Albert Barnes Commentary Job 3:11

"Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?" — Job 3:11 (ASV)

Why died I not from the womb? - Why did I not die as soon as I was born? Why were any pains taken to keep me alive? The suggestion of this question leads Job in the following verses into the beautiful description of what he would have been if he had then died. He complains, therefore, that any pains were taken by his friends to keep him alive, and that he was not allowed to expire peacefully.

Gave up the ghost - A phrase that is often used in the English version of the Bible to denote death (Genesis 49:33; Job 11:20; Job 14:10; Jeremiah 15:9; Matthew 27:50; Acts 5:10). It conveys an idea, however, which is not necessarily in the original, though the idea in itself is not incorrect. The idea conveyed by the phrase is that of yielding up the spirit or soul, while the sense of the original here and elsewhere is simply “to expire, to die.”