Ask Your Preacher - Archives
“Job's Lament”
Categories: OLD TESTAMENTExplain Job 3:14-16, please.Sincerely,
Job Placement
Dear Job Placement,
Job chapter three is Job’s lament over his own existence. Job starts the chapter off by expressing how he wishes he was never born (Job 3:1-3). The entire chapter continues with this theme. Job has been so completely decimated in his life that he wishes he had never lived at all. He has lost his family, his wealth, and his health. Job 3:14-16 is best understood if you go all the way back to Job 3:11. Job is lamenting the fact that he did not die right after his birth. In Job 3:14-15, he points that if he were dead, instead of suffering, he would be resting with the kings, princes, and rulers of old whose castles now lie in ruins. In Job 3:16, he simply re-emphasizes that he wishes he had died as an infant instead of living to see the suffering that had occurred in his adult life.
