Job Chapter 3

Job Curses the Day of His Birth
A. Wishes he had never been born

1. (Job 3:1–2) Job will curse his birth day, but not his God

“After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said,”

a. After this: These words mark a decisive turning point in the narrative. This moment comes after the full weight of catastrophe has fallen upon Job, after the destruction of his wealth, the death of his children, the affliction of his body, and after the silent, compassionate presence of his friends for seven days and seven nights. Up to this point, Job has endured suffering without verbal complaint. Now, after prolonged silence and reflection, Job finally speaks. His words do not erupt in haste but emerge after days of internal wrestling. This emphasizes that what follows is not a careless outburst but the expression of deep, sustained anguish.

b. Cursed the day of his birth: This statement is carefully worded by Scripture. Job does not curse God, nor does he curse himself. He curses the day of his birth, the moment his life began. This distinction is critical. Satan’s accusation was that Job would curse God to His face, as stated in Job 1:11, “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face,” and again in Job 2:5, “But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.” Satan was wrong. Even in the depths of despair, Job’s reverence for God remains intact.

Job’s curse is directed at existence itself, not at the Creator. He laments that he was ever brought into a world where such suffering could occur. This reflects extreme grief, not rebellion. Job’s faith is wounded, but it is not destroyed. He questions life, but he does not renounce God.

i. Job’s perspective was not unique in the ancient world. Among many ancient cultures, life was viewed as filled with inevitable suffering, labor, and sorrow. Herodotus recorded that some peoples mourned at birth because a new life was entering a world of pain and rejoiced at death because suffering had ended. Job’s lament fits within this ancient worldview, yet Scripture preserves it not to endorse despair, but to honestly portray the inner anguish of a righteous sufferer.

ii. This chapter marks the beginning of the true inner conflict of the book. Job will not lose more possessions, nor will he bury more children, yet the struggle now intensifies. The battle moves from the external realm into the depths of the mind and soul. Job must now wrestle with how to interpret his suffering, how to understand God’s dealings with him, and how to live with the apparent silence of heaven. These questions do not end with Job; they arise in the heart of every sufferer. The outward catastrophe is often only the doorway into a far deeper internal struggle.

iii. As Mason observed, one of the most sobering aspects of Job’s experience is that he never descends into madness. He does not lose touch with reality or escape into delusion. Instead, he faces his suffering fully conscious, fully aware, and fully engaged. His pain is sharpened, not dulled, by clarity of mind. This makes his endurance all the more remarkable and his lament all the more honest.

Job’s opening words in this chapter introduce a long, painful meditation on life, suffering, and existence itself. Yet even here, at the edge of despair, Job’s integrity remains intact. He curses the day, but he still refuses to curse the God who gave it.

2. (Job 3:3–10) Job curses the day of his birth

“Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 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. Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. 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: Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.”

a. Let the day perish wherein I was born: Job now gives full expression to his anguish through poetic lament. He does not merely wish that his birth had been different, but that the very day itself would perish, as though it could be erased from existence. He intensifies the lament by reaching back beyond his birth to the night of his conception. Job’s reasoning is not logical in a strict sense, but emotional and existential. His pain has driven him to conclude that non existence would have been preferable to the overwhelming suffering he now endures.

i. From this point forward, the book enters a long poetic dialogue. The speeches that follow are not courtroom arguments or philosophical essays but impassioned expressions of grief, confusion, and attempted explanation. Sometimes the speakers directly answer one another, and sometimes they speak past one another entirely. Job often speaks directly toward God, even when addressing the nature of his suffering, while his friends speak about God without ever speaking to Him. This distinction becomes critical as the dialogue unfolds.

ii. Beginning with Job 3:3, the language shifts decisively into Hebrew poetry. This requires careful interpretation. Poetry employs metaphor, hyperbole, and vivid imagery to convey emotional truth rather than technical precision. As Smick observed, when Job later speaks of God as though He were an enemy, these are expressions of poetic anguish rather than settled theological conclusions. The broader context confirms that Job never abandons his faith in God’s righteousness.

b. Let that day be darkness: Job despises the day of his birth and wishes it could be plunged back into primordial chaos. He imagines a reversal of creation itself. He desires that God would not even look upon that day, that light would be withheld from it, and that darkness would dominate it entirely. This represents Job’s strongest protest yet, not against God’s existence, but against God’s providential ordering of his life.

i. Smick notes the deliberate echo of Genesis 1:3, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Job, using the same creation language, longs for the opposite, that darkness would prevail instead. This is not rational theology but poetic extremity. Job is giving full voice to his torment, not constructing a doctrine of creation reversal.

ii. Even here, Job does not curse God. He curses the day. Trapp insightfully remarked that Job’s grief rages beyond reason, yet the Spirit restrains him from plunging into blasphemy or utter despair, which was precisely Satan’s objective. Job stands at the edge, but he does not cross it.

c. Let them curse it that curse the day: Job invokes the imagery of professional cursers, those known in the ancient world for pronouncing ritual maledictions. He is not endorsing their practices or affirming their power. Rather, he is employing culturally familiar imagery to intensify his lament. His desire is that even those who habitually utter curses would focus all their venom upon the day of his birth.

i. Lawson rightly notes that Job is communicating vividly rather than doctrinally. He is not placing trust in sorcery or occult power. He is expressing the depth of his wish that his existence had never begun.

d. Who are ready to raise up Leviathan: This is the first appearance of Leviathan in Scripture, a figure that will later receive extended treatment in Job 41:1, “Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?” In ancient thought, Leviathan was associated with chaos, terror, and the untamable forces of the sea. Sailors and fishermen feared it, and its very name evoked dread.

i. In this context, Job’s meaning is comparative. Just as men would curse Leviathan with fierce intensity when threatened by it, so Job wishes that same intensity of curse would fall upon the day of his birth. As Poole observed, Job does not justify these practices but passionately wishes that those who habitually curse undeservedly would direct their curse where he believes it belongs.

ii. Smick explains that in surrounding mythologies, Leviathan represented a chaos monster, and even the sea itself was viewed as a hostile power that could be aroused. Job, however, is a strict monotheist. He does not believe in rival deities. He uses this imagery purely as poetic expression.

iii. Andersen affirms that Leviathan corresponds to the chaos dragon of ancient myth. Scripture later consistently portrays God as supreme over such chaos. Psalm 74:13–14 declares, “Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.”

iv. Leviathan appears elsewhere as a symbol of God’s power over chaos and pride. Psalm 104:26 states, “There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.” Isaiah 27:1 speaks prophetically, “In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” Job 26:12–13 also affirms, “He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.”

v. Some ancient rabbinic traditions spoke of a primordial serpent resisting creation in Genesis 1:1–2, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” While Scripture does not affirm these myths, it does consistently present God as sovereign over all chaos, whether literal or symbolic.

vi. Satan is later portrayed as a serpent and a dragon in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made,” and in Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.” The sea likewise symbolizes unrest and danger in Isaiah 57:20, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt,” and in Revelation 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” Within this symbolic framework, Leviathan can be understood as an image of chaos and opposition ultimately subject to God.

vii. John Trapp wisely avoided extended speculation on Leviathan, humorously noting that excessive exposition could weary both reader and expositor alike. His restraint serves as a reminder that the central point is not the creature itself, but Job’s anguish expressed through powerful imagery.

Job’s curse concludes by stating that the night of his conception failed to prevent his birth and therefore failed to spare him from sorrow. His lament is raw, unfiltered, and painful. Yet even in this darkest speech, Job directs his anguish toward existence, not toward God. His faith is wounded but unbroken, strained but still intact.

B. Job longs for the grave as a release from his present misery

1. (Job 3:11–19) Why did I not die at birth?

“Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept, then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.”

a. Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Job continues his lament by moving from the day of his birth to the moment of his delivery. His questions are not requests for information but expressions of anguish. In poetic intensity, Job wishes that life had ended before it truly began. His suffering has become so overwhelming that existence itself feels like a burden rather than a gift.

i. It is as though Job reasons within himself that since the day of his birth cannot be erased, then perhaps it would have been better had his life ended immediately. His grief pushes him to imagine stillbirth as mercy rather than tragedy. This does not reflect a settled moral judgment but a cry of pain from a man crushed by loss.

ii. It is very important to understand that Scripture does not condemn Job for emotional expression. The Bible never presents righteousness as emotional numbness. Job is not portrayed as weak because he speaks honestly. As Andersen observed, these startling words do not indicate that Job has broken under pressure. Satan’s accusation has still failed. God was not testing whether Job could sit unmoved like an object, but whether he would remain faithful while suffering deeply.

b. For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept, then had I been at rest: Job imagines death as a state of rest, quiet, and relief from pain. He pictures the grave as a place of sleep where the turmoil of life no longer presses upon the soul. In this, Job reflects an incomplete and imperfect understanding of the afterlife.

i. Job appears to assume something like what is later called soul sleep, the idea that the dead exist in a suspended, unconscious state until resurrection. This understanding is corrected by later revelation. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:6–8, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” Paul understood that death for the believer is not unconscious rest in the grave but immediate presence with the Lord.

ii. Paul also declared in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Death could only be gain if it brought conscious fellowship with Christ. This stands in contrast to Job’s limited perspective, but it does not discredit Scripture. Rather, it demonstrates progressive revelation.

iii. The fuller understanding of immortality comes through Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 1:10 states, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” In the Old Testament, the afterlife is often described in shadowy terms. The New Testament provides clarity. This explains Job’s confusion without undermining the truthfulness of the biblical record.

iv. Later in the book, God Himself corrects Job’s assumptions. In Job 38:2, God asks, “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” and in Job 38:17, “Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?” God reminds Job that he does not possess full knowledge of life after death.

c. With kings and counsellors of the earth… with princes that had gold: Job imagines death as a great equalizer. In the grave, distinctions of wealth, power, and status disappear. Kings, counselors, princes, servants, prisoners, small and great all lie together. This reflects Job’s longing to escape not only pain but also the humiliation and inequality of earthly life.

d. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest: Job expresses a common human assumption, that death brings peace to everyone regardless of moral character. In his despair, he believes that even the wicked find rest in death and that suffering simply ends.

i. This belief is incorrect according to the full testimony of Scripture. The wicked do not cease from troubling after death, their torment increases. Jesus described eternal punishment clearly in Matthew 25:46, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Job’s words reflect emotional reasoning rather than theological certainty.

ii. Andersen notes that this line of thought dangerously approaches the idea that goodness and wickedness ultimately make no difference. This is one of the bitter conclusions suffering can tempt a person to draw when pain seems meaningless.

iii. This deception has appeared throughout history. Many have convinced themselves that death automatically leads to a better place. Yet Scripture consistently teaches that judgment follows death. Hebrews 9:27 declares, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

iv. Yet Poole wisely reminds us that Job is not offering a doctrine of the afterlife. He is speaking only of release from earthly oppression and suffering. His concern is not eternal judgment but present misery. Job pours out his soul, not his theology.

e. The servant is free from his master: Job ends this section by emphasizing freedom. In death, as he imagines it, there is no oppression, no command, no authority pressing down upon the weak. This longing reveals how crushed Job feels. Once a respected leader and master himself, he now longs simply to be free from pain, obligation, and endurance.

Job’s words are raw and unsettling, yet they remain honest. He does not curse God. He does not deny God’s existence. He does not abandon faith. He struggles openly, speaking from anguish rather than rebellion. His lament shows that faith can coexist with deep confusion and sorrow, and that suffering often presses believers to the edge of understanding without pushing them outside of faith.

2. (Job 3:20–26) Job laments his state, why go on living

“Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”

a. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery: Job now presses his lament further and asks why God allows continued life for those whose existence has become nothing but misery. Light here stands for life itself, the gift of continued existence. Job struggles to understand why such a gift would be given to someone whose soul is bitter and broken. His question does not accuse God of cruelty, but it does express profound confusion about God’s purposes. To Job, life no longer feels like a blessing, but like an extension of suffering.

i. Job identifies himself among those who long for death, but it does not come. Yet there is no indication that Job ever considered taking his own life. His longing is passive, not active. He desires release, but he does not attempt to seize it unlawfully. This distinction is important. Job’s lament is the cry of a suffering man, not the rebellion of a despairing sinner.

ii. Poole wisely observed that Job would not lay violent hands upon himself, but waited for God to determine the length of his days. This aligns with Job’s later words in Job 14:14, “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” Even in despair, Job submits to God’s authority over life and death.

b. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in: Job’s pain is not merely physical or emotional, it is deeply spiritual. His greatest torment is not the loss of wealth, family, or health, but the sense that God has hidden the way forward from him. He feels trapped, enclosed, unable to move or escape, and worst of all, unable to perceive God’s purpose.

i. Andersen rightly notes that Job’s concern from beginning to end is God. His anguish flows from the feeling that his relationship with God has been severed. Job does not mourn the loss of possessions as much as the loss of clarity, communion, and assurance before God.

ii. Mason observes that Job does not whine over material loss, but grieves over what he perceives as the loss of peace with God. What he truly mourns is the absence of felt fellowship, the sense that God’s favor has been withdrawn. This spiritual isolation intensifies his suffering more than any outward calamity.

iii. Lawson insightfully explains the irony of the hedge. In Job 1:10, Satan complained that God had placed a hedge of protection around Job. Now Job feels hedged in, not protected but confined. The hedge that once kept danger out now seems to keep Job trapped inside affliction. God has not abandoned Job, but Job cannot see that the same sovereign hand that once protected him is now sustaining him through trial.

iv. Andersen notes the bitter irony. Satan saw the hedge as protection, Job experiences it as restriction. From Job’s limited perspective, God appears to have enclosed him with suffering rather than safety.

v. Though Job cannot see it, there were profound reasons for his continued life.

God allowed Job to live to instruct angelic beings through his faithfulness.
God allowed Job to live to deepen his dependence upon God alone.
God allowed Job to live to expose the limits of human wisdom.
God allowed Job to live to vindicate his integrity before men.
God allowed Job to live to serve as an example for all generations.
God allowed Job to live so that He might ultimately restore and bless him beyond what he had before.

c. For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters: Job describes a life consumed by grief. His sighing precedes his eating, meaning sorrow has replaced appetite. His groanings flow continuously, like water that cannot be stopped. This is not restrained grief but overwhelming anguish. Scripture does not condemn this honesty. The Bible never presents emotional suppression as spiritual maturity. Job’s raw expression shows that faith can coexist with intense emotional pain.

d. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me: Job reveals that his suffering did not arise from careless optimism. Even in prosperity, he lived with a sober awareness of life’s fragility. He feared that calamity might come upon his family, which is why he regularly interceded for his children in Job 1:5, “Thus did Job continually.” His fears were not faithless anxiety, but reverent caution.

i. Trapp explains that Job had always known how unstable earthly prosperity is. He feared that he might outlive his blessings, and now that fear had come to pass. This shows that Job’s suffering was not punishment for pride or presumption.

ii. Clarke adds that Job was never lifted up in self confidence. He understood that everything he possessed came from God and could be taken away. His present suffering was not the collapse of arrogant security, but the fulfillment of long acknowledged vulnerability.

e. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came: With these final words, Job concludes his first speech. He piles phrase upon phrase to emphasize his unrest. No safety, no rest, no quiet, only trouble. Even before calamity struck, Job lived with awareness of life’s uncertainty. Now that uncertainty has become relentless reality.

i. This passage shows that even a great man of faith can descend into deep despair without losing faith altogether. Charles Spurgeon testified to experiencing similar heaviness of spirit, describing seasons where sorrow overwhelmed him without clear cause, even as others in worse physical conditions rejoiced in God. His honesty demonstrates that spiritual depression is not evidence of spiritual failure.

ii. Bradley called this one of the saddest laments in all literature, a strain of sorrow almost without hope. Yet Morgan wisely noted that such open lament is healthier than silent brooding. Job’s grief is spoken, not buried. His faith breathes, even while it groans.

Job ends this chapter not with answers, but with honesty. He does not resolve his suffering, but he does bring it fully into the light. His lament closes the first great movement of the book, setting the stage for the long dialogue that follows. Job has not sinned against God, but he has exposed the depth of his anguish, and Scripture preserves it to teach that true faith may cry out in pain without ceasing to trust God.