For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
- KJV Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
- NKJV Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
- NASB Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.
- NLT Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to see all this trouble.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job blames that day for letting him be born into trouble. He sees his very birth as the gateway to his misery.
Overview
Job's reason for cursing the day is that it did not prevent his birth and so exposed him to the sorrow he now endures. His lament traces present suffering back to his origin. While honest, this perspective is limited, and the book will reveal a God whose purposes extend beyond what the sufferer can presently see.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 20:18for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
- Jer 20:17because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.
- Eccl 6:3–5A 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.
- 1 Sam 1:5But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.
- Gen 29:31When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Eccl 11:10So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting.
- Job 6:2–3“If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales.
- Job 10:1“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- Job 23:2“Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
- Job 10:18–19Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 3:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.