Job 14:16

“Surely now you count my steps; ²  then you would not mark ³  my sin. ⁴ 

Job 10:6,14; Job 13:27; Job 31:4; Job 33:11; Job 34:21; Ps 56:6; Ps 139:1-4; Pr 5:21; Jer 32:19

¹ sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.

² tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.

³ sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O Lord, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, in order that you might be feared.”

⁴ tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.