Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee: Job hopes that God will wish to renew his broken fellowship with his servant. It may be necessary in some languages to express the object of call; for example, “I will answer when you call me” or “When you call my name I will reply.” Thou wouldest long for the work of thy hands: work of thy hands is used in 10.3 and 34.19. The reference is to Job, which Good News Translation translates “your creature.” This may also be rendered “me whom you have created” or “me, Job, your creature.” In some languages it may be best to transpose lines a and b so that the longing precedes the call. In this case we may translate, for example, “When you want to see me, your creature, you will call me and I will answer you.”

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 .