This verse is omitted in the Septuagint, but there are no grounds for omitting it in translation. In verse 7 it was Job’s eye that would never again see good; now he shifts to The eye of him who sees me. In verse 20 God is called “watcher of men,” and it would seem that God is the one who sees in verse 8. Good News Translation has made this clear by use of the second person, “You see me now.” In some languages it may be necessary to make clear that “you” refers to God, and say accordingly “God, you see me now….” Will behold me no more: in Hebrew this clause comes first. The word translated behold, meaning to gaze at or look at intently, occurs six times in the Book of Job.

While thy eyes are upon me, I shall be gone: according to Habel, Job reaches a state of defiance here. The idea is “You will look for me, but I won’t be there.” Job’s absence will frustrate the scrutinizing eyes of God in his search for the Job that was. In some languages the expression “I won’t be” or “I won’t be there” would be unclear, and we must say, for example, “but I will no longer exist,” “I will not be where you look,” “I’ll be dead and gone away,” or “I’ll be gone because I will be dead.”

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 .