Job 13:20-22
Christian Standard Bible
20 Only grant these two things to me, God,
so that I will not have to hide from your presence:
21 remove your hand from me,
and do not let your terror frighten me.(A)
22 Then call, and I will answer,(B)
or I will speak, and you can respond to me.
Job 13:20-22
New English Translation
20 Only in two things spare me,[a] O God,[b]
and then I will not hide from your face:
21 Remove[c] your hand[d] far from me
and stop making me afraid with your terror.[e]
22 Then call,[f] and I will answer,
or I will speak, and you respond to me.
Footnotes
- Job 13:20 tn The line reads “do not do two things.”
- Job 13:20 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.
- Job 13:21 tn The imperative הַרְחַק (harkhaq, “remove”; GKC 98 §29.q), from רָחַק (rakhaq, “far, be far”) means “take away [far away]; to remove.”
- Job 13:21 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).
- Job 13:21 tn See Job 9:34.
- Job 13:22 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.
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