The first request is withdraw thy hand far from me. In 9.34a Job expressed this plea with the words “Let him take his rod away from me,” where the sense is “Let him stop punishing me.” Withdraw thy hand refers to the hand that is causing Job to suffer. Line b and let not dread of thee terrify me repeats 9.34b with only a pronominal difference. Verse 21 contains Job’s two requests and should be brief in translation; for example, “First stop punishing me, and second stop making me afraid” or “Stop hurting me and stop terrorizing me.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .