Verse 3

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years– even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity– even if he were to live forever– I would say,“A stillborn child is better off than he is!”

Referenced Verses

  • Job 3:16 : 16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant, like infants who have never seen the light?
  • Eccl 4:3 : 3 But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.
  • Jer 22:19 : 19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey. His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’”
  • 2 Kgs 9:35 : 35 But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left but the skull, feet, and palms of the hands.
  • Isa 14:19-20 : 19 But you have been thrown out of your grave like a shoot that is thrown away. You lie among the slain, among those who have been slashed by the sword, among those headed for the stones of the Pit, as if you were a mangled corpse. 20 You will not be buried with them, because you destroyed your land and killed your people. The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again.
  • Gen 47:9 : 9 Jacob said to Pharaoh,“All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.”
  • 1 Sam 2:20-21 : 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying,“May the LORD establish descendants for you from this woman in place of the one that she dedicated to the LORD.”Then they would go to their home. 21 And indeed the LORD attended to Hannah. She got pregnant and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. But the boy Samuel grew up before the LORD.
  • Eccl 5:17-19 : 17 Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life, and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger. 18 Enjoy the Fruit of Your Labor I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward. 19 To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God.
  • Jer 8:2 : 2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. These are things they adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground.
  • Jer 36:30 : 30 So the LORD says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah,“None of his line will occupy the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out to be exposed to scorching heat by day and frost by night.
  • Matt 26:24 : 24 The Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
  • 2 Kgs 10:1 : 1 Jehu Wipes Out Ahab’s Family Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab’s dynasty. This is what the letters said,
  • 1 Chr 28:5 : 5 From all the many sons the LORD has given me, he chose Solomon my son to rule on his behalf over Israel.
  • 2 Chr 11:21 : 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
  • Esth 5:11 : 11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, his many sons, and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.
  • Esth 7:10 : 10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.
  • Esth 9:14-15 : 14 So the king issued orders for this to be done. A law was passed in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa then assembled on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred men in Susa. But they did not confiscate their property.
  • Ps 58:8 : 8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along! Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun!
  • Ps 127:4-5 : 4 Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand. 5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! They will not be put to shame when they confront enemies at the city gate.
  • Prov 17:6 : 6 Grandchildren are like a crown to the elderly, and the glory of children is their parents.
  • Gen 33:5 : 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he asked,“Who are these people with you?” Jacob replied,“The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”