How long wilt thou not depart from me How long will it be ere thou withdraw thy afflicting hand from me? The Hebrew is literally, How long wilt thou not take thine eyes off me? “This,” says Dodd, “is a metaphor from combatants, who never take their eyes from off their antagonists. The figure is preserved in the next sentence, which represents a combatant seized by his adversary in such a manner as to prevent his swallowing his spittle or fetching his breath.” Till I swallow my spittle?
For a little while: or, that I may have a breathing time: an Arabic proverb at present in use. See Schultens.