Job 3:2 Job’s Address
Now Job raised his voice Heb. ויען, he cried out, for every expression of עניה in the Torah is only an expression of raising the voice, and the “father” of them all is (Deut. 27:14): “The Levites shall raise their voices (וענו) etc. with a loud voice.”
Job 3:3 in which I was to be born This is a future expression, that he was saying, “Would that the day in which I was destined to be born be lost, and then I would not have been born.”
and the night That too should have been lost.
when one said that the reporter, upon whom it was incumbent [to report] would say.
“A man has impregnated.” That my father impregnated my mother. Concerning a female, it is customary to say הרתה, she conceived, and concerning a male, it is customary to say, הורה, he impregnated the female.
and the night when one said This is one of the places where Scripture abbreviates its words because it is unnecessary to explain who [the subject] is, and the expression means, “the sayer said.” [Similar to this is (Amos. 6:12), “Will horses run on the rock, or will one plow with cattle?” He should have said, “Will a man plow with cattle?”] However, our Sages said, “The angel appointed over conception is named Laylah.”
Job 3:4 May that day be dark constantly; every year, when that day arrives.
let God not seek it from above for good.
and let no light shine upon it Heb. נהרה,light, like צהר, which is translated נהור.
Job 3:5 defile it Heb. יגאלהו, like (Malachi 1:7), “defiled (מגאל) bread”; “How have we defiled You (גאלנוך)?” an expression of contamination.
the shadow of death Heb. צלמות, the shadow of death, darkness that never lights up.like demons of the day Heb. כמרירי, demons who rule at noon, like (Deut. 32: 34), “Ketev Meriri,” who rules at noon; as it is stated (Ps. 91:6): “from Ketev, who rules at noontime.”
Job 3:6 it shall not rejoice among the days Heb. אל יחד, it shall not rejoice, as in (Exod. 18:9), “And Jethro rejoiced (וַיִחַד).” (Another explanation is: It shall not join. This does not appear in certain editions.)
Job 3:7 lonely Alone and lacking any man or creature.
Job 3:8 curse it Heb. יקבהו, curse it, as in (Num. 22:17), “curse (קבה) for me.”
those who curse the day Those who curse their days, since they intend to pronounce a curse because of their anguish.
those destined to be childless in their union Heb. ערר לויתן, to be childless (ערירים) in their union; to join their mate in the union of man and wife, without children. And I saw in the Jerusalem Talmud (Moed Katan 1:5) that עֹרֵר means, to lament their mate when he dies, as in (Moed Katan 1:6): A person may not inspire lamentations (יערער) for his dead relative.
Job 3:9 its evening Heb. נשפו, the darkness of its night.
the rays of Heb. עפעפי, rays of, like (Jer. 9:17), “and our eyelids (or pupils) (ועפעפינו) gush water.”
Job 3:10 For He did not shut He Who was able to shut. This too is one of the verses that resemble “the night when one said” (verse 2).
the doors of my womb from which I emerged, for had He done so, He would have hidden trouble from my eyes.
Job 3:11 Why did I not die from the womb? why was I not ready to die immediately upon my emergence from the womb? He speaks in the future tense, as though he were standing now on the day of his emergence from the womb and saying, “Why will I not die now, and why did I not... emerge from the belly and perish?” Why was my death not imminent?
Job 3:12 Why did knees receive me Why did the knees of my mother receive me before my death?
that I should suck [Why] was it decreed upon me to suck them? As he is speaking on the day of his birth, he mentions those subsequent events in the future tense.
Job 3:13 I would be lying Heb. ושכבתי, I would be lying in the grave.
Job 3:14 who build ruins for themselves It is customary for those who seek fame to rebuild ruined cities as a memorial for themselves, as in (Isa. 58: 12), “And those coming from you shall be called the repairer of the breaches.” That is to say, with princes and famous people. Or, would that I was unknown, and I would be like a stillborn. What Scripture states: I was not like a hidden stillborn, is because it continues with the language with which it started to speak, viz. in the interrogative, and it refers to “Why did knees receive me...or why was I not like a hidden stillborn child?”
Job 3:16 like infants Heb. כעוללים, infants. He calls them עוללים because they are all play and dirt, like (below 16:15), “And I sullied (ועללתי) with dust,” and like (Jud. 19:25), “and abused (ויתעללו) her the entire night.”
Job 3:17 cease from anger They restrain their anger, with which they were accustomed and wont to cause anger in the earth.
and there...rest Heb. ינוחו, and there rested. Something that occurs regularly is written in the future tense.
Job 3:19 Small and great are there There it is obvious who is esteemed and who is humble, and since that greatness is perpetual greatness, and that humility is perpetual humility...
Job 3:20 Why does He give (the giver, i.e., the Holy One, blessed be He.)
the toiler light He who grew up with toil and trouble—why did He give him perpetual light and not slay him at birth?
Job 3:21 Who await death to those of bitter spirit, who long for and desire death and complain, saying, “it is not here.”
and they spy after it Heb. ויתפרהו, and they spy after it.
more than after hidden treasures More than people spy after hidden treasures.
Job 3:22 Those who are happy over joyous occurrences and rejoice if they find a grave.
over joyous occurrences Because of the joy and the happiness of finding a grave.
Job 3:23 for a man whose way is hidden All the good deeds that he performed were hidden from the Great Recompenser, and He did not look at them.
and God hedged him in He made a wall in front of him to shut him up in a prison, as in (Hos. 2:8) “Behold I will close off your way.”
Job 3:24 comes Heb. תבא, lit. shall come.
pour An expression of (Exod. 9:33) “pour (נתך) to the ground.” They run and descend like water. The word ויתכו may also be interpreted as an expression denoting abundance.
Job 3:25 the thing I feared All my life, I stood in fear of this, as I said (1:5): “Now it would come about, when the cycle of the feasting would days be over, etc.”
What I dreaded—Behold!
Job 3:26 I was not at ease from this worry, and behold, trouble has come.