The Meaning of Job 3:16 Explained

Job 3:16

KJV: Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

YLT: (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)

Darby: Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.

ASV: Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.

Discover Job 3:16

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Job 3:16?

MEANING: What does Job 3:16 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Job 3:16 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Job 3:16?

What is the context of Job 3:16?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants [which] never saw light.

What does Job 3:16 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 3:1-26 - Is Life Worth Living?

In the closing paragraphs of the previous chapter three friends arrive. Teman is Edom; for Shuah see Genesis 25:2; Naamah is Arabia. The group of spectators, gathered round Job's mound, reverently make way for them.

Job opens his mouth in a curse. But it was not, as Satan had expected, against God. The Hebrew word is different from that used in Job 2:9. He does not curse God, but the day of his birth, and asks that his stripped and suffering existence may be brought to as speedy an end as possible. Job's words are very profitable for all whose way is hid. Is the joy of life fled? Yet its duties remain. Continue in these and the path will lead back to light.

This opening elegy consists of two parts: the first, Job 3:1-10, calls on darkness to blot out the day which witnessed the beginning of so sad a life; the second, Job 3:11-26, inquires why, if he were doomed to be born, the luxury of instant death had not been also granted. Oh, human heart, of what sore anguish art thou not capable! [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 3

¹ Job curses the day and services of his birth
¹³ The ease of death
²⁰ He complains of life, because of his anguish

What do the individual words in Job 3:16 mean?

Or like a stillborn child hidden not [why] I was Like infants never who saw light

א֤וֹ כְנֵ֣פֶל טָ֭מוּן לֹ֣א אֶהְיֶ֑ה כְּ֝עֹלְלִ֗ים לֹא־ רָ֥אוּ אֽוֹר

כְנֵ֣פֶל	like a stillborn child
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular Root: נֵפֶל Sense: untimely birth, abortion, miscarriage.
טָ֭מוּן	hidden
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular Root: טָמַן Sense: to hide, conceal, bury.
אֶהְיֶ֑ה	[why] I was
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular Root: אֶהְיֶה Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
כְּ֝עֹלְלִ֗ים	Like infants
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine plural Root: עֹולֵל Sense: child, boy.
לֹא־	never
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle Root: הֲלֹא Sense: not, no.
רָ֥אוּ	who saw
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural Root: רָאָה Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
אֽוֹר	light
Parse: Noun, common singular Root: אֹור Sense: light.

What are the major concepts related to Job 3:16?

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Similar Scriptures for Job 3:16

		Psalms 58:8 [5]
		1 Corinthians 15:8 [3]
		Ecclesiastes 6:3 [3]