¶“Why is light given to one burdened with grief, 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;
- BSB Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
- NKJV “Whyis light given to him who is in misery, 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 labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
- Job 7:15–16so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
- Prov 31:6Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish; and wine to the bitter in soul:
- 1 Sam 1:10She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly.
- 2 Kgs 4:27When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”
- Job 6:9even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
- Job 3:16or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.
- Job 33:30to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
- Job 33:28He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit. My life shall see the light.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.