Oh, that I were as in the months of old: this verse uses the same formula for wishing that is seen in 11.5; 23.3. Job wishes that he could relive his past times of happiness. The formula means “How I wish I could relive…” or, as Good News Translation says, “If only my life could….” Line a has months of old, which is paralleled in line b by days. Chapter 7.3 follows the same pattern, with “months” in a and “nights” in b. As in the months of old translates the Hebrew literally. The expression refers to the past, or times gone by. Job wants to recapture the past: “Oh, if only I could relive the past,” “I wish I could return to my former days,” “I wish I were as I used to be,” or “If I could only be again as I used to be!”

As in the days when God watched over me: the second line expresses the shorter time, as is typical of time units in parallelism. Watched over me refers to God’s guarding, caring for Job. The same verb is used of God spying on Job in 10.14; 13.27; 14.16, but here the sense is as in Psalm 91.11, “For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “God protected me,” and New Jerusalem Bible “When God was my guardian,” that is, “When God took good care of me.”

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 .