Job 3:16
New International Version
Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?

New Living Translation
Why wasn’t I buried like a stillborn child, like a baby who never lives to see the light?

English Standard Version
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?

Berean Standard Bible
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?

King James Bible
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

New King James Version
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light?

New American Standard Bible
“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden, I would not exist, As infants that never saw light.

NASB 1995
“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light.

NASB 1977
“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light.

Legacy Standard Bible
Or why was I not like a miscarriage hidden away, As infants that never saw light?

Amplified Bible
“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden and put away, I would not exist, Like infants who never saw light.

Christian Standard Bible
Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child, like infants who never see daylight?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child, like infants who never see daylight?

American Standard Version
Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.

Contemporary English Version
I wish I had been born dead and then buried, never to see the light of day.

English Revised Version
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I would be buried like a stillborn baby. I would not exist. I would be like infants who never saw the light.

Good News Translation
or sleeping like a stillborn child.

International Standard Version
"Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like babies who never saw the light?

Majority Standard Bible
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?

NET Bible
Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant, like infants who have never seen the light?

New Heart English Bible
or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.

Webster's Bible Translation
Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

World English Bible
or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
(Or I am not as a hidden abortion, "" As infants—they have not seen light.)

Young's Literal Translation
(Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)

Smith's Literal Translation
Or as a hidden abortion I shall not be; as children they saw not light.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Or as a hidden untimely birth I should not be, or as they that being conceived have not seen the light.

Catholic Public Domain Version
or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light.

New American Bible
Or why was I not buried away like a stillborn child, like babies that have never seen the light?

New Revised Standard Version
Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Or like a hidden untimely birth, as if I had not been; like infants that never saw the light.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Or like a miscarriage buried where I had not been, and like embryos who did not see the light
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; As infants that never saw light.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
or I should have been as an untimely birth proceeding from his mother's womb, or as infants who never saw light.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Laments His Birth
15or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. 16Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight? 17There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.…

Cross References
Ecclesiastes 6:3-5
A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. / For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity. / The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,

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, ...

Psalm 58:8
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.

Psalm 139:15-16
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. / Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

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.

Isaiah 38:10-12
I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” / I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. / My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.

Matthew 26:24
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Psalm 88:10-12
Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah / Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon? / Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

1 Corinthians 15:8
And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.

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.

Isaiah 49:1
Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

Luke 23:29
Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’

Genesis 3:16-19
To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” / And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. / Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ...

John 3:18-19
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. / And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

Romans 8:20-22
For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope / that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. / We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.


Treasury of Scripture

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

an hidden.

Psalm 58:8
As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

1 Corinthians 15:8
And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

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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.














Or why
This phrase introduces a rhetorical question, a common literary device in Hebrew poetry, which Job uses to express his deep anguish and confusion. The Hebrew word for "why" (לָמָּה, "lammah") is often used in the Old Testament to question God's actions or the state of human suffering. Job's use of "or why" reflects his desperate search for understanding in the midst of his suffering, a theme that resonates throughout the book.

was I not hidden
The concept of being "hidden" (טָמוּן, "tamun") in Hebrew can imply being concealed or kept safe. In this context, Job wishes he had been hidden from the pain of life, suggesting a desire for non-existence over suffering. This reflects the depth of his despair, as he longs for the peace and oblivion that he imagines would come from never having been born.

like a stillborn child
The imagery of a "stillborn child" (נֵפֶל, "nefel") is poignant and powerful. In ancient Near Eastern culture, a stillborn child was a symbol of unfulfilled potential and a life that never began. Job's comparison of himself to a stillborn child underscores his feeling of futility and the belief that his life, filled with suffering, is as if it never truly began. This metaphor highlights the intensity of Job's lament and his struggle to find meaning in his suffering.

like an infant
The word "infant" (עוֹלֵל, "olel") in Hebrew refers to a very young child, emphasizing vulnerability and innocence. Job's use of this term suggests a longing for the innocence and unawareness of an infant who is untouched by the trials of life. This reflects a common biblical theme where innocence is often associated with purity and a lack of suffering.

who never sees the light
The phrase "never sees the light" (לֹא רָאָה אוֹר, "lo ra'ah or") is a metaphor for life and consciousness. In biblical literature, "light" often symbolizes life, knowledge, and divine presence. Job's lament that he wishes he had never seen the light indicates a desire to have been spared the awareness and pain of existence. This expression of despair is a profound commentary on the human condition and the struggle to reconcile suffering with the gift of life.

(16) Untimely birth.--Another condition which would have relieved him from the experience of suffering.

Verse 16. - Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. This is added as another way in which Job might have escaped his misery. Though conceived and brought to the birth, he might have been still-born, and so have known no suffering.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Or
א֤וֹ (’ōw)
Conjunction
Strong's 176: Desire, if

why was
אֶהְיֶ֑ה (’eh·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

I not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

hidden
טָ֭מוּן (ṭā·mūn)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 2934: To hide, conceal

like a stillborn child,
כְנֵ֣פֶל (ḵə·nê·p̄el)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5309: Something fallen, an abortion

like an infant
כְּ֝עֹלְלִ֗ים (kə·‘ō·lə·lîm)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5768: A suckling

who never
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

sees
רָ֥אוּ (rā·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7200: To see

daylight?
אֽוֹר׃ (’ō·wr)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 216: Illumination, luminary


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OT Poetry: Job 3:16 Or as a hidden untimely birth (Jb)
Job 3:15
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