Job 3:16-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 3:11-19

Job, perhaps reflecting upon himself for his folly in wishing he had never been born, follows it, and thinks to mend it, with another, little better, that he had died as soon as he was born, which he enlarges upon in these verses. When our Saviour would set forth a very calamitous state of things he seems to allow such a saying as this, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the paps which never gave suck (Luke 23:29); but blessing the barren womb is one thing and cursing... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 3:16

Or as an hidden untimely birth ,.... Or "hid, as one born out of time", as Mr. Broughton reads it; the Septuagint use the same word as the apostle does, when he says the like of himself, 1 Corinthians 15:8 ; the word has the signification of "falling" F19 כגפל "sicut abortivus qui ex utero excidit, aut in terram cadit", Michaelis. , and designs an abortive, which is like to fruit that falls from the tree before it is ripe; and this may be said to be "hidden", either in the belly,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 3:17

There the wicked cease from troubling ,.... At death, and in the grave; such who have been like the troubled sea, that cannot rest, have always been either devising or doing mischief while living, in the grave can do neither; there is no work nor device there; such who are never easy, and cannot sleep unless they do mischief, when dead have no power to do any, and are quite still and inactive; such who have been troublers of good men, as profane persons by their ungodly lives, false... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 3:16

Or as a hidden untimely birth - An early miscarriage, which was scarcely perceptible by the parent herself; and in this case he had not been - he had never had the distinguishable form of a human being, whether male or female. As infants - Little ones; those farther advanced in maturity, but miscarried long before the time of birth. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 3:17

There the wicked cease - In the grave the oppressors of men cease from irritating, harassing, and distressing their fellow creatures and dependents. And there the weary be at rest - Those who were worn out with the cruelties and tyrannies of the above. The troubles and the troubled, the restless and the submissive, the toils of the great and the labors of the slave, are here put in opposition. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:1-26

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 3:11-19

The stricken patriarch's lament: 2. Bewailing his life. I. THE DESPISED GIFT — LIFE . In bitterness of soul, Job not only laments that ever he had entered on the stage of existence at all, but with the perverse ingenuity of grief which looks at all things crosswise, he turns the very mercies of God into occasions of complaint, despising God's care of him: 1 . Before birth. "Why died I not from the womb?" i.e. while I was yet unborn; surely a display of monstrous ingratitude,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:13-19

The grave. I. A REGION OF IMPENETRABLE DARKNESS . II. A REALM OF UNBROKEN SILENCE . III. AN ABODE OF DEEP TRANQUILLITY . IV. A BED OF PEACEFUL SLUMBER . V. A WORLD OF ABSOLUTE EQUALITY . VI. A PLACE OF UNIVERSAL RENDEZVOUS . VII. A HOUSE OF TEMPORARY LODGING . LESSONS . 1 . Humility. 2 . Contentment. 3 . Diligence. 4 . Watchfulness. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 3:13-19

The grave a rest. In the toil and sorrow of life men long for rest. They lighten the toils and brighten the darkness of the present by the hope of repose and gladness in the future. Without such a hope life's burdens would be much heavier than they are; and in some cases almost insupportable. As the worn labourer longs for the rest of the even-tide, so does the over-wrought spirit of the sad desire the rest of the grave. It is proper to consider if this is a healthy, a just, a well-grounded... read more

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