7:19 Will you never 1 look away from me, 2
will you not let me alone 3
long enough to swallow my spittle?
80:5 You have given them tears as food; 4
you have made them drink tears by the measure. 5
102:9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread, 6
and mix my drink with my tears, 7
1 tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”
2 tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.
3 tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”
4 tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”
5 tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.
6 sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).
7 tn Heb “weeping.”