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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 3:20-26

Job, finding it to no purpose to wish either that he had not been born or had died as soon as he was born, here complains that his life was now continued and not cut off. When men are set on quarrelling there is no end of it; the corrupt heart will carry on the humour. Having cursed the day of his birth, here he courts the day of his death. The beginning of this strife and impatience is as the letting forth of water. I. He thinks it hard, in general, that miserable lives should be prolonged... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 3:25

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me ,.... Some refer this to his fears about his children, lest they should sin and offend God, and bring down his judgments on them, and now what he feared was come to pass, Job 1:5 ; others take in all his sorrows and troubles; which, through the changeableness of the world, and the uncertainty of all things in it, and the various providences of God, he feared would come upon him at one time or another; and this he mentions to justify his... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 3:25

For the thing which I greatly reared - Literally, the fear that I feared; or, I feared a fear, as in the margin. While I was in prosperity I thought adversity might come, and I had a dread of it. I feared the loss of my family and my property; and both have occurred. I was not lifted up: I knew that what I possessed I had from Divine Providence, and that he who gave might take away. I am not stripped of my all as a punishment for my self-confidence. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:1-26

The eloquence of grief. This book, so entirely true to nature, presents here one of the darkest moods of the grief-stricken heart. The first state is that of paralyzed silence, dumbness, inertia. Were this to continue, death must ensue. Stagnation will be fatal. The currents of thought and feeling must in some way be set flowing in their accustomed channels, as in the beautiful little poem of Tennyson on the mother suddenly bereaved of her warrior-lord- "All her maidens, wondering, said, ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:20-26

The stricken patriarch's lament: 3. Desiring his death. I. DOLEFUL LAMENTATION . Job pitifully wails forth that his soul was in bitterness because of: 1 . The miseries of life. Which he depicts as: 2 . The perplexities of providence. To these he alludes when he describes himself as a man "whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in" (verse 23). The term "way" is often put for course of life ( Psalms 1:6 ; Proverbs 4:19 ; Isaiah 26:7 ; Jeremiah 10:23 ); and a man's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:20-26

The unanswered question. From the lips of Job words escape which prove how deeply he suffered. "Why?" is ever on the lips of men when they consider God's hidden work. But he giveth none account of his ways. Clouds and darkness are round about him. Happy the man who at all times is persuaded that justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne. The question here proposed by Job is the unanswered question running through the whole book. Until all is accomplished, the design of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:25

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me ; literally, for I fear a fear , and it comes upon me. The meaning is not that the affliction which has come upon him is a thing which Job had feared when he was prosperous; but that now that he is in adversity, he is beset with fears, and that all his presentiments of evil are almost immediately accomplished. The second clause, And that which I was (rather, am) afraid of is come unto me, merely repeats and emphasizes the first (see... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:25-26

Fears confirmed by facts. Job complained that he was not foolishly confident in his prosperity, and so courting a reverse of fortune by pride and presumption. On the contrary, he was anticipating the possibility of evil and walking in fear. His action, as it appears in the opening verses of the book, shows us a man of an anxious temperament ( Job 1:5 ). He thinks it hard that trouble should come to him who had feared it. This may be unreasonable in Job; but it is quite natural, and not at... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 3:25

For the thing which I greatly feared - Margin, As in the Hebrew “I feared a fear, and it came upon me.” This verse, with the following, has received a considerable variety of exposition. Many have understood it as referring to his whole course of life, and suppose that Job meant to say that he was always apprehensive of some great calamity, such as that which had now come upon him, and that in the time of his highest prosperity be had lived in continual alarm lest his property should be taken.... read more

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