But put forth thy hand now: Satan, who is a specialist in revealing the weakness of people’s claims to be devout, suggests to Yahweh how Yahweh can prove Job a pretender. Verse 11 begins with a conjunction which contrasts this verse with Satan’s previous remarks. Put forth thy hand is the first movement in touch all that he has. It contributes no information but only makes Satan’s suggestion more vivid. This part of the double metaphor is not translated by Good News Translation. Good News Translation renders the connective as “But now” and the suggestion as “suppose you take away everything he has.” The author employs the idiom touch, but the action is far more aggressive than the word “touch” suggests. There does not seem to be an attempt on the part of the author to use the word touch as understatement as suggested by k The Old Testament Translated by Ronald Knoxk* (Knox), who attempts to retain the Hebrew idiom by saying “One little touch of thy hand assailing all that wealth of his!” and New Jerusalem Bible “lay a finger on his possessions.” The meaning of touch is to be taken as in Good News Translation “take away everything he has.” If the translator prefers to retain both parts of the figure, it may be translated sometimes as “Reach out your hand and take away everything Job has” or “Reach out and destroy Job’s wealth.” Since the following statement is a consequence resulting from taking away Job’s possessions, it will be more natural in some languages to make the first statement a condition; for example, “If you reach out and take away everything Job has….”

And he will curse thee to thy face: and translates what is literally “if not.” In oaths “if” may be made negative, and the result becomes emphatically positive with the meaning of “certainly, without any doubt.” Good News Translation renders this certainty by creating a break in structure between the tentative dependent clause and the positive claim in the main clause, “suppose you take away everything he has—he will curse you….” Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch make the certainty clear through “and I wager you”; “wager” means to place a bet. Curse is again “bless” as in verse 5. In translation it is necessary to distinguish between a curse which means calling on a supernatural power to inflict injury on someone, and the act of saying evil words against someone. Here the latter sense is meant. In this sense curse may be rendered in some languages as “speak evil words against you” or “say that you are worthless.” Verse 11 may sometimes be rendered “If you reach out and take away all his wealth, he will speak evil words against you.” In some languages it will be more natural for the condition clause to follow the result clause.

To thy face refers to the fact that Job will curse Yahweh openly, not behind Yahweh’s back; so Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. Variations of the same expression are found in 6.28; 21.31. In some languages this is rendered, for example, “on your head,” “in your eyes,” or “as if you were nothing.”

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 .