The Meaning of Job 10:18 Explained

Job 10:18

KJV: Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!

YLT: And why from the womb Hast Thou brought me forth? I expire, and the eye doth not see me.

Darby: And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me.

ASV: Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth  out of the womb?  Oh that I had given up the ghost,  and no eye  had seen  me! 

What does Job 10:18 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 10:1-22 - Soul Bitterness
In this chapter Job accuses God of persecuting His own workmanship, Job 20:3; of pursuing him with repeated strokes, as if he had not time enough to wait between them, but must hurry on to achieve His design, Job 10:5; of reversing the careful providence which had watched over his earlier years, Job 10:12; of hunting and playing with him as a wild beast with his prey, Job 10:16-17; and asks that he may be allowed speedily to enter the land of Sheol, Job 10:18-22.
As we read these complaints, we may remember days in our lives when we uttered similar ones, but we are without excuse. And when we are tempted in this direction, it is for us to remember that probably we are being tried to teach the manifold wisdom of God, and that the works of God should be made manifest in us, Ephesians 3:10; John 9:3. It will enable us to endure, if we remember that God has conferred on us high honor, by choosing us to show that we can stand the fire, like those iron safes, blackened by smoke, which the makers place in the shop windows to prove the stability of their workmanship. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 10

1  Job, taking liberty of complaint, expostulates with God about his afflictions
18  He complains of life, and craves a little ease before death

What do the individual words in Job 10:18 mean?

Then why out of the womb have You brought me Oh that I had perished and eye no had seen me
וְלָ֣מָּה ؟ מֵ֭רֶחֶם הֹצֵאתָ֑נִי אֶ֝גְוַ֗ע וְעַ֣יִן לֹא־ תִרְאֵֽנִי

וְלָ֣מָּה  Then  why 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
؟ מֵ֭רֶחֶם  out  of  the  womb 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רֶחֶם  
Sense: womb.
הֹצֵאתָ֑נִי  have  You  brought  me 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, second person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
אֶ֝גְוַ֗ע  Oh  that  I  had  perished 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: גָּוַע  
Sense: to expire, die, perish, give up the ghost, yield up the ghost, be dead, be ready to die.
וְעַ֣יִן  and  eye 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, common singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
לֹא־  no 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תִרְאֵֽנִי  had  seen  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular, first person common singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.