Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?
Job asks why he was received at birth and nursed that he should live on as an infant. It is his wish that he had died at birth in earliest infancy, as a stillborn who never lived and never saw the light. Had he so died he would have lain still and been quiet, at rest with the dead in the grave, and not lived on consciously in heaven. That rest is silence and darkness in the grave where all the dead go, a condition of perfect unconsciousness with no wisdom or knowledge. There he would wait in his house of darkness till his change should come, for release by resurrection is the only door of escape and the only hope of life beyond the grave.
Lament Over Birth
The verse asks why the knees received him at birth and why the breasts nursed him, concerning the circumstances of his birth and his survival as an infant. It belongs to his wish that he had died at birth in earliest infancy instead of being received and nursed and being at rest. It is the wish to have been as a stillborn, a hidden untimely birth that never lived and never saw the light.
It expresses despair and rebellion, anguish and bitter lament over having been born and over why anyone received him as an infant. His heart was deeply discomposed by affliction despite his patience, as he bitterly questioned why he was allowed to survive birth and be nursed. He was anguished at having been born into a life that would end in death. It is poetry, since the opening narrative and closing statement of the book are prose and all the rest is poetry, and it stands in the second of the five parts of the book, the colloquies in chapters 3-31 between Job and his three friends on the cause and object of human suffering.
Death as Unconscious Rest
Had he died in infancy he would have lain still and been quiet, at rest with the dead in the grave like an untimely birth that never lived and never saw the light. That dying at birth would have meant joining the dead in rest, with the knees receiving him and the breasts nursing him belonging to the circumstances of his birth and survival as an infant. His lament is therefore an example of death as a state without conscious life, not a continuing conscious life in heaven.
That rest is silence and darkness in Sheol, the grave or hades where all the dead go. It is a place of secrecy with no device, wisdom, or knowledge, a condition of profound silence and perfect unconsciousness where man rests until rescued by a resurrection. Death brings privation of life to the whole person, the end of his former life in a condition of darkness and silence. He asks why he was received and nursed instead of dying and being at rest with the dead, where the dead lie together until their change or awakening.
Death is deep repose for all alike, the same to friends and foes. It is the same state as kings and counsellors and princes of the earth who build costly tombs to enshrine their bodies when dead. There the wicked cease from troubling and the weary rest and lie together in the dust in sleep.
The dead are in a condition as though they had not been, for had he died in earliest infancy like a hidden untimely birth he would not have been. That is a state of non-existence and eternal extinction. It stands in wide contrast to paradise as a place of life, joy, peace and perfect bliss before the throne of God.
The dead wait in the grave, which is their house, where they have made their bed in darkness and rest together in the dust in sleep. They remain there till the heavens be no more and till their change or awakening comes, when they awake and are raised out of their sleep. For the righteous that change comes at the last trump at Christ's coming.
He was willing to lie down to pass his appointed time in the quiet unconsciousness of the grave, calmly facing death because he knew his living Redeemer would call him forth at the set time. At the same time the question of whether God could restore life remained the burden of his mind amid anguish over having been born into a life that would end in death. The resurrection to release a person from that state is the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave, for without it he will never be or exist again.
Job asks why he was received at birth and nursed that he should live on as an infant. It is his wish that he had died at birth in earliest infancy, as a stillborn who never lived and never saw the light. Had he so died he would have lain still and been quiet, at rest with the dead in the grave, and not lived on consciously in heaven. That rest is silence and darkness in the grave where all the dead go, a condition of perfect unconsciousness with no wisdom or knowledge. There he would wait in his house of darkness till his change should come, for release by resurrection is the only door of escape and the only hope of life beyond the grave.
Lament Over Birth
The verse asks why the knees received him at birth and why the breasts nursed him, concerning the circumstances of his birth and his survival as an infant. It belongs to his wish that he had died at birth in earliest infancy instead of being received and nursed and being at rest. It is the wish to have been as a stillborn, a hidden untimely birth that never lived and never saw the light.
It expresses despair and rebellion, anguish and bitter lament over having been born and over why anyone received him as an infant. His heart was deeply discomposed by affliction despite his patience, as he bitterly questioned why he was allowed to survive birth and be nursed. He was anguished at having been born into a life that would end in death. It is poetry, since the opening narrative and closing statement of the book are prose and all the rest is poetry, and it stands in the second of the five parts of the book, the colloquies in chapters 3-31 between Job and his three friends on the cause and object of human suffering.
Death as Unconscious Rest
Had he died in infancy he would have lain still and been quiet, at rest with the dead in the grave like an untimely birth that never lived and never saw the light. That dying at birth would have meant joining the dead in rest, with the knees receiving him and the breasts nursing him belonging to the circumstances of his birth and survival as an infant. His lament is therefore an example of death as a state without conscious life, not a continuing conscious life in heaven.
That rest is silence and darkness in Sheol, the grave or hades where all the dead go. It is a place of secrecy with no device, wisdom, or knowledge, a condition of profound silence and perfect unconsciousness where man rests until rescued by a resurrection. Death brings privation of life to the whole person, the end of his former life in a condition of darkness and silence. He asks why he was received and nursed instead of dying and being at rest with the dead, where the dead lie together until their change or awakening.
Death is deep repose for all alike, the same to friends and foes. It is the same state as kings and counsellors and princes of the earth who build costly tombs to enshrine their bodies when dead. There the wicked cease from troubling and the weary rest and lie together in the dust in sleep.
The dead are in a condition as though they had not been, for had he died in earliest infancy like a hidden untimely birth he would not have been. That is a state of non-existence and eternal extinction. It stands in wide contrast to paradise as a place of life, joy, peace and perfect bliss before the throne of God.
The dead wait in the grave, which is their house, where they have made their bed in darkness and rest together in the dust in sleep. They remain there till the heavens be no more and till their change or awakening comes, when they awake and are raised out of their sleep. For the righteous that change comes at the last trump at Christ's coming.
He was willing to lie down to pass his appointed time in the quiet unconsciousness of the grave, calmly facing death because he knew his living Redeemer would call him forth at the set time. At the same time the question of whether God could restore life remained the burden of his mind amid anguish over having been born into a life that would end in death. The resurrection to release a person from that state is the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave, for without it he will never be or exist again.