The Meaning of Job 13:21 Explained

Job 13:21

KJV: Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

YLT: Thy hand put far off from me, And Thy terror let not terrify me.

Darby: Withdraw thy hand far from me; and let not thy terror make me afraid:

ASV: Withdraw thy hand far from me; And let not thy terror make me afraid.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 13:21 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 13:1-28 - "though He Slay Me"
The sufferer first rebukes his friends, Job 13:4-12. Then he makes an appeal to God, affirming that he was no hypocrite, and asking that his sins, for which he was suffering, might be set down, Job 13:23.
When Job said that he knew himself to be righteous, he was clearly speaking of known sin; he knew, so far as a man may know himself, that he had not committed the sins of which his friends charged him. He could bare his life to the inspection of men and angels, being sure that no accusation of which human law-courts would take cognizance could be established against him. But this is a very different matter with the divine tribunal. When a fuller light had shone upon him from the face of God, when the patriarch had seen Him instead of merely hearing of Him by the ear, then he would "abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes," Job 42:5-6.
Job 13:15 is almost the greatest sentence ever uttered by mortal lips! Let us ask for grace to affirm it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 13

1  Job reproves his friends for partiality
14  He professes his confidence in God;
19  and entreats to know his own sins, and God's purpose in afflicting him

What do the individual words in Job 13:21 mean?

Your hand from me Withdraw far and the dread of You not let make me afraid
כַּ֭פְּךָ מֵעָלַ֣י הַרְחַ֑ק וְ֝אֵ֥מָתְךָ֗ אַֽל־ תְּבַעֲתַֽנִּי

כַּ֭פְּךָ  Your  hand 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: כַּף  
Sense: palm, hand, sole, palm of the hand, hollow or flat of the hand.
מֵעָלַ֣י  from  me 
Parse: Preposition-m, first person common singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
הַרְחַ֑ק  Withdraw  far 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: רָחַק  
Sense: to be or become far, be or become distant, be removed, go far away.
וְ֝אֵ֥מָתְךָ֗  and  the  dread  of  You 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֵימָה 
Sense: terror, dread.
תְּבַעֲתַֽנִּי  let  make  me  afraid 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person feminine singular, first person common singular
Root: בָּעַת  
Sense: to terrify, startle, fall upon, dismay, be overtaken by sudden terror.