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King James Version
Job 3:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.
After this Iyov opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
After seven days Job cried out and cursed the day he had been born,
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
Afterward Iob opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
Job's First Speech Finally, Job cursed the day of his birth
Iyov said,
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
Then Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
AFTER this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day wherein he was born.
Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born.
Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
After this opened Iob his mouth, and cursed his daye,
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth,
After this opened Iob his mouth, and cursed his day,
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this, opened Iob his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
Aftir these thingis Joob openyde his mouth,
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.
Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
After: Job 1:22, Job 2:10
opened: Job 35:16, Psalms 39:2, Psalms 39:3, Psalms 106:33
cursed: Job 3:3, Job 1:11, Job 2:5, Job 2:9, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:15
his day: That is, the day of his birth.
Reciprocal: Genesis 30:1 - or else I die Genesis 40:20 - birthday Exodus 16:3 - we had Job 4:1 - answered Job 33:2 - I Jeremiah 15:10 - my Matthew 5:2 - General Revelation 13:6 - he opened
Cross-References
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
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.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
After this opened Job his mouth,.... order to speak, and began to speak of his troubles and afflictions, and the sense he had of them; for though, this phrase may sometimes signify to speak aloud, clearly and distinctly, and with great freedom and boldness, yet here it seems to design no more than beginning to speak, or breaking silence after it had been long kept: be spake after his first trial and blessed the name of the Lord, and upon his second, and reproved his wife for her foolish speaking; but upon the visit of his three friends, and during the space of seven days, a profound silence was kept by him and them; and when he perceived that they chose not to speak to him, and perhaps his distemper also decreased, and his pain somewhat abated, he broke out into the following expressions:
and cursed his day: he did not curse his God, as Satan said he would, and his wife advised him to: nor did he curse his fellow creatures, or his friends, as wicked men in passion are apt to do, nor did he curse himself, as profane persons often do, when any evil befalls them; but he cursed his day; not the day on which his troubles came upon him, for there were more than one, and they were still continued, but the day of his birth, as appears from Job 3:3; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions add here, "in which he was born"; and what is meant by cursing it may be learnt from his own words in the following verses, the substance of which is, that he wished either it had never been, or he had never been born; but since that was impossible, that it might be forgotten, and never observed or had in esteem, but be buried oblivion and obscurity, and be branded with a black mark, as an unhappy day, for ever: the word s signifies, he made light of it, and spoke slightly and contemptibly of it; he disesteemed it, yea, detested it, and could not bear to think of it, and desired that it might be disrespected by God and men; so that there is no need of such questions, whether it is in the power of man to curse? and whether it is lawful to curse the creature? and whether a day is capable of a curse? The frame of mind in which Job was when he uttered these words is differently represented; some of the Jewish writers will have it that he denied the providence of God, and thought that all things depended upon the stars, or planets which rule on the day a man is born, and therefore cursed his stars; whereas nothing is more evident than that Job ascribes all that befell him to the purpose and providence of God, Job 23:14; some say he was in the utmost despair, and had no hope of eternal life and salvation, but the contrary to this is clear from Job 13:15; and many think he had lost all patience, for which he was so famous; but if he had, he would not have been so highly spoken of as he is in James 5:11; it is true indeed there may be a mixture of weakness with respect to the exercise of that grace at this time, and which may appear in some after expressions of his; yet were it not for these and the like, as we could not have such an idea of his sorrows and afflictions, and of that quick sense and perception he had of them, so neither of his exceeding great patience in enduring them as he did; and, besides, what impatience he was guilty of was not only graciously forgiven, but he through the grace of God was enabled to conquer; and patience had its perfect work in him, and he persevered therein to the end; though after all he is not to be excused of weakness and infirmity, since he is blamed not only by Elihu, but by the Lord himself; yea, Job himself owned his sin and folly, and repented of it,
Job 40:4.
s "Opponitur verbum" קלל "verbo" כבד; "significat se pronunciasse diem inglorium", Codurcus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
After this - Dr. Good renders this, “at length.” It means after the long silence of his friends, and after he saw that there was no prospect of relief or of consolation.
Opened Job his mouth - The usual formula in Hebrew to denote thc commencement of a speech; see Matthew 5:2. Schultens contends that it means boldness and vehemency of speech, παῤῥησία parrēsia, or an opening of the mouth for the purpose of accusing, expostulating, or complaining; or to begin to utter some sententious, profound, or sublime maxim; and in support of this he appeals to Psalms 78:2, ard Proverbs 8:6. There is probably, however nothing more intended than to begin to speak. It is in accordance with Oriental views, where an act of speaking is regarded as a grave and important matter, and is entered on with much deliberation. Blackwell (Life of Homer, p. 43) remarks that the Turks, Arabs, Hindoos, and the Orientals in general, have little inclination to society and to general conversation, that they seldom speak, and that their speeches are sententious and brief, unless they are much excited. With such men, to make a speech is a serious matter, as is indicated by the manner in which their discourses are commonly introduced: “I will open my mouth,” or they “opened the mouth,” implying great deliberation and gravity. This phrase occurs often in Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus, and in Virgil (compare Aeneid vi. 75), as well as in the Bible. See Burder, in Rosenmuller’s Morgenland, “in loc.”
And cursed his day - The word rendered “curse” here, קלל qâlal is different from that used in Job 1:11; Job 2:9. It is the proper word to denote “to curse.” The Syriac adds, “the day in which he was born.” A similar expression occurs in Klopstock’s Messias, Ges. iii.
Wenn nun, aller Kinder beraubt, die verzweifelude Mutter,
Wuthend dem Tag. an dem sie gebahr, und gebohren ward, fluchet.
“When now of all her children robbed, the desperate mother enraged
Curses the day in which she bare, and was borne.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER III
Job curses the day of his birth, and regrets that he ever saw
the light, 1-12.
Describes the empire of death and its inhabitants, 13-19.
Regrets that he is appointed to live in the midst of sorrows,
for the calamities which he feared had overtaken him, 20-26.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse Job 3:1. After this opened Job his mouth — After the seven days' mourning was over, there being no prospect of relief, Job is represented as thus cursing the day of his birth. Here the poetic part of the book begins; for most certainly there is nothing in the preceding chapters either in the form or spirit of Hebrew poetry. It is easy indeed to break the sentences into hemistichs; but this does not constitute them poetry: for, although Hebrew poetry is in general in hemistichs, yet it does not follow that the division of narrative into hemistichs must necessarily constitute it poetry.
In many cases the Asiatic poets introduce their compositions with prose narrative; and having in this way prepared the reader for what he is to expect, begin their deevans, cassidehs, gazels, c. This appears to be the plan followed by the author of this book. Those who still think, after examining the structure of those chapters, and comparing them with the undoubted poetic parts of the book, that they also, and the ten concluding verses, are poetry, have my consent, while I take the liberty to believe most decidedly the opposite.
Cursed his day. — That is, the day of his birth and thus he gave vent to the agonies of his soul, and the distractions of his mind. His execrations have something in them awfully solemn, tremendously deep, and strikingly sublime. But let us not excuse all the things which he said in his haste, and in the bitterness of his soul, because of his former well established character of patience. He bore all his privations with becoming resignation to the Divine will and providence: but now, feeling himself the subject of continual sufferings, being in heaviness through manifold temptation, and probably having the light of God withdrawn from his mind, as his consolations most undoubtedly were, he regrets that ever he was born; and in a very high strain of impassioned poetry curses his day. We find a similar execration to this in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 20:14-18, and in other places; which, by the way, are no proofs that the one borrowed from the other; but that this was the common mode of Asiatic thinking, speaking, and feeling, on such occasions.
