Job 3:2 — Word Study
WLCוַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
BSAAnd [this is what]ʻânâh▸ [he]ʼÎyôwb saidʼâmar▸ [uttered, declared]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַן | and he answered | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| אִיּ֗וֹב | Job | Noun proper masculine |
| וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ | and he said | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | And this is what he said: |
| KJV | And Job spake, and said, |
| ASV | And Job answered and said: |
| YLT | And Job answereth and saith: — |
| WEB | Job answered: |
| BBE | Job made answer and said, |
Translations agree on Job's declaration in this verse, emphasizing his response to his suffering.
The sentence is structured with a main clause followed by two verb phrases, indicating Job's actions in response to his suffering.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
subjectאִיּוֹב
verbעָנָה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 3:2
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Job's Lamentgenerated
Job 3:2 captures a moment of deep sorrow as Job opens his mouth to express his anguish after immense suffering. This verse is the precursor to Job's curse of the day of his birth, setting the tone for his lament throughout this chapter. Job's words reflect his emotional turmoil and questioning of his existence, which is a central theme in the book of Job.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judges 18:14 | Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.” |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 1 reference, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — עָנָה, vai.Ya.'angenerated
The verb עָנָה (*anah*) is derived from a primitive root meaning to heed or pay attention, encompassing a range of meanings such as to answer, respond, or even sing. In this context, it indicates Job's act of responding to his suffering, marking a significant moment in his dialogue.
This verb is used frequently in the Hebrew Bible, often in contexts where someone answers a question or responds to a situation. Here, it highlights Job's transition from silence to vocal expression of his pain.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
Translations generally agree on the meaning of this verse, with all versions reflecting Job's response.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, with two main verbs: וַיַּ֥עַן (*and he answered*) and וַיֹּאמַֽר (*and he said*). Job is the subject of both actions, indicating a direct response followed by a declaration.
The sequential imperfect tense used here shows that Job's actions are part of a continuous narrative, emphasizing the immediacy of his response to his suffering.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, the Hebrew verb עָנָה is rendered as λέγων (legō), meaning 'saying'. This choice reflects a focus on the act of speaking rather than the broader implications of responding or answering, which may narrow the interpretation of Job's emotional state.
The translation choice indicates a shift from the original Hebrew nuance of responding to a more straightforward act of speaking, which may influence how the audience perceives Job's lament.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 3:2 shows Job beginning to speak after a period of silence. He answers his suffering with a declaration, setting the stage for his lament about his birth and existence.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Job is expressing his deep anguish and questioning the purpose of his birth, reflecting his emotional turmoil.
Job's speaking signifies a shift from silence to expressing his pain and confusion about his suffering.
Job's declaration marks the beginning of his lament, which is central to the themes of suffering and faith in the book.
Job is portrayed as a patient and faithful man, but his response reveals the depth of his despair and struggle with his circumstances.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What are some ways I can express my feelings during difficult times, like Job did?
- How can I find hope in my own struggles, despite feelings of despair?
- In what ways can Job's story inspire me to remain faithful during trials?
- What can I learn from Job's response about the importance of voicing my pain?
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 3:2 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Job spake, and said. Or "answered and said" (t), though not a word was spoken to him by his friends; he answered to his own calamity, and to their silence, as Schmidt observes; and this word is
Read John Gill on Job 3 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Job spake, and said, Spake - Hebrew, answered - i:e., not to any actual question that preceded, but to the question virtually involved in the case. His outburst is singularly wild and bold (Jeremiah 20:14).
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 3 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 3:2 And Job spake, and said,Ver. 2. And Job spake, and said] Heb. Answered and said. Answered? Whom answered he? The Jewish doctors say, he answered his friends, who having hitherto said nothing to him, and heard as little from him, at length - rupere silentia voce, to destroy a silent voice, and asked him what he ailed? others more probably conceive that Job answered here to some dispute in his own mind, or rather with the devil. Some take this verse for a transition only. Others make it a preparation for Job’ s future discourse, to move expectation, and win attention. The discourse indeed is all along, to Job 42:7, poetical, and very accurate, made up in hexameters (as Jerome…
Read John Trapp on Job 3 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1–10. Would God I had never been conceived or born This is the idea really expressed when Job curses his day and wishes it blotted out of existence. First he curses the day of his birth and the night of his conception together, Job 3:3, and then each separately, the day in two verses and the night in four. Let darkness seize that day; let not God from above seek after it; let thick darkness and the shadow of death claim it as part of their heritage; let clouds and all that maketh black the day, eclipses, ominous obscurations, affright it, Job 3:4-5. Let darkness swallow up that night that it be not reckoned nor come in among the joyful troop of nights in their glittering procession; while…
Read Cambridge on Job 3 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleAnd Job spake - Margin, as in Hebrew, “answered.” The Hebrew word used here ענה ‛ânâh “to answer,” is often employed when one commences a discourse, even though no question had preceded.
Read Albert Barnes on Job 3 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible2. Job spake — Hebrew, answered. Not their words, but their thoughts, as he had divined them. Or it may have respect to the occurrences of the last seven days (Comp.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Job 3 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
And this is what he said:
Job answered:
And this is what he said:
Job spoke up and said:
Tyndale line
And Job spake, and said,
And Job answered and said:
And Job answered and said:
And Job spoke, and said,
And Iob cryed out, and sayd,
Strictly literal
And Job answered and said,
And Job answereth and saith: —
And Job answers and says:
And Job commenced, and said,
He said,
From the Latin
And he said:
Simplified
He said,
Job made answer and said,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text reads וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃, which is consistent with the Septuagint's rendering, though the latter does not fully capture the same structure. The overall agreement in content suggests a shared understanding of Job's response across these texts.
וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
1 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 3:2
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word עָנָה (*anah*) is built from a primitive root meaning to heed or pay attention, covering a range of meanings including to answer, respond, testify, and sing. It appears in contexts where one responds to speech or circumstances, and can also refer to singing. The lexicons indicate that it can imply both verbal responses and musical expression.
[עוּן] vb. dwell
base
עָנָה 316 vb. answer, respond
Qal
answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
money meets all demands
specif. respond as a witness, testify
less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
Niph.
make answer
be answered
Hiph. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
base
עָנָה vb. sing
Qal sing, utter tunefully
Pi. sing sweetly of it
base
H6030a עוּן dwell H6030b עָנָה answer, respond .. answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
. . respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
. money meets all demands
. . specif. respond as a witness, testify
. less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
. . make answer
. be answered
. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
H6030c עָנָה sing
6030 `anah aw-naw'
a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed,
i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extens. to
begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify,
announce:--give account, afflict (by mistake for 6031),
(cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for 6031), cry,
hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, X scholar, (give a) shout, sing
(together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness.
See also 1042, 1043.
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 01042
see HEBREW for 01043
עוּן (un) — to dwell.
(Qal) to dwell
עָנָה (a.nah) — to answer.
1) to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to answer, respond to
1a2) to testify, respond as a witness
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to make answer
1b2) to be answered, receive answer
Aramaic equivalent: a.nah (עֲנָה "to answer" H6032)
עָנָה (a.nah) — to sing.
(Qal) to sing, utter tunefully
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
אִיּוֹב (Iyowb) refers to Job, a patriarch known for his patience, as described in the book of Job. The name is associated with the meaning 'hated' or 'persecuted.' It is mentioned in the context of the Exile and Return, and its exact meaning remains uncertain.
אִיּוֹב n.pr.m. Job (meaning unknown)
base
H347 אִיּוֹב
347 'Iyowb ee-yobe'
from 340; hated (i.e. persecuted); Ijob, the patriarch famous
for his patience:--Job.
see HEBREW for 0340
אִיּוֹב (iy.yov) — Job.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Job.1.1
Also named: Iōb (Ἰώβ "Job" G2492)
§ Job = "hated"
a patriarch, the subject of the book of Job
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
job ('iyobh, meaning of name doubtful; some conjecturing "object of enmity," others "he who turns," etc., to God; both uncertain guesses; Iob): The titular hero of the Book of Job, represented as a wealthy and pious land-holder who lived in patriarchal times, or at least conditions, in the land of Uz, on the borders of Idumea. Outside of the Book of Job he is mentioned by Ezekiel (Eze 14:14,20) as one of 3 great personages whose representative righteousness would presumably avail, if that of any individuals could, to redeem the nation; the other two being Noah, an ancient patriarch, and Daniel, a contemporary of the prophet. It is difficult to determine whether Job was an actual personage or not. If known through legend, it must have been on account of some such experience as is narrated in the book, an experience unique enough to…
Job
Persecuted, an Arabian patriarch who resided in the land of Uz (q.v.). While living in the midst of great prosperity, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of sore trials that fell upon him. Amid all his sufferings he maintained his integrity. Once more God visited him with the rich tokens of his goodness and even greater prosperity than he had enjoyed before. He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity (Ezek. 14:14, 20) and of submissive patience under the sorest calamities (James 5:11). His history, so far as it is known, is recorded in his book.
the patriarch, from whom one of the books of the Old Testament is named. His residence in the land of Uz marks him as belonging to a branch of the Aramean race, which had settled in the lower part of Mesopatamia (Probably to the south or southeast of Palestine, in Idumean Arabia), adjacent to the Sabeans and Chaldeans. The opinions of Job and his friends are thus peculiarly interesting as exhibiting an aspect of the patriarchal religion outside of the family of Abraham, and as yet uninfluenced by the legislation of Moses. The form of worship belongs essentially to the early patriarchal type; with little of ceremonial ritual, without a separate priesthood, it is thoroughly domestic in form and spirit. Job is represented as a chieftain of immense wealth and high rank, blameless in all the relations of life. What we know of his history is given in the book that bears his name.
A patriarch distinguished for his integrity and piety, his wealth, honors, and domestic happiness, whom God permitted, for the trial of his faith, to be deprived of friends, property, and health, and at once plunged into deep affliction. He lived in the land of Uz, lying, it is generally thought, in Eastern Edom, probably not far from Bozrah.
THE BOOK OF JOB, has originated much criticism, and on many points a considerable diversity of opinion still exists. Sceptics have denied its inspiration, and called it a mere philosophical romance; but no one who respects revelation can entertain this notion, or doubt that Job was a real person. Inspired writers testify to both. See Eze 14:14 Jas 5:11, and compare 1Co 3:19 with
אָמַר (amar) is a Hebrew verb meaning 'to say' or 'to utter,' with a broad range of uses including to promise, command, or even boast. It appears in various forms, such as in the Qal (to say), Niphal (to be told), and Hiphil (to avow). The entries highlight its versatility in both spoken and internal contexts, though no specific verse is noted.
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
Say
Say in the heart (= think)
Promise
Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
base
H559 אָמַר utter, say .. Say
. Say in the heart (= think)
. Promise
. Command (esp. late)
. be said, told
. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
. act proudly, boast
559 'amar aw-mar'
a primitive root; to say (used with great
latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call,
certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X
expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise,
publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X
suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech),
utter, X verily, X yet.
אָמַר (a.mar) — to say.
1) to say, speak, utter
1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend
1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called
1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly
1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch
Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms