The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;
- KJV Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
- BSB Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
- NKJV Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
- NASB “Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not the dread of Him terrify me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job pleads that God would lift His chastening rod and remove the terror that paralyzes him. He wants relief from dread so he can speak freely.
Overview
Overwhelmed by suffering he reads as God's striking, Job asks that the rod and terror be withdrawn so he might plead his case. His desire to approach God without fear anticipates the access believers gain through Christ. By the cross we may now draw near to the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 4:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 39:10Remove your scourge away from me. I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
- Job 33:7Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, neither shall my pressure be heavy on you.
- Job 13:11Shall not his majesty make you afraid, And his dread fall on you?
- Job 23:15Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.
- Job 13:20–22“Only don’t do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from your face:
- Job 29:2–25“Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;
- Ps 90:11Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
- Job 37:1“Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.
- Job 31:23For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 9:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.