When I think of it I am dismayed: the first word in this line in Hebrew usually means “if,” but it can also mean When in the sense of “Whenever” or “Every time.” Think translates the Hebrew for “remember, recall.” In Hebrew there is no object equivalent to it; therefore it is not clear exactly what it is that Job remembers. It may refer, as in Good News Translation, to what he has already suffered, or to the thoughts that will appear in the rest of the chapter. New English Bible and others avoid any reference to the past or present, with “when I stop to think….” Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, like Good News Translation, refer to Job’s past sufferings. In 4.5 Eliphaz used the passive form of the verb translated dismayed to depict the attitude of Job in the face of misfortune. Here it means “to be terrified, frightened,” or as in New English Bible, “to be filled with horror.” In some languages it will be necessary to make clear what Job is thinking of, and Good News Translation‘s rendering may serve as a guide; for example, “When I think how much I have suffered, it terrifies me” or “When I think about my troubles I am frightened.”

And shuddering seizes my flesh: Revised Standard Version gives a literal translation which expresses the correct thought. It means that the flesh, the “body,” is caused to tremble. New Jerusalem Bible has “my flesh creeps,” which is a diminished kind of trembling. New English Bible “My whole body is convulsed” is a more accurate statement. This line may also be expressed “I tremble all over” or “my whole body shakes with fear.”

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 .