He has stripped from me my glory: The verb translated stripped is used for taking away a person’s clothing, since glory as well as shame (see 8.22a) is often treated in this figurative way. God has taken away Job’s good reputation, and the honor in which his friends regarded him. Glory translates the Hebrew term kabod, which means “glory, honor, wealth.” Job has lost all of these. Good News Translation prefers “all my wealth” in this line. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “well-being.”

And taken the crown from my head: in Psalm 8.5 glory is spoken of as a crown. Just as a crown is removed from the head, so Job’s glory, honor, and wealth have been removed. Verse 9 may be rendered, for example, “He has taken from me the honor people gave me, and removed my good reputation” or “He has snatched away my wealth and even taken my honor, which I wore like a crown.”

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 .