Job 3:8 Meaning and Explanation
“Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Job calls on those skilled in cursing days to join him in cursing the night of his birth.
What Does Job 3:8 Mean?
Job appeals to those who curse the day, people in the ancient world thought able to summon gloom and call down ruin. He invokes the imagery of stirring up the great sea creature, leviathan, a symbol of primeval chaos. In effect he wishes every power of darkness and disorder would unite to blot out the day he was born.
Job reaches for the strongest language he knows, not because he trusts in such powers, but because his pain strains for words equal to its weight. Beneath the vivid imagery lies a man overwhelmed. It is worth remembering that the very chaos Job evokes is no rival to God. Scripture shows the Lord as master even of leviathan and the raging sea, and in Christ the storms are stilled with a word, so that no darkness Job names stands outside God's reach.
Job 3:8 in the Original Language
livyathan (לִוְיָתָן), 'leviathan' -- a great sea creature evoked here as a symbol of chaos, which God alone commands.
Frequently Asked Questions About Job 3:8
What does Job 3:8 mean?
Job calls on those skilled in cursing days to join him in cursing the night of his birth.