Job 3:20
in Job 3Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;
KJV
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
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This verse in Job 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery? - The word “light” here is used undoubtedly to denote “life.” This verse commences a new part of Job’s complaint. It is that God keeps people alive who would prefer to die; that he furnishes them with the means of sustaining existence, and actually preserves them, when they would consider it an inestimable blessing to expire. Schultens remarks, on this part of the chapter, that the tone of Job’s complaint is considerably modified. He has given vent to his strong feelings, and the language here is more mild and gentle.
This site's exposition
Why is light given to the miserable
on Job 3:20-23
The words "whom God has hedged in" return Satan's word from 1:10 in the opposite sense, the protection the accuser envied becoming the prison. Barnes notes that the echo is the reader's alone to see, since Job never heard the word that opened the case against him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Why is light given," Job asks, "to those whose soul dwells in bitterness, and life to those souls who are in pain?" Again this is not the language—God forbid!—of someone who makes rebukes, but of someone who searches and suffers. In fact, when words are spoken with a different spirit, they must not be interpreted in the same manner. Therefore, when a philosopher asserts, "Why does a senseless person have riches at his disposal?" he only shows that he is unworthy of riches. From this we learn that not only life but also death is useful, when it is more desired than evil.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Wherefore is light given to one that is in misery? In holy Scripture prosperity is sometimes represented by the title of light, and this world's adversity by the name of night. Hence it is well said by the Psalmist, As is its darkness, so also is its light.
After Job has detested his own life in many ways, he now detests the life of the whole human race taken collectively, both of those in prosperity and those in adversity. He begins to treat first of those who are more renowned. Note that there …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Light - The light of life. Bitter - Unto those to whom life itself is bitter and burdensome. Life is called light, because it is pleasant and serviceable for walking and working; and this light is said to be given us, because it would be lost, if it were not daily renewed to us by a fresh gift.
It was Job's folly and weakness to curse his day. We must say of it, This was his infirmity; but good men have sometimes failed in the exercise of those graces which they have been most eminent for, that we may understand that when they are said to be perfect it is meant that they were upright, not that they were sinless.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Bitterness of soul, through spiritual grievances, makes life itself bitter. Why doth he give light? (so it is in the original): he means God, yet does not name him, though the devil had said, "He will curse thee to thy face;" but he tacitly reflects on the divine Providence as unjust and unkind in continuing life when the comforts of life are removed.
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Wherefore giveth he light--namely, God; often omitted reverentially (Job 24:23; The joyful light ill suits the mourners. The grave is most in unison with their feelings.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Wherefore is light given - Why is life granted to him who is incapable of enjoying it, or of performing its functions?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָ֤מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יִתֵּ֣ן | yiten | does someone give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְעָמֵ֣ל | leamel | to a sufferer | H6001 → | |
| א֑וֹר | ʾor | light | H216 → | 121 times |
| וְ֝חַיִּ֗ים | vechaiyim | and life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| לְמָ֣רֵי | lemarei | to [people] bitter of | H4751 → | 37 times |
| נָֽפֶשׁ׃ | nafesh | soul | H5315 → | 754 times |
לָ֤מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
יִתֵּ֣ןdoes someone give
yitenH5414 →2011 times
לְעָמֵ֣לto a sufferer
leamelH6001 →
א֑וֹרlight
ʾorH216 →121 times
וְ֝חַיִּ֗יםand life
vechaiyimH2416 →498 times
לְמָ֣רֵיto [people] bitter of
lemareiH4751 →37 times
נָֽפֶשׁ׃soul
nafeshH5315 →754 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
1 Samuel 1:10In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
it leads to
- Job 7:11
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Luke 22:44
And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Job 10:1
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
- Job 7:11
Through
Job 3:16Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
it leads to
- Psalms 58:8
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
- Psalms 58:8
Through
Proverbs 31:6Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 5:23
Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
- Psalms 104:15
wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- 1 Timothy 5:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 11 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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book V; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 3:20-23; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.