When a person's life loses its direction and purpose, existence itself turns into a heavy burden. Deep despair takes hold of someone who falls into a reality with no way out. This raises a piercing question about the very nature of giving life to an individual who faces a cruel fate, trapped in suffering without the ability to understand or change the situation. Speaking from these profound feelings of hopelessness, Job views his personal reality as one where his world has entirely darkened [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
The primary approach among commentators is that this refers to a person whose future path has vanished. Suffering from continuous misfortune, the individual can no longer find a clear road to walk, making it impossible to complete actions or achieve any goals [מצודת דוד, רמב״ן, אבן עזרא]. In such a state, the basic human ability to choose is stripped away, leaving the person unaware of how to avoid the obstacles and afflictions that have been decreed against him [מלבי״ם]. This utter lack of direction can lead to a complete loss of the will to live, where a person no longer finds any use for life and cannot even enjoy basic daily activities like eating [רב סעדיה גאון].
This sense of being trapped is often understood as a physical or spiritual barrier. God has placed a fence that blocks the person's path, closing in from every side and locking him in a prison that prevents any movement or progress [רש״י, מצודת דוד, רלב״ג, רמב״ן]. This barrier can also be viewed as a dark screen spread out by God, hiding His face and keeping the person from sensing the Divine presence [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Taking a different perspective, some suggest that the path is not hidden from the person, but rather from God. In this view, the individual's good deeds are hidden from God's eyes; He does not look at them and therefore does not grant the proper reward [רש״י].
In sharp contrast to the views that describe a helpless and suffering individual, there is a completely opposite interpretation. This approach suggests the focus is actually on a highly successful person. Here, God has fenced the individual in for a positive reason, guarding and protecting him from any evil. In the case of such a person, the joy others feel upon finding his grave comes from the idea that it is better to die at the absolute peak of success. Passing away before the wheel of fortune turns and wealth is lost is seen as a blessing—exactly the tragic reversal of fortune that happened to Job himself [אלשיך].