After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

JOB 3:1KJV
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Job 3:1 (KJV)

What does Job 3:1 mean?

Job 3:1 describes the moment when Job, after a long silence following his suffering, finally speaks and curses the day he was born. This verse marks a turning point in the story, showing Job’s deep anguish and the beginning of his honest wrestling with his pain.

Job himself is speaking here, not to anyone in particular but out loud, after sitting in silence with his friends for seven days. The verse signals a shift from quiet grief to open lament, as Job’s suffering becomes so great that he wishes he had never been born. This sets the stage for the long conversation between Job and his friends that follows in the book.

The Hebrew behind Job 3:1

  • "Cursed" (קָלַל, qālal): This word often means to make light of or to treat with contempt, not just to pronounce a curse. Here, it shows Job’s deep bitterness toward his own birth, not a magical curse but a strong rejection of the day itself.
  • "Day" (יוֹם, yôm): The word simply means "day," but in this context, it refers specifically to Job’s birthday—the day his life began, which he now wishes had never happened.

Why Job 3:1 matters

  • Job 3:1 is the first time Job speaks after his suffering, marking the start of his honest struggle with God and his situation.
  • The verse shows that even someone as upright as Job can reach a point of despair, which prepares the reader for the raw and difficult questions that follow.
  • Understanding that Job curses his "day" (his birthday) rather than God or himself helps clarify the depth and focus of his grief, which is important for following the arguments in the rest of the book.

Where else these words appear

“Job” Hebrew H347 · used in 52 verses

  • Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
  • Job 21:1 But Job answered and said,
  • Job 35:16 Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

“cursed” Hebrew H7043 · used in 79 verses

  • Genesis 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
  • 2 Samuel 16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
  • Psalms 109:28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

“opened” Hebrew H6605 · used in 133 verses

  • Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  • Nehemiah 1:6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
  • Isaiah 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?