As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, Job has not previously introduced any form of adjuration. His "yea has been yea, and his nay nay." Now, however, under the solemn circumstances of the occasion, when he is making his last appeal to his friends for a favourable judgment, he thinks it not inappropriate to preface what he is about to say by an appeal to God as his Witness.
"As God liveth," or "As the Lord liveth," was the customary oath of pious Israelites and of God-fearing men generally in the ancient world (see 8:19; Ruth 3:13; 1 Samuel 14:39; 1 Samuel 20:3; 2 Samuel 4:9; 2 Samuel 12:5; 1 Kings 2:24; 1 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 5:20; 2 Chronicles 18:13; Jeremiah 38:16).
Job adds that the God to whom he appeals is he who has "taken away," or "withheld," his judgment, i.e. who has declined to enter with him into a controversy as to the justice of his doings (Job 9:32-35; Job 13:1-28:31; Job 23:3-7).