All my intimate friends abhor me: intimate friends is literally “all the men of my confidence.” These are Job’s most trusted friends or “closest friends” (Good News Translation), as expressed in Psalm 55.13-14. They are said to abhor Job, which is to be disgusted by him, to be repulsed by his condition. This line may be rendered, for example, “The dearest friends I had detest me,” “My closest friends hate me,” or in some languages, “The friends I shared my food with now hate me.”

And those whom I have loved have turned against me: these are the closest relatives and friends whom Job loved most of all. This verse is a summary of Job’s feeling of despair and neglect. Turned is the same verb used in 9.5 of God overturning mountains. Here it is followed by a preposition which gives it the sense of “abandon, desert, be unfaithful to.” In some languages line b may be rendered, for example, “the people I loved most turn their backs to me” or “the ones I loved most say ‘We don’t know him.’ ”

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 .