Job 13:20-22

13:20 Only in two things spare me, ¹  O God, ² 

and then I will not hide from your face:

13:21 Remove ³  your hand ⁴  far from me

and stop making me afraid with your terror. ⁵ 

13:22 Then call, ⁶  and I will answer,

or I will speak, and you respond to me.

[13:20]  ¹ tn The line reads “do not do two things.”

[13:20]  ² tn “God” is supplied to the verse, for the address is now to him. Job wishes to enter into dispute with God, but he first appeals that God not take advantage of him with his awesome power.

[13:21]  ³ tn The imperative הַרְחַק (harkhaq, “remove”; GKC 98 §29.q), from רָחַק (rakhaq, “far, be far”) means “take away [far away]; to remove.”

[13:21]  ⁴ sn This is a common, but bold, anthropomorphism. The fact that the word used is כַּף (kaf, properly “palm”) rather than יָד (yad, “hand,” with the sense of power) may stress Job’s feeling of being trapped or confined (see also Ps 139:5, 7).

[13:21]  ⁵ tn See Job 9:34.

[13:22]  ⁵ tn The imperatives in the verse function like the future tense in view of their use for instruction or advice. The chiastic arrangement of the verb forms is interesting: imperative + imperfect, imperfect + imperative. The imperative is used for God, but the imperfect is used when Job is the subject. Job is calling for the court to convene – he will be either the defendant or the prosecutor.