Job’s First Lament (Job 3)

Bible Commentary / Produced by TOW Project

There is nothing left for Job but to lament. He refuses to incriminate himself falsely, and he refuses to blame or abandon God. But he does not hesitate to express his anguish in the strongest terms. “Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived’” (Job 3:3). “Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?” (Job 3:11). “Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light?” (Job 3:16). “Why is light given to one who cannot see the way, whom God has fenced in?” (Job 3:23). Notice that Job’s lament is almost entirely in the form of questions. The cause of his suffering is a mystery. Indeed, it may be the greatest mystery of faith. Why does God allow people he loves to suffer? Job does not know the answer, so the most honest thing he can do is ask questions.

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