Thou hast granted me life and steadfast love: as Pope says, these lines refer probably not to Job’s prenatal days, but to God’s providential care before tragedy struck him. Thou hast granted translates what is literally “You have made (done) with me.” The verb here is often used in combination with the Hebrew term chesed, steadfast love. Apart from the word translated life, the remainder of the line means “show loyalty and kindness,” as in 2 Samuel 9.3. This expression occurs almost always with a human subject, but in this verse God is the subject. Since life is not part of the usual expression, New International Version uses two verbs, “You gave me life and showed me kindness.” Chesed is better rendered in English as in Good News Translation “constant love,” but New International Version is an adequate model for translation. Other models: “You have given me life and love,” “You have caused me to live and have loved me,” or “You have enabled me to exist and have been kind to me.”

And thy care has preserved my spirit: not only has God given Job life and shown him constant love, he has also preserved his life. The word translated care means “visit, inspect, guard,” and in the form used in this verse means “careful, watching, vigilant care.” Thus Job emphasizes the extraordinary care God has taken of him before turning against him. Preserved translates the verb also used in the phrase in 2.6 “spare his life.” My spirit translates the Hebrew ruach or “my breath,” which is the basis for physical life, and that which God breathed into man’s nostrils (Gen 2.7). This line may also be rendered, for example, “you have also watched carefully over my life,” “you have taken good care of me,” or “you have guarded my life well.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .