Job 3:13
in Job 3For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest,
KJV
For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
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This verse in Job 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThen should I have been quiet; and had he kept his temper, his even easy temper still, which he was in as recorded in the two foregoing chapters, entirely resigned to the holy will of God and acquiescing in it, he might have been quiet now; his soul, at least, might have dwelt at ease, even when his body lay in pain, Ps. xxv.
This site's exposition
Why did I not perish at birth
on Job 3:11-13
The curse gives way to a second movement, asking why Job was let live past that day at all. "Why were there knees to receive me" recalls the custom, found by Gill and Clarke, of a newborn set on the father's knees. Job wishes the welcome itself undone.
This site's exposition
I would be asleep and at rest
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see a rising order in lying down, peace, sleep and rest. Scripture often calls death sleep, as at Psalm 13:3. Matthew Henry observes that the quiet Job wants in the grave was open to him in the submission he kept in chapters 1 and 2.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
To enjoy the beauty of God's creation is desirable. It is a good thing to become a human being and to receive the image of God. It is not good to linger in an impure life. Many people are fascinated by an impure life, but …
The Medieval Church2 voices
MORAL INTERPRETATION. For now should I have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept, then had I been at rest. For this was man set in Paradise, that, had he attached himself by the chains of love to an obedient following of his Creator, he might one day be transported to the heavenly country of the Angels, and that, without the death of the flesh.
But since when someone asks, "Why did this happen?", he means that this happened uselessly, Job shows next as a consequence not only the futility of preserving his life, but even more the harm. He shows this first as to the evils which he now …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For now should I have lain still, and been quiet,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
lain . . . quiet . . . slept--a gradation. I should not only have lain, but been quiet, and not only been quiet, but slept. Death in Scripture is called "sleep" (Ps 13:3); especially in the New Testament, where the resurrection-awakening is more clearly set forth (1Co 15:51;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For now should I have lain still - In that case I had been insensible; quiet - without these overwhelming agitations; slept - unconscious of evil; been at rest - been out of the reach of calamity and sorrow.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For now should I have lain still - In this verse Job uses four expressions to describe the state in which be would have been if he had been so happy as to have died when an infant. It is evidently a very pleasant subject to him, and he puts it in a great variety of form.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I would be lying Heb. ושכבתי, I would be lying in the grave.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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.: 12), “And those coming from you shall be called the repairer of the breaches.” That is to say, with princes and famous people.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַ֭תָּה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| שָׁכַ֣בְתִּי | shakhavti | I lay down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| וְאֶשְׁק֑וֹט | veeshkot | and I may be at peace | H8252 → | 41 times |
| יָ֝שַׁ֗נְתִּי | yashanti | I slept | H3462 → | |
| אָ֤ז׀ | ʾaz | then | H227 → | 141 times |
| יָנ֬וּחַֽ | yanuach | it is at rest | H5117 → | 142 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to me |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עַ֭תָּהnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
שָׁכַ֣בְתִּיI lay down
shakhavtiH7901 →212 times
וְאֶשְׁק֑וֹטand I may be at peace
veeshkotH8252 →41 times
יָ֝שַׁ֗נְתִּיI slept
yashantiH3462 →
אָ֤ז׀then
ʾazH227 →141 times
יָנ֬וּחַֽit is at rest
yanuachH5117 →142 times
לִֽי׃to me
li
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
Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
- Ephesians 5:16
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Ecclesiastes 11:6
Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
- Colossians 3:23
Through
Job 21:13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
it leads to
- Job 36:11
If they obey and serve Him, then they end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.
- Matthew 24:38–39
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.
- Job 36:11
Through
Job 10:22to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
it leads to
- Psalms 88:12
Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
- Psalms 88:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IV; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 6.3.13-16; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.