For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
Job speaks out of affliction and despair, wishing he had died at birth or in infancy so that he would now be lying quiet and at rest from his suffering. Death is pictured as lying still and being quiet, sleeping and being at rest in silence and darkness. That sleep is total unconsciousness, without conscious activity, knowledge, or awareness of events. All the dead share this common rest together in the grave, called sheol in Hebrew and hades in Greek, where small and great, weary and wicked, lie beyond the reach of trouble and oppression with distinctions of rank set aside. The dead remain asleep in the grave and are no longer living in the world until life is restored at the awakening at Christ's coming at the last trumpet. The grave is a waiting place for an appointed time, and resurrection is the only door of escape and the only hope of life beyond it, when the living Redeemer will call forth the dead.
Job's Lament and Setting
Job speaks out of affliction and despair, wishing that he had died at birth or in infancy so that he would now be lying quiet and at rest. That longed-for quiet in the grave would have ended his present suffering, with the dead free from trouble and the weary and prisoners resting and no longer hearing their oppressors. His wish came from affliction, not from a desire to go to heaven at death, for the dead are silent in the grave and not alive and active in heaven, with ears and heart quiet there. Even though he was a model of patience, trouble discomposed his heart.
The verse stands in the opening affliction of Job, which displays the problems of overruling providence, sin and suffering that have perplexed humanity through all ages. In that affliction God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire, while his three friends are determined to charge him with sin and declare that his sufferings are because of that sin. The lesson is not to misjudge fellow sufferers in the same way.
The verse stands at the beginning of the long section running from chapters 3 through 31, which records the reasonings between Job and his three friends over the cause and object of human suffering. It cannot be rightly taken by itself but must be studied as part of the whole book.
Death as Unconscious Rest
Death is pictured as lying still and being quiet, sleeping and being at rest, in silence and darkness, which is the Bible's poetic way of representing the dead as sleeping. Had Job died in infancy he would have been at rest among the dead, as though he had never been, in the same condition as dead kings, counsellors and princes. In that description the dead rest together in the grave, among people of every rank, rather than living in conscious happiness or suffering, while they await a future change. Death is presented as a common rest, not as going to heaven, with people of every rank sharing this condition in the grave rather than in heaven or hell. The surrounding verses place the dead together beyond the reach of earthly trouble and oppression, with distinctions of status and rank set aside.
That sleep-like rest is total unconsciousness without conscious activity, knowledge, or awareness of events, with no device, wisdom, or knowledge. Job likens the dead person's condition to that of a hidden, untimely birth that never saw light, that had not been, as though he had never been. Had he died he would have lain quiet and unconscious, like kings and rulers who had died, and rested alongside kings and counselors without awareness. If he had died in infancy he would have been unconscious and at rest, not awake and active in heaven or in another part of himself, with ears and heart quiet. The dead do not remain conscious and are not portrayed as consciously experiencing bliss or punishment.
The dead share this common rest together in the one place where all the dead go, the grave called sheol in Hebrew and hades in Greek, where the whole man lies in secrecy and silence in profound stillness and perfect unconsciousness. Kings, counsellors, princes, prisoners, the small and the great, the weary and the wicked rest there together beyond the reach of earthly trouble, oppression and oppressors, with distinctions of rank set aside. They are in that same still, quiet, asleep condition at rest, in darkness and silence, rather than living consciously in heaven or hell in happiness or suffering. Death is presented as a common rest shared in one resting place, not as going to heaven.
Death when it comes takes the place that life held before, bringing a time of darkness and silence, and the dead are no longer living in the world but remain asleep in the grave until life is restored. Hope centered not on a conscious life between death and resurrection but on the resurrection to come, when there will be a change and awakening at Christ's coming, at the last trumpet. The dead lie quiet and know nothing, like those in a deep sleep, and remain in this state until Christ raises the dead, when the dead in Christ will then receive eternal life. This rest in the grave in secrecy and silence remains there until rescued only by a resurrection, in wide contrast to paradise which is life, joy, peace and perfect bliss before the throne of God in heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the future home of the saints.
The grave is a waiting place for an appointed time, and resurrection is the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave. Without a resurrection the dead would never exist again. Job calmly faced the death that the faithless and fearful vainly strive against because he knew his living Redeemer would call him forth at the set time. Job knew this while considering the brevity of man's life, and his burden was whether recovery from that dark, silent condition was possible by living again, which is answered in the awakening at the resurrection.
Job speaks out of affliction and despair, wishing he had died at birth or in infancy so that he would now be lying quiet and at rest from his suffering. Death is pictured as lying still and being quiet, sleeping and being at rest in silence and darkness. That sleep is total unconsciousness, without conscious activity, knowledge, or awareness of events. All the dead share this common rest together in the grave, called sheol in Hebrew and hades in Greek, where small and great, weary and wicked, lie beyond the reach of trouble and oppression with distinctions of rank set aside. The dead remain asleep in the grave and are no longer living in the world until life is restored at the awakening at Christ's coming at the last trumpet. The grave is a waiting place for an appointed time, and resurrection is the only door of escape and the only hope of life beyond it, when the living Redeemer will call forth the dead.
Job's Lament and Setting
Job speaks out of affliction and despair, wishing that he had died at birth or in infancy so that he would now be lying quiet and at rest. That longed-for quiet in the grave would have ended his present suffering, with the dead free from trouble and the weary and prisoners resting and no longer hearing their oppressors. His wish came from affliction, not from a desire to go to heaven at death, for the dead are silent in the grave and not alive and active in heaven, with ears and heart quiet there. Even though he was a model of patience, trouble discomposed his heart.
The verse stands in the opening affliction of Job, which displays the problems of overruling providence, sin and suffering that have perplexed humanity through all ages. In that affliction God is disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire, while his three friends are determined to charge him with sin and declare that his sufferings are because of that sin. The lesson is not to misjudge fellow sufferers in the same way.
The verse stands at the beginning of the long section running from chapters 3 through 31, which records the reasonings between Job and his three friends over the cause and object of human suffering. It cannot be rightly taken by itself but must be studied as part of the whole book.
Death as Unconscious Rest
Death is pictured as lying still and being quiet, sleeping and being at rest, in silence and darkness, which is the Bible's poetic way of representing the dead as sleeping. Had Job died in infancy he would have been at rest among the dead, as though he had never been, in the same condition as dead kings, counsellors and princes. In that description the dead rest together in the grave, among people of every rank, rather than living in conscious happiness or suffering, while they await a future change. Death is presented as a common rest, not as going to heaven, with people of every rank sharing this condition in the grave rather than in heaven or hell. The surrounding verses place the dead together beyond the reach of earthly trouble and oppression, with distinctions of status and rank set aside.
That sleep-like rest is total unconsciousness without conscious activity, knowledge, or awareness of events, with no device, wisdom, or knowledge. Job likens the dead person's condition to that of a hidden, untimely birth that never saw light, that had not been, as though he had never been. Had he died he would have lain quiet and unconscious, like kings and rulers who had died, and rested alongside kings and counselors without awareness. If he had died in infancy he would have been unconscious and at rest, not awake and active in heaven or in another part of himself, with ears and heart quiet. The dead do not remain conscious and are not portrayed as consciously experiencing bliss or punishment.
The dead share this common rest together in the one place where all the dead go, the grave called sheol in Hebrew and hades in Greek, where the whole man lies in secrecy and silence in profound stillness and perfect unconsciousness. Kings, counsellors, princes, prisoners, the small and the great, the weary and the wicked rest there together beyond the reach of earthly trouble, oppression and oppressors, with distinctions of rank set aside. They are in that same still, quiet, asleep condition at rest, in darkness and silence, rather than living consciously in heaven or hell in happiness or suffering. Death is presented as a common rest shared in one resting place, not as going to heaven.
Death when it comes takes the place that life held before, bringing a time of darkness and silence, and the dead are no longer living in the world but remain asleep in the grave until life is restored. Hope centered not on a conscious life between death and resurrection but on the resurrection to come, when there will be a change and awakening at Christ's coming, at the last trumpet. The dead lie quiet and know nothing, like those in a deep sleep, and remain in this state until Christ raises the dead, when the dead in Christ will then receive eternal life. This rest in the grave in secrecy and silence remains there until rescued only by a resurrection, in wide contrast to paradise which is life, joy, peace and perfect bliss before the throne of God in heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the future home of the saints.
The grave is a waiting place for an appointed time, and resurrection is the only door of escape from eternal extinction and the only hope of life beyond the grave. Without a resurrection the dead would never exist again. Job calmly faced the death that the faithless and fearful vainly strive against because he knew his living Redeemer would call him forth at the set time. Job knew this while considering the brevity of man's life, and his burden was whether recovery from that dark, silent condition was possible by living again, which is answered in the awakening at the resurrection.