Job 9:34

9:34 who ¹  would take his ²  rod ³  away from me

so that his terror ⁴  would not make me afraid.

Job 13:21

13:21 Remove ⁵  your hand ⁶  far from me

and stop making me afraid with your terror. ⁷ 

Job 19:9

19:9 He has stripped me of my honor

and has taken the crown off my head. ⁸ 

Job 19:13

Job’s Forsaken State

19:13 “He has put my relatives ⁹  far from me;

my acquaintances only ¹⁰  turn away from me.

Job 30:17

30:17 Night pierces ¹¹  my bones; ¹² 

my gnawing pains ¹³  never cease.

Job 30:30

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; ¹⁴ 

my body ¹⁵  is hot with fever. ¹⁶ 

[9:34]  ¹ tn The verse probably continues the description from the last verse, and so a relative pronoun may be supplied here as well.

[9:34]  ² tn According to some, the reference of this suffix would be to God. The arbiter would remove the rod of God from Job. But others take it as a separate sentence with God removing his rod.

[9:34]  ³ sn The “rod” is a symbol of the power of God to decree whatever judgments and afflictions fall upon people.

[9:34]  ⁴ tn “His terror” is metonymical; it refers to the awesome majesty of God that overwhelms Job and causes him to be afraid.

[13:21]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn See Job 9:34.

[19:9]  ⁹ sn The images here are fairly common in the Bible. God has stripped away Job’s honorable reputation. The crown is the metaphor for the esteem and dignity he once had. See 29:14; Isa 61:3; see Ps 8:5 [6].

[19:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[19:13]  ¹⁴ tn The LXX apparently took אַךְ־זָרוּ (’akh, “even, only,” and zaru, “they turn away”) together as if it was the verb אַכְזָרוּ (’akhzaru, “they have become cruel,” as in 20:21). But the grammar in the line would be difficult with this. Moreover, the word is most likely from זוּר (zur, “to turn away”). See L. A. Snijders, “The Meaning of zar in the Old Testament,” OTS 10 (1964): 1-154 (especially p. 9).

[30:17]  ¹⁷ tn The subject of the verb “pierces” can be the night (personified), or it could be God (understood), leaving “night” to be an adverbial accusative of time – “at night he pierces.”

[30:17]  ¹⁸ tc The MT concludes this half-verse with “upon me.” That phrase is not in the LXX, and so many commentators delete it as making the line too long.

[30:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my gnawers,” which is open to several interpretations. The NASB and NIV take it as “gnawing pains”; cf. NRSV “the pain that gnaws me.” Some suggest worms in the sores (7:5). The LXX has “my nerves,” a view accepted by many commentators.

[30:30]  ²¹ tn The MT has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some editions to supply the verb “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).

[30:30]  ²² tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.

[30:30]  ²³ tn The word חֹרֶב (khorev) also means “heat.” The heat in this line is not that of the sun, but obviously a fever.