Job 3:12
New International Version
Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?

New Living Translation
Why was I laid on my mother’s lap? Why did she nurse me at her breasts?

English Standard Version
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

Berean Standard Bible
Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?

King James Bible
Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

New King James Version
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

New American Standard Bible
“Why were the knees there in front of me, And why the breasts, that I would nurse?

NASB 1995
“Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?

NASB 1977
“Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?

Legacy Standard Bible
Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?

Amplified Bible
“Why did the knees receive me? And why the breasts, that I would nurse?

Christian Standard Bible
Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

American Standard Version
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

Contemporary English Version
Why was I accepted and allowed to nurse at my mother's breast?

English Revised Version
Why did the knees receive me? or why the breasts, that I should suck?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Why did knees welcome me? Why did breasts let me nurse?

Good News Translation
Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast?

International Standard Version
Why was there a lap to hold me, and why were there breasts to nurse me?

Majority Standard Bible
Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?

NET Bible
Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them?

New Heart English Bible
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

Webster's Bible Translation
Why did the knees receive me? or why the breasts that I should be nursed?

World English Bible
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Why have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?

Young's Literal Translation
Wherefore have knees been before me? And what are breasts, that I suck?

Smith's Literal Translation
Why did the knees anticipate me? and wherefore the breasts that I shall suck?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts ?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?

New American Bible
Why did knees receive me, or breasts nurse me?

New Revised Standard Version
Why were there knees to receive me, or breasts for me to suck?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Why was I reared at my mother's knee? Why did I suck the breasts?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Why did the knees rear me and why did I suck from the breasts?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Why did the knees receive me? And wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and why did the knees support me? and why did I suck the breasts?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Laments His Birth
11Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? 12Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed? 13For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest…

Cross References
Jeremiah 20:14-18
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. / Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. / May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon, ...

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3
So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. / But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Lamentations 3:1-3
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. / He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. / Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long.

Isaiah 49:15
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

Psalm 22:9-10
Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast. / From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Psalm 139:13-16
For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. / I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. / My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. ...

Genesis 30:1-2
When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob. / Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”

1 Samuel 1:10-11
In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. / And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.”

2 Kings 4:27-28
When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” / Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

Ruth 1:20-21
“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me. / I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.”

Matthew 2:16-18
When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi. / Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: / “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Luke 1:41-44
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. / In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! / And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ...

John 16:21
A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

Romans 8:22-23
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. / Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

1 Corinthians 4:11-13
To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. / We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; / when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.


Treasury of Scripture

Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

the knees.

Genesis 30:3
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

Genesis 50:23
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.

Isaiah 66:12
For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

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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.














Why were there knees to receive me
The phrase "Why were there knees to receive me" reflects Job's deep lament and existential questioning. In the Hebrew context, the "knees" symbolize a place of welcome and acceptance, often associated with the birth and nurturing of a child. The Hebrew word for "knees" is "בִּרְכַּיִם" (birkaim), which can also imply blessing. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the act of placing a child on the knees was a gesture of acknowledgment and acceptance into the family. Job's rhetorical question here underscores his profound despair, as he questions the very purpose of his birth and the acceptance he received into the world. This reflects a moment of intense personal crisis, where Job feels abandoned and questions the meaning of his existence.

and breasts that I should be nursed
The phrase "and breasts that I should be nursed" continues Job's lament by questioning the nurturing care he received as an infant. The Hebrew word for "breasts" is "שָׁדַיִם" (shadayim), which is often associated with sustenance and maternal care. In the ancient world, the act of nursing was not only a physical necessity but also a symbol of love, provision, and the bond between mother and child. By questioning why he was nursed, Job is expressing a deep sense of futility and sorrow, as if to say that the care and love he received have led only to his current suffering. This reflects a broader theological theme in the Book of Job, where the righteous sufferer grapples with the seeming absence of divine justice and the purpose of human life amidst suffering. Job's lament invites readers to reflect on the mysteries of God's providence and the complexities of human suffering, encouraging a deeper trust in God's ultimate wisdom and sovereignty.

(12) Prevent--i.e., "Why was I nursed with care instead of being allowed to fall to the ground and be killed?"

Verse 12. - Why did the knees prevent me? i.e. "Why did my mother take me on her knees and nurse me, instead of casting me on the ground, where I should have perished?" There seems to be an allusion to the practice of parents only bringing up a certain number of their children (see Rosenmuller, 'Scholia in Vit. Test.,' vol. 5. p. 101). Or why the breasts that I should suck? i.e. "Why were breasts offered to me, that I should suck them? How much better would it have been if I had been allowed to perish of inanition!"

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Why
מַ֭דּוּעַ (mad·dū·a‘)
Interrogative
Strong's 4069: Why? for what reason?

were there knees
בִרְכָּ֑יִם (ḇir·kā·yim)
Noun - fd
Strong's 1290: The knee

to receive me,
קִדְּמ֣וּנִי (qid·də·mū·nî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person common plural | first person common singular
Strong's 6923: To project, precede, to anticipate, hasten, meet

[and]
וּמַה־ (ū·ma·hō·šā-)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

breasts
שָּׁ֝דַ֗יִם (ḏa·yim)
Noun - md
Strong's 7699: The breast of a, woman, animal

that
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I should be nursed?
אִינָֽק׃ (’î·nāq)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3243: To suck, to give milk


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OT Poetry: Job 3:12 Why did the knees receive me? (Jb)
Job 3:11
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