Job 10:18
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
Original Language Analysis
וְלָ֣מָּה
H4100
וְלָ֣מָּה
Strong's:
H4100
Word #:
1 of 7
properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and
הֹצֵאתָ֑נִי
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth
H3318
הֹצֵאתָ֑נִי
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth
Strong's:
H3318
Word #:
3 of 7
to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim
אֶ֝גְוַ֗ע
Oh that I had given up the ghost
H1478
אֶ֝גְוַ֗ע
Oh that I had given up the ghost
Strong's:
H1478
Word #:
4 of 7
to breathe out, i.e., (by implication) expire
וְעַ֣יִן
and no eye
H5869
וְעַ֣יִן
and no eye
Strong's:
H5869
Word #:
5 of 7
an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape)
Historical Context
Ancient Near Eastern cultures generally viewed life as precious gift from gods and death as tragedy. Job's wish for non-existence represents profound despair that inverts normal values—better never to exist than to exist in such agony. This extreme lament underscores his suffering's severity.
Questions for Reflection
- How do we respond pastorally to those who wish they had never been born?
- What does Job's death wish teach about suffering's power to make existence itself seem cursed?
- In what ways does Christ's purposeful incarnation toward death transform our understanding of life's purpose?
Analysis & Commentary
Job wishes he had never been born: 'Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!' The question 'Wherefore' (lammah, לָּמָה) demands reason for God bringing Job to birth. The phrase 'given up the ghost' (gava, גָּוַע) means to expire or perish—Job wishes he had died at birth. 'No eye had seen me' expresses desire for non-existence, never entering human observation.
Job's death wish intensifies—earlier he cursed his birthday (chapter 3); now he questions why God gave him life at all. The lament assumes God's agency in birth, making the question theological, not merely existential. If God purposed Job's existence, what possible purpose justifies this suffering? Job cannot reconcile divine intention in creating him with divine action in destroying him.
The question finds answer in Christ: God brought forth the Son in human birth specifically to suffer and die (Hebrews 2:14-15). Christ's incarnation was purposefully oriented toward crucifixion. God births in order to redeem through suffering. Job cannot yet see that his suffering serves purposes beyond mere existence—it vindicates divine confidence in genuine faith.