OET interlinear JOB 6:21

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

כִּֽי

(Some words not found in UHB: that/for/because/then/when now become לא see something_dreadful and,you(pl)_were_afraid )

Job is using the word For to explain in what way his friends are like the desert streams he has been describing, as he said they were in verse 15. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate this in your translation. Alternate translation: [You are like these streams because]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

הֱיִ֣יתֶם & תִּֽרְא֥וּ & וַ⁠תִּירָֽאוּ

become & (Some words not found in UHB: that/for/because/then/when now become לא see something_dreadful and,you(pl)_were_afraid )

As the introduction to this chapter discusses, the word you is plural here and in the rest of the chapter because Job is using it to address his three friends. Use the plural form in your translation if your language marks that distinction.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הֱיִ֣יתֶם לא

become לא

Job is speaking of his friends as if they had become nothing, just as a stream ceases to exist when all of its water dries up. He means that his friends are offering him no help, just as a dried-up stream would not help a caravan that needed water in the desert. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [you are not offering me any help]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

תִּֽרְא֥וּ חֲ֝תַ֗ת וַ⁠תִּירָֽאוּ

(Some words not found in UHB: that/for/because/then/when now become לא see something_dreadful and,you(pl)_were_afraid )

Job seems to be saying implicitly that his friends think that God has afflicted him with a terror and so they are afraid to console him, because they think God will afflict them as well if they take his side. You can indicate this in your translation if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [you think that God has sent this terror and so you are afraid to help me because you think God will punish you if you do]