Job 3:2

Spake. Heb. ‘anah, generally translated “to answer.” Here it means “to respond to an occasion,” “to speak in view of circumstances” (see Deut. 26:5; Isa. 14:10; Zech. 3:4). This verse ends the prose introduction to the book of Job.

Spake. Hebrew ‘anah, generally translated “to answer.” Here it means “to respond to an occasion,” “to speak in view of circumstances” (see Deuteronomy 26:5; Isaiah 14:10; Zechariah 3:4). This verse ends the prose introduction to the book of Job.

Job 3:3-26

Chapter 3:3-26 presents the first poem. It is divided into three stanzas, verses 3-10; 11-19; and 20-26. In the first stanza Job curses the day of his birth and the night of his conception. In the second he expresses the wish that he had died before birth. The third stanza asks the question, Why does God compel men to live when they would rather die? His execrations are solemn, deep, and sublime. These poetic statements do not lend themselves to minute technical analysis. Job is not presenting logic. Rather, he is pouring out the impassioned feelings of a suffering soul.