I would lay my case before him: this line recalls Job’s comment in 13.18, which Good News Translation renders “I am ready to state my case.” The verbs in verses 4 and 5 have the sense of conditionals: “I would state my case if I could speak with him.” See a similar conditional in 16.4. Lay … before translates a verb meaning “arrange, draw up a lawsuit”; that is, Job would state the details of his complaint, or “I would state my case before him” (Good News Translation). This line may also be expressed, for example, “I would argue my case with him,” “I would explain why I am innocent,” or “I would prove to him that I have done no wrong.”

And fill my mouth with arguments: “I would present him every detail.” Fill my mouth is a poetic way of expressing the thoroughness and extent of Job’s arguments in favor of his innocence. New English Bible has “and set out my arguments in full,” Good News Translation “and present all the arguments in my favor.” This line may be expressed idiomatically in some languages; for example, “I would give him every breath of my argument,” “I would leave no track unobserved,” or “I would show him every pebble in the river bed.”

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 .