Job 19:17

My breath is repulsive ¹  to my wife; I am loathsome ²  to my brothers. ³ 

My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers.

"My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am loathsome to my own family.

My wife can't stand to be around me anymore. I'm repulsive to my family.

My breath is strange to my wife, and I am disgusting to the offspring of my mother’s body.

My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.

My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.

My breath is repulsive ¹  to my wife; I am loathsome ²  to my brothers. ³ 

¹ tn The Hebrew appears to have “my breath is strange to my wife.” This would be the meaning if the verb was from זוּר (zur, “to turn aside; to be a stranger”). But it should be connected to זִיר (zir), cognate to Assyrian zaru, “to feel repugnance toward.” Here it is used in the intransitive sense, “to be repulsive.” L. A. Snijders, following Driver, doubts the existence of this second root, and retains “strange” (“The Meaning of zar in the Old Testament,” OTS 10 [1964]: 1-154).

² tn The normal meaning here would be based on the root חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”). And so we have versions reading “although I entreated” or “my supplication.” But it seems more likely it is to be connected to another root meaning “to be offensive; to be loathsome.” For the discussion of the connection to the Arabic, see E. Dhorme, Job, 278.

³ tn The text has “the sons of my belly [= body].” This would normally mean “my sons.” But they are all dead. And there is no suggestion that Job had other sons. The word “my belly” will have to be understood as “my womb,” i.e., the womb I came from. Instead of “brothers,” the sense could be “siblings” (both brothers and sisters; G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray, Job [ICC], 2:168).