Job 9:34

Easy-to-Read Version

I wish someone could take away the threat of God's punishment. Then he would not frighten me anymore.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Let him take his rod away from meso his terror will no longer frighten me.

Hebrew Names Version
Let him take his rod away from me, Let his terror not make me afraid:

King James Version
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

English Standard Version
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.

New Century Version
Maybe he could remove God's punishment so his terror would no longer frighten me.

New English Translation
who would take his rod away from me so that his terror would not make me afraid.

Amplified Bible
"Let Him take His rod away from me, And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.

New American Standard Bible
"Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not the dread of Him terrify me.

World English Bible
Let him take his rod away from me, Let his terror not make me afraid:

Geneva Bible (1587)
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his feare astonish me:

Legacy Standard Bible
Let Him remove His rod from me,And let not dread of Him terrify me.

Berean Standard Bible
Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

Contemporary English Version
Can someone snatch away the stick God carries to frighten me?

Complete Jewish Bible
If he would remove his rod from me and not let his terrors frighten me,

Darby Translation
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid,

George Lamsa Translation
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me;

Good News Translation
Stop punishing me, God! Keep your terrors away!

Lexham English Bible
May he remove his rod from me, and let his dread not terrify me;

Literal Translation
Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His dread make me afraid;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Let him take his rod awaye fro me, yee let him make me nomore afrayed of him,

American Standard Version
Let him take his rod away from me, And let not his terror make me afraid:

Bible in Basic English
Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His terror make me afraid;

King James Version (1611)
Let him take his rodde away from me, & let not his feare terrifie me:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Let hym take his rodde away from me, yea let hym make me no more afrayde of him,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Let him remove his rod from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

English Revised Version
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Do he awei his yerde fro me, and his drede make not me aferd.

Update Bible Version
[then] he would take his rod away from me, and his terror would not make me afraid.

Webster's Bible Translation
Let him take away his rod from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

New King James Version
Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

New Living Translation
The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.

New Life Bible
Let Him stop punishing me. And do not let fear of Him make me so afraid.

New Revised Standard
If he would take his rod away from me, and not let dread of him terrify me,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Let him take from off me his rod, and, his terror, let it not startle me:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me.

Revised Standard Version
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.

Young's Literal Translation
He doth turn aside from off me his rod, And His terror doth not make me afraid,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not dread of Him terrify me.

Contextual Overview

²⁵ "My days are passing faster than a runner. They are flying by without any joy. ²⁶ They go by as quickly as papyrus boats, as fast as an eagle swooping down on its prey. ²⁷ "I could say, ‘I will not complain. I will forget my pain and put a smile on my face.' ²⁸ But the suffering still frightens me. I know that God will not see me as innocent. ²⁹ I will be found guilty, so why should I even think about it? ³⁰ Even if I scrubbed my hands with soap and washed myself whiter than snow, ³¹ God would still push me into the slime pit, and even my clothes would hate to touch me. ³² God is not a human like me, so I cannot argue with him. I cannot take him to court. ³³ I wish there were someone who could listen to both sides, someone to judge both of us in a fair way. ³⁴ I wish someone could take away the threat of God's punishment. Then he would not frighten me anymore.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

let not: Job 13:11, Job 13:20-22, Job 23:15, Job 31:23, Job 33:7, Job 37:1, Psalms 39:10, Psalms 90:11, but it is not so with me, Heb. but I am not so with myself, Job 29:2-25

Reciprocal: Job 13:3 - Surely Job 16:21 - plead Job 21:9 - the rod Job 23:6 - plead

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Let him take his rod away from me,.... Not his government over him, of which the rod or sceptre is an ensign, Job did not want to be freed from that; but, his rod of affliction, or stroke, as the Targum, the stroke of his hand, which, though a fatherly chastisement, lay heavy upon him, and depressed his spirits; so that he could not, while it was on him, reason so freely about things as he thought he could if it was removed, and for which he here prays:

and let not his fear terrify me; not the fear of him as a father, which is not terrifying, but the fear of him as a judge; the terror of his majesty, the dread of his wrath and vengeance, the fearful apprehensions he had of him as a God of strict justice; that would by no means clear the guilty, yea, would not hold him innocent, though he was with respect to the charge of his friends; being now without those views of him as a God gracious and merciful; to these words Elihu seeks to have respect, Job 33:6.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let him take his rod away from me - Let him suspend my sufferings, and let us come together on equal terms. His terror now is upon me, and I can do nothing. I am oppressed, and broken down, and crushed under his hand, and I could not hope to maintain my cause with any degree of success. If my sufferings were lightened, and I could approach the question with the rigor of health and the power of reasoning unweakened by calamity, I could then do justice to the views which I entertain. Now there would be obvious disparity, while one of the parties has crushed and enervated the other by the mere exercise of power.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 9:34. Let him take his rod away — In the Masoretic Bibles, the word שבטו shibto, his rod, is written with a large ט teth, as above; and as the letter in numerals stands for 9, the Masora says the word was thus written to show the nine calamities under which Job had suffered, and which he wished God to remove.

As שבט shebet signifies, not only rod, but also sceptre or the ensign of royalty, Job might here refer to God sitting in his majesty upon the judgment-seat; and this sight so appalled him, that, filled with terror, he was unable to speak. When a sinful soul sees God in his majesty, terror seizes upon it, and prayer is impossible. We have a beautiful illustration of this, Isaiah 6:1-5: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Then said I, Wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."