Job 3:26 kjv
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
Job 3:26 nkjv
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes."
Job 3:26 niv
I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."
Job 3:26 esv
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes."
Job 3:26 nlt
I have no peace, no quietness.
I have no rest; only trouble comes."
Job 3 26 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 1:5 | ...he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings... lest my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. | Job's prior fear for his children's sanctity. |
| Job 3:25 | For the thing that I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. | Direct context of prior anxieties actualized. |
| Ps 4:8 | In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. | Contrast with true peace and security in God. |
| Ps 22:11 | Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. | Echoes a sense of isolation in trouble. |
| Ps 27:5 | For in the day of trouble he will conceal me in his shelter. | God as a refuge in times of trouble. |
| Ps 38:8 | I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. | Internal suffering and groaning. |
| Ps 55:4 | My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. | Extreme anguish and terror. |
| Ps 69:20 | Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am sick; I looked for sympathy, but there was none. | Heartbroken, sick, lack of comfort. |
| Ps 77:2-3 | In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord... my soul refused to be comforted. | Retrospective inability to find comfort. |
| Ps 88:15-16 | Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless... your dread assaults crush me. | Lifelong suffering and overwhelming terrors. |
| Ps 107:29 | He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. | God's power over chaos, opposite of rogaz. |
| Prov 1:27 | when panic strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. | Description of sudden, overwhelming calamity. |
| Is 57:21 | "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." | Theological implication of lack of peace. |
| Jer 8:18 | My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. | Grief and internal sickness of heart. |
| Jer 20:18 | Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame? | Similar curse of one's birth day due to trouble. |
| Lam 1:3 | Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude. She dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place. | No rest or settled state for those in trouble. |
| Lam 3:1-19 | I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath... He has broken my bones. | Deep personal suffering and affliction. |
| Mt 11:28-29 | Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. | Christ offers true rest for the weary soul. |
| Rom 3:17 | The way of peace they have not known. | Humanity's general state apart from God's way. |
| 2 Thess 1:7 | ...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. | Divine intervention ending suffering (future peace for believers). |
| Heb 4:1, 9-10 | Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands... So then, there remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God... | Promise of eternal rest in God. |
| 1 Pet 4:12 | Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. | Suffering is expected and part of testing. |
Job 3 verses
Job 3 26 Meaning
Job 3:26 conveys Job's profound and continuous lack of peace, tranquility, and rest, which culminates in the very trouble he long dreaded. It's a retrospective confession of deep internal turmoil that existed even during his period of prosperity, serving as a background to the dramatic calamities that later befell him.
Job 3 26 Context
Job chapter 3 marks Job’s profound lament following the initial period of silent mourning (Job 2:13). After days of quiet endurance, Job breaks his silence not with praise, but with a curse upon the day of his birth, expressing a desperate wish to have never existed. This verse (Job 3:26) acts as the bitter climax to his initial outburst of despair. He reveals that his suffering is not just the immediate impact of current tragedies, but the terrifying fulfillment of a deeply ingrained anxiety and absence of inner peace that he always experienced, even during his years of prosperity and blessing. His statement challenges simplistic understandings of well-being, suggesting that a righteous person can still experience a pervasive internal dis-ease.
Job 3 26 Word analysis
לֹא (lo'): Hebrew for "not" or "no." Its repetition four times in this single verse creates a powerful rhetorical device, known as anaphora, emphasizing the absolute and continuous absence of the stated conditions. It underscores Job's utterly negated state of peace.
שָׁלַוְתִּי (shâlaḇtî): (Root: שׁלב shalav) "I was at ease," "I was undisturbed," or "I prospered." This term denotes a sense of internal security, prosperity, and tranquil enjoyment of life, often associated with a peaceful and carefree state. Job asserts he never truly experienced this settled, prosperous calm. This carries an echo of shalom, but highlights its absence.
וְלֹא (ve'lo'): "And not," connecting and intensifying the successive negations.
שָׁקַטְתִּי (shâqaṭtî): (Root: שׁקט shaqat) "I was quiet" or "I was still." This refers to a state of quietness, repose, or freedom from agitation, both internal and external. It implies a cessation of activity or emotional turmoil. Job implies his heart and mind were never truly still or calm.
וְלֹא (ve'lo'): "And not," further stacking the negations.
נָחְתִּי (nāḥtî): (Root: נוח nuakh) "I had rest" or "I rested." This verb specifically speaks of resting from labor, pain, or movement. It denotes a settling down, finding relief, or being physically and mentally reposed. The term is the source of the name "Noah," meaning rest. Job claims he found no such refreshing rest throughout his life.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- לֹא שָׁלַוְתִּי וְלֹא שָׁקַטְתִּי וְלֹא נָחְתִּי (lo' shâlaḇtî ve'lo' shâqaṭtî ve'lo' nāḥtî): "I was not at ease, nor was I quiet; I had no rest." This tri-partite negation, built with synonymous parallelism, comprehensively denies any state of peace, stillness, or repose for Job. It paints a picture of constant, internal anxiety that robbed him of any true shalom, even when externally everything appeared perfect. This long-standing dis-ease indicates a profound psychological and spiritual burden.
- וַיָּבֹא רֹגֶז (wayyābō' rōḡez): "But trouble came." The Hebrew waw-consecutive construction here (wayyāḇō') signifies a consequential or resulting action: the "trouble" arrived as the direct, devastating culmination of his ongoing fear and unrest. רֹגֶז (rōḡez) is a potent word meaning "trouble," "agitation," "rage," "terror," or "trembling." It encompasses both an internal state of violent disturbance and an external calamitous event. The arrival of rogaz solidified his premonitions into grim reality.
Job 3 26 Bonus section
- Polemics against Superficial Theology: Job's statement implicitly refutes a simplistic view prevalent in ancient Israel (and elsewhere) that a righteous person, if truly aligned with God, should experience complete shalom (wholeness, peace, prosperity) and absence of trouble. Job was righteous (Job 1:1, 8), yet his confession reveals a constant internal turmoil that deeply contradicts this easy equation, long before his public calamities.
- The Nature of Fear: This verse highlights that unaddressed, pervasive fear or anxiety (as mentioned in Job 3:25) can strip life of true rest and contentment, even when circumstances are objectively favorable. It illustrates a deep psychological and spiritual dimension to human suffering. The fear becomes the precursor to the manifested terror.
- The Culmination of Suffering: The coming of rogaz (trouble/terror) is presented not as a mere coincidence, but as the inevitable climax of a life already devoid of internal peace. This underlines the profound sense of inevitability Job felt about his suffering.
Job 3 26 Commentary
Job 3:26 offers a piercing insight into Job's soul, extending beyond the immediate crisis to reveal a life characterized by profound anxiety, even amidst apparent blessing. His triple denial of ease, quietness, and rest demonstrates that the calamitous events (Job 1:13-19) did not introduce a novel state of distress, but rather actualized a pre-existing dread. The "trouble" (רֹגֶז, rōḡez) that came upon him was the physical manifestation of the mental and spiritual unrest he had endured all along, amplifying his anguish rather than initiating it. This verse is key to understanding Job's total despair in chapter 3, as it shows that his prior life, while blessed in outward appearance, lacked true inner peace and rest, making him uniquely susceptible to being overwhelmed by external adversity. It subtly challenges the common ANE belief that piety guaranteed a state of unbroken serenity, as Job, a righteous man, still carried the burden of deep-seated anxiety that eventually became externalized.