Job 3:11

King James Version

Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Why was I not stillborn;why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

Hebrew Names Version
"Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

English Standard Version
"Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?

New Century Version
"Why didn't I die as soon as I was born? Why didn't I die when I came out of the womb?

New English Translation
"Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb?

Amplified Bible
"Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?

New American Standard Bible
"Why did I not die at birth, Come out of the womb and pass away?

World English Bible
"Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Why died I not in the birth? or why dyed I not, when I came out of the wombe?

Legacy Standard Bible
"Why did I not die from the womb,Come forth from the womb and breathe my last?

Berean Standard Bible
Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?

Contemporary English Version
Why didn't I die at birth?

Complete Jewish Bible
had there been no knees to receive me or breasts for me to suck.

Darby Translation
Wherefore did I not die from the womb,—come forth from the belly and expire?

Easy-to-Read Version
Why didn't I die when I was born? Why didn't I die as I came from my mother's womb?

George Lamsa Translation
Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I come forth at birth?

Good News Translation
I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born.

Lexham English Bible
"Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?

Literal Translation
Why did I not die from the womb, come from the womb and expire?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Alas, why dyed I not in ye byrth? Why dyd not I perysh, as soone as I came out of my mothers wobe?

American Standard Version
Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?

Bible in Basic English
Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
[Alas] why died I not in the birth? why dyd not I perishe assoone as I came out of [my mothers] wombe?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not perish at birth?

King James Version (1611)
Why died I not from the wombe? why did I not giue vp the ghost when I came out of the bellie?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For why died I not in the belly? and why did I not come forth from the womb and die immediately?

English Revised Version
Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whi was not Y deed in the wombe? whi yede Y out of the wombe, and perischide not anoon?

Update Bible Version
Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the ghost when my mother bore me?

Webster's Bible Translation
Why died I not from the womb? [why] did I [not] expire at the time of my birth?

New King James Version
"Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?

New Living Translation
"Why wasn't I born dead? Why didn't I die as I came from the womb?

New Life Bible
"Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not come from my mother and die?

New Revised Standard
"Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

Revised Standard Version
"Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?

Young's Literal Translation
Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!

THE MESSAGE
"Why didn't I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last? Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from? I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain, In the company of kings and statesmen in their royal ruins, Or with princes resplendent in their gold and silver tombs. Why wasn't I stillborn and buried with all the babies who never saw light, Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest? Prisoners sleep undisturbed, never again to wake up to the bark of the guards. The small and the great are equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? ¹² Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? ¹³ For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, ¹⁴ With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves; ¹⁵ Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: ¹⁶ Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. ¹⁷ There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. ¹⁸ There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. ¹⁹ The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

died I: Psalms 58:8, Jeremiah 15:10, Hosea 9:14

when I came: Psalms 22:9, Psalms 22:10, Psalms 71:6, Psalms 139:13-16, Isaiah 46:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 30:1 - or else I die Numbers 14:2 - Would Numbers 20:3 - God Job 10:18 - hast thou Job 14:10 - man Job 40:2 - he that reproveth Jeremiah 20:17 - he slew

Cross-References

Genesis 4:10
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Psalms 50:21
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Why died I not from the womb?.... That is, as soon as he came out of it; or rather, as soon as he was in it, or from the time that he was in it; or however, while he was in it, that so he might not have come alive out of it; which sense seems best to agree both with what goes before and follows after; for since his conception in the womb was not hindered, he wishes he had died in it; and so some versions render it to this sense n:

[why] did I [not] give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? since he died not in the womb, which was desirable to him, he wishes that the moment he came out of it he had expired, and is displeased because it was not so, see Jeremiah 20:17; thus what is the special favour of Providence, to be taken out of the womb alive, and preserved, he wishes not to have enjoyed, see Psalms 22:9.

n מרחם εν κοιλια, Sept. "in vulva", V. L. "aut, in utero", Beza, Mercerus, Cocceius, Junius, Michaelis; so R. Abraham Peritzol, and Simeon Bar Tzemach.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Why died I not from the womb? - Why did I not die as soon as I was born? Why were any pains taken to keep me alive? The suggestion of this question leads Job in the following verses into the beautiful description, of what he would have been if he had then died. He complains, therefore, that any pains were taken by his friends to keep him alive, and that he was not suffered peacefully to expire.

Gave up the ghost - A phrase that is often used in the English version of the Bible to denote death; Genesis 49:33; Job 11:20; Job 14:10; Jeremiah 15:9; Matthew 27:50; Acts 5:10. It conveys an idea, however, which is not necessarily in the original, though the idea in itself is not incorrect. The idea conveyed by the phrase is that of yielding up the “spirit” or “soul,” while the sense of the original here and elsewhere is simply “to expire, to die.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 3:11. Why died I not from the womb — As the other circumstance did not take place, why was I not still-born, without the possibility of reviviscence? or, as this did not occur, why did I not die as soon as born? These three things appear to me to be clearly intended here: -

1. Dying in the womb, or never coming to maturity, as in the case of an abortion.

2. Being still-born, without ever being able to breathe.

3. Or, if born alive, dying within a short time after. And to these states he seems to refer in the following verses.