psa 49:19, Ecc 6:5).
- Never (לֹא, lōʾ): The negative particle, signifying a complete absence or negation of seeing light.
- Together, this phrase expresses the desire for absolute non-entry into the world of experience, consciousness, and especially, suffering. It is a longing for eternal unconsciousness and peace.
Job 3 16 Bonus section
Job's desire in this verse transcends a simple wish for physical death; it speaks to a metaphysical craving for erasure from existence itself. This distinguishes his lament from others who might wish to die (e.g., Elijah, Jonah) in moments of crisis. He is contemplating a life that has gone so awry, so contrary to his understanding of divine justice, that he wishes to undo its very genesis. This raw honesty resonates with anyone who has faced inexplicable or crushing suffering, articulating a primal human impulse to escape rather than endure. It raises profound questions about the value of life itself when overwhelmed by pain, setting the stage for the intense theological debates that follow between Job and his friends. This wish for "not being" is in stark contrast to the divine valuing of human life from conception, as seen in Psalms and prophetic books (e.g., Ps 139:13-16; Jer 1:5). Job’s despair thus forms a challenging backdrop to biblical teachings on creation and purpose.
Job 3 16 Commentary
Job 3:16 serves as a powerful testament to the overwhelming nature of human suffering. In this verse, Job descends further into his lament, not merely wishing for death after having experienced life (as in Job 3:11), but articulating a longing for a state of never having existed at all. The imagery of a "hidden stillbirth" (a silent, unnoticed non-life) and "infants who never saw light" (a pure, unblemished pre-existence) illustrates the depth of his desire for complete oblivion. This is not suicide ideation but a deep, primal yearning to reverse the divine act of his creation to escape a life that has become unbearable. His lament underscores a core theme of the book of Job: the radical vulnerability of human life to suffering that defies understanding or conventional explanation. The verse highlights Job's despairing pursuit of ultimate rest and release, which he sees, in his current anguish, only in absolute non-being. It is a poignant expression of the limits of human endurance when confronted with intense, seemingly senseless pain.