Job 3:7

Job 3:7 Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

Ver. 7. Lo, let that night be solitary] And so consequently sorrowful; for aloneness is comfortless, et optimum solatium sodalitium. There is a desirable solitariness, such as was that of Isaac, Gen 24:63, of Jacob, Gen 32:24, of Christ, Mar 1:35, of Peter, Act 10:9, to talk with God and with themselves. But usually to sit solitary is a misery, Lam 1:1 (for Satan is readiest to assault when none is by to assist), neither is there a greater tie to constancy than the society of saints. This the heathen persecutors perceived, and therefore banished and confined the Christian confessors to isles and mines; where they could not come together for mutual edification and comfort. There is a woe to him that is alone, and good reason showed for it by Solomon, Ecc 4:9-12. Let no man sty up himself, or affect solitariness; but make conscience of fellowship in the gospel, as the Philippiaus did from the first day of their conversion to Christ, Php 1:5, accounting, that communion of saints is a point of practice, as well as an article of belief.

And no joyful voice come therein] That is, saith one, no pleasing stillness (as in other nights there is), to invite the melody of music. Or, let there be no merry meetings, feastings, and jollities, as was usual in the night season. Let not so much as the voice of the cock be heard that night (so the Chaldee here paraphraseth), but the doleful ditties of screech owls, and other inauspicate creatures. Let no traveller, that is then benighted, solace himself with sweet songs, or musicians play from house to house, as minstrels do.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 3:7. Let that night be solitary — Destitute of all society of men, meeting and feasting together. Let it afford no entertainment or pleasure of any kind; let no joyful voice come therein — No music, no harmony of sound be heard, no cheerful or pleasing voice admitted! Let no expressions of joy be so much as once attempted, however engaging and affecting they may be.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

solitary--rather, "unfruitful." "Would that it had not given birth to me."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. Lo, let that night be solitary] The word הנה hinneh, behold, or lo, is wanting in one of De Rossi's MSS., nor is it expressed in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, or Arabic.

The word גלמוד galmud, which we translate solitary, is properly Arabic. From [Arabic] ghalama or jalama, signifying to cut off, make bare, amputate, comes [Arabic] jalmud, a rock, a great stone; and [Arabic] jalameedet, weight, a burden, trouble, from which we may gather Job's meaning: "Let that night be grievous, oppressive, as destitute of good as a bare rock is of verdure." The Targum gives the sense, In that night let there be tribulation.

Let no joyful voice come therein.] Let there be no choirs of singers; no pleasant music heard; no dancing or merriment. The word רננה renanah signifies any brisk movement, such as the vibration of the rays of light, or the brisk modulation of the voice in a cheerful ditty. The Targum has, Let not the crowing of the rural or wild cock resound in it. Let all work be intermitted; let there be no sportive exercises, and let all animals be totally silent.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. be solitary] Rather perhaps, barren, as Isa_49:21. Let it not experience a parent’s joy, and le nought that lives date its birth from it.

no joyful voice] of birthday rejoicing.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lo, let that night be solitary,.... Let there be no company for journeys, or doing any business; no meetings of friends, neighbours, or relations on it, for refreshment, pleasure, and recreation, after the business of the day is over, as is frequently done; let there be no associations of this kind, or any other: in the night it was usual to have feasts on various accounts, and especially on account of marriage; but now let there be none, let there be as profound a silence as if all creatures, men and beasts, were dead, and removed from off the face of the earth, and nothing to be heard and seen on it: or, "let it be barren" or "desolate" (e), so R. Simeon bar Tzemach interprets it, and refers to Isa 49:21; that is, let no children be born in it, and so no occasion for any joy on that account, as follows; let it be as barren as a flint (f):

let no joyful voice come therein; which some even carry to the nocturnal singing of saints in private or in public assemblies, and to the songs of angels, those morning stars in heaven; but it seems rather to design natural or civil joy, or singing on civil accounts; as on account of marriage, and particularly on account of the birth of a child, and especially his own birth, and even any expressions of joy on any account; and that there might not be so much as the crowing of a cock heard, as the Targum has it.

(e) "orba", Syr. "desolata", Ar. "vasta", Schmidt. (f) "Sterilis", Schultens; "effoetus", apud Arab. in ib. See Hottinger. Smegma Orientale, l. 1. c. 7. p. 136.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Lo, let that night be solitary - Dr. Good, “O! that night! Let it be a barren rock!” Noyes, “O let that night be unfruitful!” Herder, “Let that night be set apart by itself.” The Hebrew word used here גלמוּד galmûd means properly “hard;” then sterile, barren, as of a hard and rocky soil. It does not mean properly solitary, but that which is unproductive and unfruitful. It is used of a woman who is barren, Isa 49:21, and also of that which is lean, famished, emaciated with hunger; Job 15:34; Job 30:3. According to this it means that that should be a night in which none would be born - a night of loneliness and desolation. According to Jerome, it means that the night should be solitary, lonely, and gloomy; a night in which no one would venture forth to make a journey, and in which none would come together to rejoice. Thus interpreted the night would resemble that which is so beautifully describe by Virgil, Aeneid vi. 268:

Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbras,

Perque domos Ditis vacuas et inania regna.

It is probable, however, that the former is the correct interpretation.

Let no joyful voice come therein - Let there be no sound of praise and rejoicing. The Chaldee paraphrases this,” Let not the crowing of a cock be heard in it.” The sense of the whole is, that Job wished that night to be wholly desolate. He wished there might be no assembling for amusement, congratulation, or praise, no marriage festivals, and no rejoicing at the birth of children; he would have it as noiseless, solitary, and sad, as if all animals and human beings were dead, and no voice were heard. It was a night hateful to him, and he would have it in no way remembered.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Praise, by the appearance of the stars, chap. xxxviii. 7. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Solitary, i.e. destitute of all society of men meeting and feasting together, which commonly was done at night, suppers being the most solemn meals among divers ancient nations. See Mar 6:21; Luk 14:16; Joh 12:2; Rev 19:9,17.

Let no joyful voice; neither of the bride and bridegroom, nor any that celebrate their nuptials, or any other merry solemnity.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Solitary — גלמוד, barren, as in Isa_49:21. “It is a metaphor,” says Gesenius, “taken from the hard, sterile, and stony soil.” Let it be not only a night without Job’s birth, but without any births. With the Arab the birth of male children was celebrated by feasts, dances, and songs. — POCOCKE, ibid., p. 160. That night, with the ancient curse of barrenness upon it, is to sit solitary and alone, in unbroken silence, in the everlasting darkness.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lo, let that night be solitary; or, sterile; "let no one be born in it." Lot no joyful voice come therein; literally, no song. Perhaps the moaning is, "Let no such joyful announcement be made," as that mentioned in ver. 3.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

lonely Alone and lacking any man or creature.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.