What is the meaning of Job 13:21? Withdraw Your hand from me Job has just declared that he wants to speak directly with God (Job 13:3) and is confident that his own life “is in my hands continually” (Job 13:14). Now he makes a simple, heartfelt request: “Withdraw Your hand from me.” • The phrase points to the heavy suffering Job sees as coming straight from God’s own hand—loss of family, health, and reputation (Job 1–2). • To Job, God’s “hand” feels like active pressure or discipline, so he pleads for relief. Compare Job 9:34: “Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me,” and Psalm 39:10: “Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.” • By literally asking God to pull back, Job shows he still trusts the Lord is sovereign over every detail; if God stops, the pain stops. • This cry is not rebellion but faith-filled honesty. Other saints have voiced similar petitions—see Lamentations 3:1–3 and Psalm 38:2–3. Scripture invites such candor because God is both holy and compassionate. and do not let Your terror frighten me Job’s second line drills deeper: it is not only the physical suffering but the overwhelming sense of divine dread that unsettles him. • Earlier he confessed, “The arrows of the Almighty are within me… God’s terrors are arrayed against me” (Job 6:4). Now he longs for that terror to be restrained. • The word “terror” highlights God’s awesome majesty. When the Lord reveals Himself, even righteous people tremble—see Exodus 20:18-19 and Isaiah 6:5. Job is experiencing that same awe in the midst of his affliction. • Yet Job believes God can limit the terror. He asks that God’s sovereign presence remain, but the paralyzing fear be lifted, much like the psalmist who prays, “Do not hide Your face from me… do not forsake me” (Psalm 27:9). • Job anticipates what will later be confirmed: “He does not afflict willingly” (Lamentations 3:33). Behind the terror stands a Father who is willing to temper judgment with mercy. summary Job 13:21 captures a two-part plea from a suffering believer who still trusts his Sovereign: “Withdraw Your hand from me” asks for relief from crushing circumstances, while “do not let Your terror frighten me” seeks calm in the face of God’s overwhelming holiness. Job’s words teach that it is biblically sound to cry out for both physical respite and inward peace, confident that the same God who controls the trial also controls its limits and will ultimately reveal His compassion. |
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