Behold, I am toward God as you are: for Behold see comments on verse 2. Toward God as you are makes poor sense in English. A more natural translation is “I am the same as you are in God’s sight” or “In God’s eyes I am a man just like you.” As you are is literally “like your mouth,” in which a part is used for the whole, and so the expression means “like you.”

I too was formed from a piece of clay: by saying I too Elihu includes them both. The rest of the line alludes to the creation in Genesis 2.7, although there the word “dust” is used for the material the LORD God used to form man, not clay. Formed translates a verb meaning “pinched off or broken off,” as a potter breaks off a piece of clay from the mass to produce his object. Good News Translation‘s rendering of both lines is clear and appropriate. This verse may also be expressed “Look, I am a man the same as you in God’s eyes; I also was formed from a piece of clay” or “… and God made me too from a piece of clay.”

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 .