Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 3:20-26

"Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul; Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures; Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave? [Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in? For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me. I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh." — Job 3:20-26 (ASV)

After Job has despised his own life in many ways, he now despises the life of the entire human race as a whole, both for those in prosperity and those in adversity. He begins by first discussing those who are more renowned. Note that two things are especially characteristic of living beings: to live and to know. Although knowing is in itself very delightful and noble, knowing things that cause affliction is painful. So he says, “Why was light given to him that is in misery?” as if to say: For what purpose does a person subject to unhappiness have the light of knowledge, since through it he can contemplate the evil that afflicts him? To live is noble because of the soul, but if the soul exists in bitterness, life itself is made bitter. So he says, “and life to the bitter of soul.” Here, the question “why is it given?” is understood to be repeated.

He shows that life is given to them uselessly because unhappy people desire the opposite. So he says, “Who long for death, which does not come,” that is, not as quickly as they would like. To show that those who are unhappy wait for death not by shrinking from it but by desiring it, he continues, “like those who dig for buried treasure,” spurred on by their great desire to find the treasure by digging. Because desire, when it is fulfilled, causes joy, he adds, “and are glad powerfully when they find the grave,” that is, when they see they have arrived at death, which provides a grave for them. Some think this passage refers to the fact that those who dig for treasure rejoice in finding a grave because they often found treasures in ancient tombs. But the first explanation is better.

Someone might object that while life is useless for the miserable, it is useful for those who enjoy prosperity. He removes this possibility, saying, “Why are they given to man whose way is hidden?” (referring to light and life). A person's way is hidden because they do not know how their present state of prosperity will end. As Proverbs says, “Laughter will be mixed with pain, and the end of joy is grief” (Proverbs 14:13), and Jeremiah, “Man’s road is not in his control” (Jeremiah 10:23). And Ecclesiastes asks, “What necessity is there for man to seek greater things for himself, when he does not know how to use things profitable for himself in this life? Or who can indicate what will be after him under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

He explains how a person's way is hidden on the earth, saying, “And God has hedged him in with darkness.” This is evident in many ways. First, concerning things that happened in the past or will happen in the future, Ecclesiastes says, “Many are the afflictions of man because he is ignorant of the past and the future or who can tell him how it will be?” (Ecclesiastes 8:6). Second, concerning what is near him, namely other people, 1 Corinthians says, “For who knows a man’s thoughts but the spirit of the man which is in him” (1 Corinthians 2:11). Concerning those things above a person, the last chapter of 1 Timothy says, “He (God) lives in inaccessible light, whom no man sees or is able to see” (1 Timothy 6:16), and in the Psalms, “He makes the darkness his hiding place” (Psalms 17:12). Finally, concerning those things which are below him, Ecclesiastes says, “All things are difficult, a man cannot explain them with speech” (Ecclesiastes 1:8). God is said to have hedged a person in with darkness because God gives them an intellect that is unable to understand these things.

After showing that human life is difficult due to misery and bitterness, Job applies this general truth to himself. In this, he expresses his own bitterness when he says, “Before I eat, I sigh.” For just as laughter is a sign of joy, sighing is a sign of a bitter soul. He shows the nature of his bitterness through the nature of his sighing. His sighing began readily: “Before I eat, I sigh.” And his sighing was continuous and great, so he adds, “and my wailing is like flood water.” For just as sighing is a sign of moderate sorrow, wailing is a sign of intense sorrow—a sorrow that can hardly be tolerated. This wailing is compared to the roaring of water, because swiftly moving water makes a loud sound. Thus, a person experiencing great affliction is provoked to wail by even a slight memory of their misery. He continues, “like flood water,” to emphasize the continuous nature of his bitterness, for floodwaters move without stopping and make a loud noise.

Because bitterness of soul arises from misery, after speaking of his soul's bitterness, he next addresses his misery, saying, “For the thing that I fear comes upon me.” Note that the human misery which provokes bitterness seems to consist of two things: first, harm to one's possessions or person, and second, dishonor. Regarding the first two, he says, “For the thing that I fear comes upon me,” meaning, the very things I fear are happening to me. This expression refers to the greatness of his loss and pain, for the more prudent a person is, the more they recognize what can happen to them in a time of adversity, even while they are still in a time of prosperity. So Sirach says, “In the day of prosperity, do not forget evil” . Job, who was a most prudent man, suffered great misery when the very evils he feared came upon him. As for the second, dishonor, he says, “and what I dread befalls me.” According to Aristotle, shame is “the fear of dishonor.” He shows by this, therefore, that he fell from great glory into many disgraces and dishonors.

A person often suffers misery and bitterness through their own fault. But this is not the case here, for Job says, “Have I not dissembled?” Understand that a person sins and thus deserves punishment from God in two ways. In one way, when provoked by injuries inflicted on him, he seeks revenge beyond what is his due, as Psalm 7 says, “If I repaid evil things to those requiting me, may I perish deservedly destitute at the hands of my enemies” (Psalms 7:5). He denies this possibility, saying, “Have I not dissembled?” regarding the injuries done to him. In another way, a person sins when they offend another first in words. He shows this is not the case here, saying, “Have I not been silent?” as if to say: I have not spoken abusive or injurious words. Nor has he offended in deeds, and he removes this from himself, saying, “Have I not been master of myself?” For “the impious are like the restless sea which cannot be quiet” (Isaiah 57:20). Although I am innocent, still “his wrath came upon me,” that is, the punishment given by God. For anger in God does not mean God is disturbed in His soul, but that He wills to punish someone. In this, Job recognizes that the adversities of this world do not happen without divine command.

To summarize what Job said in his lamentation, note that it contains three things.

1. He shows his own life is wearisome (“Cursed be the day of my birth,”Job 3:3).
2. He shows the greatness of the misery which he was suffering (“Before I eat, I sigh,”Job 3:24).
3. He shows his innocence (“Have I not dissembled,”Job 3:26 and so on).