Word of the Day - 6/19/2008

Desquamate

To desquamate is to come off in scales, as the skin in certain diseases; peel off.

One of Job's many complaints was that his skin was desquamating.

My skin turns black on me,/And my bones burn with fever. (Job 30:30, NASB)

The Masoretic Text literally has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some translations to supply the implied phrase “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).

My skin grows black and peels/my body burns with fever. (Job 30:30, NIV)

Note: This paintiing is "Job, his Wife and his Friends: The Complaint of Job" by WIlliam Blake (1757-1827). It is part of the Tate Collection.