Job 3:20
Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
BSB
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
1 Samuel 1:10In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
leads to
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.
And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
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…
Through
Job 3:16Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
leads to
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
Through
Proverbs 31:6Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul.
leads to
Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.