Job 3:12 Meaning and Explanation
“Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Job wonders why he was welcomed and nursed at birth instead of being left to die.
What Does Job 3:12 Mean?
Job's questions grow more intimate. Why were there knees to receive me, he asks, why breasts to nurse me? He is recalling the tender first acts of welcome given to a newborn, being lifted onto the knees and fed at the breast. To Job in his anguish, even these mercies feel like reasons his suffering was prolonged.
It is a sorrowful thing when the gentlest gifts of life come to feel like burdens. Yet the care Job laments is a picture of how God receives the helpless, drawing near to nurse and sustain the smallest and weakest. The same Lord who fashioned that welcome does not despise the brokenhearted now. In Christ, who took the little ones into His arms, we see that God's tenderness toward us never depends on whether we can feel it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Job 3:12
What does Job 3:12 mean?
Job wonders why he was welcomed and nursed at birth instead of being left to die.