Job 3 · Verse 23

Job 3:23

Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
Job 3:23, King James Version

Job 3:23 in other translations

BSBWhy is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
WEBWhy is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
ASVWhy is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?
YLTTo a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?
DARBYTo the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in?
BBETo a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?
WebsterWhy is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

What does Job 3:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. whose way is hid--The picture of Job is drawn from a wanderer who has lost his way, and who is hedged in, so as to have no exit of escape (Ho 2:6; La 3:7, 9).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 To a man whose way is hid - Who knows not what is before him in either world, but is full of fears and trembling concerning both. God hath hedged in? - Leaving him no way to escape; and not permitting him to see one step before him. There is an exact parallel to this passage in Lam 3:7, Lam 3:9 : He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone. Mr. Good translates the verse thus: To the man whose path is broken up, and whose futurity God hath overwhelmed. But I cannot see any necessity for departing from the common text, which gives both an easy and a natural sense.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 3:20-26

Job was like a man who had lost his way, and had no prospect of escape, or hope of better times. But surely he was in an ill frame for death when so unwilling to live. Let it be our constant care to get ready for another world, and then leave it to God to order our removal thither as he thinks fit. Grace teaches us in the midst of life's greatest comforts, to be willing to die, and in the midst of its greatest…

Read the full comment on Job 3:20-26 →

Job 3:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לְ֭גֶבֶרLe.ge.verto a manH1397
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whomH834
דַּרְכּ֣וֹdar.Koway hisH1870
נִסְתָּ֑רָהnis.Ta.rahit is hiddenH5641
וַיָּ֖סֶךְvai.Ya.sekhand he has made inaccessibleH5526
אֱל֣וֹהַּ'e.Lo.ahGodH433
בַּעֲדֽוֹ\׃ba.'a.Dobehind himH1157

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 3:23

  • Job 19:8

    He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

  • Lamentations 3:7

    He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

  • Isaiah 40:27

    Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

  • Job 12:14

    Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

  • Lamentations 3:9

    He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

  • Job 19:12

    His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.

  • Psalms 31:8

    And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

  • Psalms 88:8

    Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

  • Hosea 2:6

    Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

  • Job 19:6

    Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
whose way.
Isa 40:27
hedged in.
12:14; 19:8; Ps 31:8; La 3:7,9; Ho 2:6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 3:22

    Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

  • Job 3:23

    Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

  • Job 3:24

    For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

Read all of Job 3

Job 3:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿ Por qué al hombre que no sabe por donde vaya, y al cual Dios ha encerrado?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		À l’homme de qui le chemin est caché et que ✝Dieu a enfermé de toutes parts?
German
Elberfelder 1871		dem Manne, dessen Weg ihm verborgen ist, und den Gott eingeschlossen hat ringsum?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		viro cujus abscondita est via et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?