Job 10:18
in Job 10Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me.
KJV
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
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This verse in Job 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verseSomeone could think that Job's statement comes from desperation, but that is proven wrong by what God has said: "Do you believe I treated you like this for any other reason than to reveal your righteousness?" Job, who previously had said, "If I am wicked, …
This site's exposition
Why then did You bring me from the womb
on Job 10:18-19
"Why then did You bring me from the womb" returns to the death wish, now aimed at God where chapter 3 cursed the day itself. "Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me" carries the wish back before birth.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Job had finished his investigation with the statement that he has suffered a great many tribulations regardless of the fact that he is just or unjust. He wants to ask if this can be true lest anyone could believe that God rejoiced in his tribulations. …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days, 6 That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
): "If this was designed for my lot, why was I brought out of the womb, and not smothered there, or stifled in the birth?" This was the language of his passion, and it was a relapse into the same sin he fell into before.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Wherefore then - Why didst thou give me a being, when thou didst foresee I should be exposed to such incredible hardships? See on Job 3:10 (note), etc.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth - See the notes at Job 3:11.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלָ֣מָּה | velamah | and <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| מֵ֭רֶחֶם | merechem | from [the] womb | H7358 → | 26 times |
| הֹצֵאתָ֑נִי | hotzetani | did you bring out me | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶ֝גְוַ֗ע | ʾegva' | I expired | H1478 → | 24 times |
| וְעַ֣יִן | veayin | and an eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִרְאֵֽנִי׃ | tireni | it saw me | H7200 → | 1300 times |
וְלָ֣מָּהand <to> why?
velamahH4100 →752 times
מֵ֭רֶחֶםfrom [the] womb
merechemH7358 →26 times
הֹצֵאתָ֑נִיdid you bring out me
hotzetaniH3318 →1067 times
אֶ֝גְוַ֗עI expired
ʾegva'H1478 →24 times
וְעַ֣יִןand an eye
veayinH5869 →887 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִרְאֵֽנִי׃it saw me
tireniH7200 →1300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 26:24The 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…
it leads to
- Acts 26:22–23
But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
- Luke 24:46
And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Matthew 18:7
Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
- Daniel 9:26
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end…
- 1 Corinthians 15:3
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
- Acts 26:22–23
Through
Job 14:10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
it leads to
- Job 19:26
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
- Job 19:26
Through
Job 11:20But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:65
Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Deuteronomy 28:65
Through
Jeremiah 15:10Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.
it leads to
- Luke 6:22
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
- Luke 6:22
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 10:18-22; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.