7:19 Will you never 1 look away from me, 2
will you not let me alone 3
long enough to swallow my spittle?
10:1 “I 4 am weary 5 of my life;
I will complain without restraint; 6
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
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 The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”
5 tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.
6 tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.