“Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
Seven days of silence from his three friends break Job open. What comes out is not a curse on God but a question about his own life: why keep a man in agony alive at all? Commentators read this first "why" both as an honest cry and as a complaint that needed an answer.
The first "why"
One writer traces the question back to that silence, and notes how many have asked it since:
H. L. RossierWhen his three friends arrived, their seven days' silence showed only that they had no words of comfort for him. In their hearts they thought instead that Job was getting what his deeds deserved. Then he began to despair of everything, and in the bitterness of his heart he spoke his first presumptuous "why?" ... "Why, yes why?" Many millions have asked the same question since. Why do I live at all? Would it not be better if I had never been born?
What the words carry
"Light" here means simply being alive and in this world — being born and seeing the day. One writer points out that the verse has a hidden subject: someone is giving that light, and Job knows who, even while he will not say the name.
William KellyThe last verses (20-26) put the question, first generally, and then with pointed application to himself: why should he live, being thus miserable? There is no need to give verse 20 the impersonal turn found in the English Bible and many others, though there is still the avoidance of uttering the name of God.
Wanting death, not taking it
Job longs for death, yet one line he never crosses. A commentator sees restraint here, and a reason for it that Job did not know:
Leslie M. GrantHe was in misery and bitterness of soul. He asks why life should be given to one in such a state, though he longs for death and it does not come. It is good, however, that he does not even consider suicide, as many would do today who are in such a condition. God had told Satan to spare Job's life, while allowing him to make Job suffer so badly. And God knew Job's sufferings were needed to bring about results of great blessing.
What the complaint exposes
Sympathy for Job does not make the question a good one. Read as an argument, it puts the sufferer in the place of correcting God:
H. L. RossierThe first question of Job, "Why has God given me life only to send me such suffering now?" is the language of the natural man in rebellion against his Maker. Contending with the Almighty, man wants to instruct Him. He curses the past and attacks the present, and all his future hope is gone. He is like Jeremiah, who mourns not only his torments but his very existence.
Discipline at work
Commentators differ on how much blame to place on Job. One treats the very wish for death as part of what God is working out, though the discontent in it is wrong:
The Bible TreasuryWhile I learn how wretched man is on earth, I may give way to rebellion and discontent. But I have to feel this if self is to be given up completely. I ought not to blame God for it, but I need to realize it as man's true place... He does not know that God is seeking to make him a witness of dependence on Himself against Satan. But this is God's way. Discipline may have the effect of making us feel that death is preferable to life, but it is working out God's purpose.
The answer Job could not yet reach
The question has an answer, but not one Job could reach. Kelly finds it outside the book:
William KellyThe full answer could only come in a dead and risen Christ. If it were not so, the Christian would be the most miserable of all men. But now He is risen, and has become the firstfruits of those who sleep... So the Christian can glory in troubles, and die daily. Job can only say that if he even had a fear, it at once overtook him.
Another writer sets this lament beside what faith says elsewhere — including what Job himself would later say:
Samuel RidoutJob's own words are a refutation of his unbelief here: "For I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). David also said, "when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness" (Ps. 17:15)... And take the full Christian statements of the letters. Do words like "away from the body and at home with the Lord," or "my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better," echo Job's unbelieving laments?
Summary
- Silence started it. Friends sat wordless for a week, sure Job deserved his losses. Their silence drove him to his first "why" — a question millions have asked since.
- Light has a Giver. The verse should not be read impersonally; Job will not say God's name, but he knows who gives the light he no longer wants.
- Death wished, never seized. Job longs for death, yet never turns to suicide — and God had already forbidden Satan to take his life.
- The wish served a purpose. Feeling that death is better than life can be discipline at work. It teaches a man his true place — though blaming God for it is wrong.
- The answer came later. The full reply to "why go on living in misery" is a risen Christ; without that, the Christian would be the most miserable of all.