Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul,
- KJV Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
- NKJV “Whyis light given to him who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul,
- NASB ¶“Why is light given to one burdened with grief, And life to the bitter of soul,
- NLT “Oh, why give light to those in misery, and life to those who are bitter?
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 asks why life is given to those in misery who long to die. He cannot understand prolonged suffering.
Overview
Job's anguished question turns from the grave to the puzzle of why God grants continued life to the bitterly suffering. The cry expresses the mystery of pain that does not end. The book ultimately answers not with a tidy explanation but with the revelation of God Himself, who can be trusted even when suffering remains unexplained.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 20:18Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
- Job 7:15–16so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
- Prov 31:6Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul.
- 1 Sam 1:10In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
- 2 Kgs 4:27When 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.”
- Job 6:9that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off!
- Job 3:16Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
- Job 33:30to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
- Job 33:28He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:20 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.