Job 3:16 | NET2full | STEP | Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant , like infants who have never seen the light ?

‏ Job 3:16

16 Or why ^{▼▼tn The verb is governed by the interrogative of v. 12 that introduces this series of rhetorical questions.} was ^{▼▼tn The verb is again the prefix conjugation, but the narrative requires a past tense, or preterite.} I not buried ^{▼▼tn Heb “hidden.” The LXX paraphrases: “an untimely birth, proceeding from his mother’s womb.”}
like a stillborn infant, ^{▼▼tn The noun נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”) is the abortive thing that falls (hence the verb) from the womb before the time is ripe (Ps 58:9). The idiom using the verb “to fall” from the womb means to come into the world (Isa 26:18). The epithet טָמוּן (tamun, “hidden”) is appropriate to the verse. The child comes in vain, and disappears into the darkness—it is hidden forever.}
like infants ^{▼▼tn The word עֹלְלִים (ʿolelim) normally refers to “nurslings.” Here it must refer to infants in general since it refers to a stillborn child.} who have never seen the light? ^{▼▼tn The relative clause does not have the relative pronoun; the simple juxtaposition of words indicates that it is modifying the infants.}