Job 3:24

"Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?"

Key Reflection

In the ancient Near Eastern context, Job 3:24 speaks to a profound sense of hopelessness and despair. The phrase "light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in" suggests that those who are afflicted by God’s mysterious will find themselves trapped without any apparent way out or future relief. This verse would have resonated deeply with Job's original audience, who understood the term "hedged in" (כָּתַר kathar) as a metaphor for being completely surrounded and unable to escape an oppressive situation, reflecting Job’s own experience of suffering without clear understanding or resolution.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

For my sighing cometh before I eat -Margin, “My meat.” Dr. Good renders this,” Behold! my sighing takes the place of my daily food, and refers toPsalms 42:3, as an illustration: My tears are my meat day and night. So substantially Schultens renders it, and explains it as meaning, “My sighing comes in the manner of my food,”“Suspirium ad modum panis veniens”- and supposes it to mean that his sighs and groans were like his daily food; or were constant and unceasing. Dr. Noyes explains it as meaning, “My sighing comes on when I begin to eat, and prevents my taking my daily nourishment;” and appeals to a similar expression in Juvenal. Sat. xiii.

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