Job 3:20-26 | JFB | STEP | 20. Wherefore giveth he light-- namely, God; often omitted reverentially ( ; ). Light, that is, life. The joyful light ill suits the mourners. The grave is most in unison with their feelings.

‏ Job 3:20-26

Job 3:20-26. He Complains of Life because of His Anguish.

20. Wherefore giveth he light--namely, God; often omitted reverentially (Job 24:23; Ec 9:9). Light, that is, life. The joyful light ill suits the mourners. The grave is most in unison with their feelings.

23. whose way is hid--The picture of Job is drawn from a wanderer who has lost his way, and who is hedged in, so as to have no exit of escape (Ho 2:6; La 3:7, 9).

24. my sighing cometh before I eat--that is, prevents my eating [Umbreit]; or, conscious that the effort to eat brought on the disease, Job must sigh before eating [Rosenmuller]; or, sighing takes the place of good (Psa 42:3) [Good]. But the first explanation accords best with the text.

my roarings are poured out like the waters--an image from the rushing sound of water streaming.

25. the thing which I ... feared is come upon me--In the beginning of his trials, when he heard of the loss of one blessing, he feared the loss of another; and when he heard of the loss of that, he feared the loss of a third.

that which I was afraid of is come unto me--namely, the ill opinion of his friends, as though he were a hypocrite on account of his trials.

26. I was not in safety ... yet trouble came--referring, not to his former state, but to the beginning of his troubles. From that time I had no rest, there was no intermission of sorrows. "And" (not, "yet") a fresh trouble is coming, namely, my friends' suspicion of my being a hypocrite. This gives the starting-point to the whole ensuing controversy.