Job 3:21

Complete Jewish Bible

when at last they find the grave, they are so happy they shout for joy.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
who wait for death, but it does not come,and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

Hebrew Names Version
Who long for death, but it doesn't come; Dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

King James Version
Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

English Standard Version
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

New Century Version
They want to die, but death does not come. They search for death more than for hidden treasure.

New English Translation
to those who wait for death that does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasures,

Amplified Bible
Who wait for death, but it does not come, And dig (search) for death more [diligently] than for hidden treasures,

New American Standard Bible
Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

World English Bible
Who long for death, but it doesn't come; Dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Which long for death, and if it come not, they would euen search it more then treasures:

Legacy Standard Bible
Who long for death, but there is none,And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Berean Standard Bible
who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,

Contemporary English Version
I keep longing for death more than I would seek a valuable treasure.

Darby Translation
Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

Easy-to-Read Version
Such people want to die, but death does not come. They search for death more than for hidden treasure.

George Lamsa Translation
Who long for death, but it comes not, and seek it as one seeks a hidden treasure;

Good News Translation
They wait for death, but it never comes; they prefer a grave to any treasure.

Lexham English Bible
who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for treasures,

Literal Translation
who is waiting for death, but it is not; and they dig for it more than for treasures?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
(Which longe for death, and it commeth not: for yf they might fynde their graue,

American Standard Version
Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

Bible in Basic English
To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Whiche long for death and finde it not, though they search more for it than for treasures:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Who long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

King James Version (1611)
Which long for death, but it commeth not, and dig for it more then for hid treasures:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
who desire death, and obtain it not, digging for it as for treasures;

English Revised Version
Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whiche abiden deeth, and it cometh not;

Update Bible Version
Who long for death, but it does not come, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

Webster's Bible Translation
Who long for death, but it [cometh] not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

New King James Version
Who long for death, but it does not come, And search for it more than hidden treasures;

New Living Translation
They long for death, and it won't come. They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.

New Life Bible
They wait for death, but there is none. They dig for it more than for hidden riches.

New Revised Standard
who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:

Douay-Rheims Bible
That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

Revised Standard Version
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

Young's Literal Translation
Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Contextual Overview

²⁰ They long for death, but it never comes; they search for it more than for buried treasure; ²¹ when at last they find the grave, they are so happy they shout for joy. ²² [Why give light] to a man who wanders blindly, whom God shuts in on every side? ²³ "My sighing serves in place of my food, and my groans pour out in a torrent; ²⁴ for the thing I feared has overwhelmed me, what I dreaded has happened to me. ²⁵ I have no peace, no quiet, no rest; and anguish keeps coming." ²⁶ class="poetry"> Iyov said, "Perish the day I was born and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.' May that day be darkness, may God on high not seek it, may no light shine on it, may gloom dark as death defile it, may clouds settle on it, may it be terrified by its own blackness. "As for that night, may thick darkness seize it, may it not be joined to the days of the year, may it not be numbered among the months; may that night be desolate, may no cry of joy be heard in it; may those who curse days curse it, those who[se curses] could rouse Livyatan; may the stars of its twilight be dark, may it look for light but get none, may it never see the shimmer of dawn — because it didn't shut the doors of the womb I was in and shield my eyes from trouble. "If I had been stillborn, if I had died at birth, had there been no knees to receive me or breasts for me to suck. Then I would be lying still and in peace, I would have slept and been at rest, along with kings and their earthly advisers, who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had [plenty of] gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or I could have been like a hidden, miscarried child that never saw light. "There the wicked cease their raging, there the weary are at rest, prisoners live at peace together without hearing a taskmaster's yells. Great and small alike are there, and the slave is free of his master. "So why must light be given to the miserable and life to the bitter in spirit? They long for death, but it never comes; they search for it more than for buried treasure; when at last they find the grave, they are so happy they shout for joy. [Why give light] to a man who wanders blindly, whom God shuts in on every side? "My sighing serves in place of my food, and my groans pour out in a torrent; for the thing I feared has overwhelmed me, what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quiet, no rest; and anguish keeps coming."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

long: Heb. wait, Numbers 11:15, 1 Kings 19:4, Jonah 4:3, Jonah 4:8, Revelation 9:6

dig: Proverbs 2:4

Reciprocal: Job 36:20 - Desire

Cross-References

Genesis 3:2
The woman answered the serpent, "We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden,

Genesis 3:3
but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.'"

Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.

Isaiah 61:10
I am so joyful in Adonai ! My soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in salvation, dressed me with a robe of triumph, like a bridegroom wearing a festive turban, like a bride adorned with her jewels.

Romans 3:22
and it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile,

2 Corinthians 5:21
God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God's righteousness."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Which long for death, but it [cometh] not,.... Who earnestly desire, wistly look out, wish for, and expect it, and with open mouth gape for it, as a hungry man for his food, or as the fish for the bait, or the fishermen for the fish, as some a observe the word may signify; but it comes not to their wish and expectation, or so soon as they would have it; the reason is, because the fixed time for it is not come, otherwise it will certainly come at God's appointed time, and often in an hour not thought of; death is not desirable in itself, being a dissolution of nature, or as it is the sanction of the law, or the wages of sin, or a penal evil; and though it is and may be lawfully desired by good men, that they may be free from sin, and be in a better capacity to serve the Lord, and that they may be for ever with him; yet such desires should be expressed with submission to the divine will, and the appointed time should be patiently waited for, and should not be desired merely to be rid of present afflictions and troubles, which was the case of Job, and of those he here describes; see Revelation 9:6;

and dig for it more than for hid treasures; which are naturally hid in the earth; as gold and silver ore, with other metals and precious stones; or which are of choice concealed there from the plunder of others; the former seems rather to be meant, and in digging for which great pains, diligence, and industry, are used, see Proverbs 2:4; and is expressive of the very great importunity and strong desire of men in distressed circumstances after death, seeking diligently and pressing importunately for it; the sin of suicide not being known, or very rare, in that early time, or however was shunned and abhorred even by those that were most weary of their lives: some render it, "who dig for it out off hid treasures" b; out of the bowels of the earth, and the lowest parts of it, could they but find it there: but the Targum, Jarchi, and others, understand it comparatively, as we do.

a So Junius Tremellius, Piscator. vid. Schultens in loc. b ממטמונים "e thesauris", Cocceius "ex imis terrae latebris", Mercerus: "ex locis absconditis", Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Which long for death - Whose pain and anguish are so great that they would regard it as a privilege to die. Much as people dread death, and much as they have occasion to dread what is beyond, yet there is no doubt that this often occurs. Pain becomes so intense, and suffering is so protracted, that they would regard it as a privilege to be permitted to die. Yet that sorrow “must” be intense which prompts to this wish, and usually must be long continued. In ordinary cases such is the love of life, and such the dread of death and of what is beyond, that people are willing to bear all that human nature can endure rather than meet death; see the notes at Job 2:4. This idea has been expressed with unsurpassed beauty by Shakespeare:

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely

The pangs of despised love. the law’s delay,

The insolence of office. and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When be himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death -

The undiscovered country, from whose bourne

No traveler returns-puzzles the will;

And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of.

Hamlet.

And dig for it - That is, express a stronger desire for it than people do who dig for treasures in the earth. Nothing would more forcibly express the intense desire to die than this expression.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 3:21. Which long for death — They look to it as the end of all their miseries; and long more for a separation from life, than those who love gold do for a rich mine.