# Job 03 đ: Job Curses His Birthday
[[đ Explore the Bible Books]]
[[-Job Overview]] | [[Job 02]] | [[Job 04]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
# **II. Jobâs Dialogue With His Friends ([3:1-27:23](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.3.1-Job.27.23&version=NET))**
## Job Regrets His Birth
[[#Verse 01.]] After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.Â
[[#Verse 02.]] Job spoke up and said:
[[#Verse 03.]] âLet the day on which I was born perish,
and the night that said,
âA man has been conceived!â
[[#Verse 04.]]Â That dayâlet it be darkness;
let not God on high regard it,
nor let light shine on it!
[[#Verse 05.]] Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it;
let a cloud settle on it;
let whatever blackens the day terrify it.
[[#Verse 06.]] That nightâlet darkness seize it;
let it not be included among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months!
[[#Verse 07.]] Indeed, let that night be barren;
let no shout of joy penetrate it!
[[#Verse 08.]] Let those who curse the day curse itâ
those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.
[[#Verse 09.]] Let its morning stars be darkened;
let it wait for daylight but find none,
nor let it see the first rays of dawn,
[[#Verse 10.]] because it did not shut the doors of my motherâs womb on me,
nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
### Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth
[[#Verse 11.]] âWhy did I not die at birth,
and why did I not expire
as I came out of the womb?
[[#Verse 12.]]Â Why did the knees welcome me,
and why were there two breasts
that I might nurse at them?
[[#Verse 13.]] For now I would be lying down
and would be quiet,
I would be asleep and then at peace
[[#Verse 14.]] with kings and counselors of the earth
who built for themselves places now desolate,
[[#Verse 15.]]Â or with princes who possessed gold,
who filled their palaces with silver.
[[#Verse 16.]] Or why was I not buried
like a stillborn infant,
like infants who have never seen the light?
[[#Verse 17.]] There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.
[[#Verse 18.]] There the prisoners relax together;
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
[[#Verse 19.]] Small and great are there,
and the slave is free from his master.
### Longing for Death
[[#Verse 20.]] âWhy does God give light to one who is in misery,
and life to those whose soul is bitter,
[[#Verse 21.]] to those who wait for death that does not come,
and search for it
more than for hidden treasures,
[[#Verse 22.]] who rejoice even to jubilation,
and are exultant when they find the grave?
[[#Verse 23.]] Why is light given to a man
whose way is hidden,
and whom God has hedged in?
[[#Verse 24.]] For my sighing comes in place of my food,
and my groanings flow forth like water.
[[#Verse 25.]] For the very thing I dreaded has happened to me,
and what I feared has come upon me.
[[#Verse 26.]] I have no ease, I have no quietness;
I cannot rest;Â turmoil has come upon me.â
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Chapter 3 begins the poetry of Job, which continues until the closing prose section in 42:7.
2. Job never curses God. He curses the day of his birth (3:1).
3. Jeremiah uses very similar language when he curses the day he was born (Jeremiah 20:14-18).
4. Job asks for the day of his birth to be undone, a kind of reversal of "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3; Job 3:4).
5. Leviathan is first mentioned in 3:8, the great sea creature God describes in chapter 41.
6. Job pictures the grave as a place where kings, prisoners, and slaves all rest together (3:14-19).
7. The Hebrew word for "trouble" or "turmoil" (*rogez*) closes the chapter (3:26).
8. Job's question "why" appears several times (3:11, 3:12, 3:20), a cry many sufferers still voice.
9. The phrase "bitter in soul" (3:20) describes deep anguish, as with Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:10.
10. Job's lament breaks the seven days of silence and opens the long dialogue with his friends.
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Light who enters our darkness. Job cursed the day of his birth and longed for darkness (3:3-5), but Jesus came as the Light of the world so that His followers would not walk in darkness (John 8:12).
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. Job pours out raw grief to God without pretending (3:1-3). What does this chapter teach about honesty in prayer?
2. Job says the thing he feared has come upon him (3:25). How do fear and suffering feed each other?
3. Job asks why light is given to the one in misery (3:20). How would you gently walk with someone asking that question?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verses 1-3: Job curses the day of his birth.
- đ verses 20-23: Job asks why life is given to those who are bitter in soul.
- đ verses 25-26: What Job feared has come upon him, and he has no rest.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[Jeremiah 20#Verse 14.|Jeremiah 20:14-18]] - Jeremiah curses the day of his birth.
- đ [[Psalm 88|Psalm 88]] - A psalm of deep darkness and lament.
- đ [[Matthew 27#Verse 46.|Matthew 27:46]] - Jesus cries out from the cross.
- đ [[John 08#Verse 12.|John 8:12]] - Jesus is the Light of the world.
- đ [[Lamentations 03#Verse 19.|Lamentations 3:19-24]] - Remembering affliction, yet hoping in the Lord.
## đ Devotional Reflection
đ SOAP: [[Job 03 - SOAP|Why Were You Born?]]
## đ Internal Notes