Does not he see my ways…?: like the previous verse the two lines of verse 4 are questions which expect an affirmative answer. Job may be thinking back to earlier times, but as Rowley suggests, it is more probable that he asks how it can be possible that God would make him suffer. If God truly saw him as he is, God could not bring misfortune on him. Revised Standard Version translates the verse in a way that accurately shows the Hebrew form. He is replaced by “God” in Good News Translation and others. My ways, which is found also in 4.6; 13.15; 22.3, refers to Job’s life, actions, conduct, or as Good News Translation translates, “everything I do.” New Jerusalem Bible has “But surely he sees how I behave.” Good News Translation translates “knows” in line a and “sees” in line b; but this variation does not appear necessary. This line may also be expressed, for example, “Doesn’t God see how I live? Of course he does!” or “God sees all that I do.”

And number all my steps?: in 14.16 Job said the same thing of God as he does here. There the sense is that God watches over, protects, and guides Job. Here it is more probable, as in the previous line, that God is aware of every move Job makes. God not only sees everything he does but even counts his footsteps. Line b is more specific than line a and heightens the intensity, so that the meaning is “God not only sees everything I do, he even counts every step I take.”

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 .