Job 13:21

Job 13:21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

Ver. 21. Withdraw thy hand from me, and let not, &c.] Neither afflict me nor frighten me. See the same request, Job 9:34, and granted by God, Job 38:3; Job 40:7. They must be very sorry prayers indeed that God will not hear, if they come from honest hearts: Psa 31:22, "I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee." For the sense of this whole verse - {See Trapp on "Job 9:34"}

And let not thy dread make me afraid] Appear not unto me in thy majesty, but in thy mercy; come not upon me in such a terrific manner, as through astonishment at thy surpassing glory to kill me, for who can see thy face and live? Surely, as the sight of the eye is dazzled with the sun, or a crystal glass broken with the fire, so there is so much dread in the face of God that the best cannot behold it. Destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure, Job 31:23.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He showeth what these two things are.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(See on Job 9:34 and see Psa 39:10).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(21) Withdraw thine hand far from me.—That is, “Cease to torture me bodily, and to terrify me mentally; let me at least have freedom from physical pain and the undue apprehension of Thy terrors.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Withdraw thine hand far from me,.... His afflicting hand, which pressed him; this he desires might be removed, or otherwise he could not have the command of himself, make use of his reasoning faculties, recollect his arguments, and give them in their due force and strength; for afflictions of body affect the soul and memory, understanding and judgment; this is one of the things he would have agreed unto before the dispute was entered on; the other follows:

and let not thy dread make me afraid; the terrors of his law, or the dreadful apprehensions of his wrath; he desires to be freed from all slavish fear of God, that now possessed his mind through the severity of his dispensations towards him, behaving as if he was his enemy; or he deprecates his appearance in any external visible way and manner, which might be frightening to him, and so hinder freedom of speech in his own defence; these two things are before requested, Job 9:34; which should they be granted, he proposes as follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Withdraw thine hand far from me - Notes Job 9:34. The hand of God here is used to denote the calamity or affliction which Job was suffering. The meaning is, “Remove my affliction; restore me to health, and I will then enter on the argument in vindication of my cause. I am now oppressed, and broken down, and enfeebled by disease, and I cannot present it with the vigor which I might evince if I were in health.”

And let not thy dread make me afraid - “Do not so overpower me by thy severe majesty, that I cannot present my cause in a calm and composed manner.” See the notes at Job 9:34. Job felt that God had power to overawe him, and he asked, therefore, that he might have a calm and composed mind, and then he would be able to do justice to his own cause.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

i.e. Suspend my torments during the time of my pleading with thee, that my mind may be at liberty; and do not present thyself to me in terrible majesty, neither deal with me in rigorous justice; but hear me meekly, as one man heareth another, and plead with me upon those gracious terms wherewith thou usest to deal with mankind.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Thy dread — Thy terror; “the terror of the Lord.” (2Co_5:11.)

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Withdraw thine hand far from me; i.e. "thy afflicting hand." Job views all his physical suffering as coming directly from the hand of God momentarily caused by him, and therefore removable by him at any moment. He has no thought for secondary causes. And let not thy dread make me afraid. Job speaks here and elsewhere of spiritual terrors those vague and impalpable fears which suggest themselves inwardly to the soul, and are tar more painful, far more dreadful, than any amount of bodily anguish. Unless he is free from these, as well as from physical pains, he cannot plead his cause freely and fully.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Withdraw - Suspend my torments during the time of my pleading with thee, that my mind may be at liberty. Do not present thyself to me in terrible majesty, neither deal with me in rigorous justice.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Distance Your compulsion from upon me Heb. כפי, Your compulsion, as Elihu answered him (below 33:7), “and my compulsion (ואכפי) shall not weigh heavily upon you.” Some interpret כפך as “your hand.” However, it is difficult for me to say that, because we do not find כַּף in the sense of evil, but [meaning] to protect, as in (Exod. 33:22), “And I will cover you with My hand (כפי).”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.