Let those curse it who curse the day: In this verse line b merely extends the meaning of line a by defining who is meant by those who curse the day. The word curse occurs twice in Revised Standard Version, representing two different Hebrew words. The first one is found infrequently in the Old Testament, except in the story of Balaam (Num 22), where it occurs nine times. Both words are different from the word for curse used in 3.1. Who curse the day may be understood to mean persons who are able to invoke a spell or put a curse on the day and thereby produce an eclipse of the sun; Good News Translation has “Tell the sorcerers to curse that day.” In contrast, the object of the curse in Revised Standard Version is it, referring to the night of verses 6-7, and this is followed by nearly all other translations. Those who curse the day are understood to be associated with Leviathan in line 8b. Consequently some interpreters read the Hebrew yom, “day,” as yam, “sea,” and get “those who curse the sea,” and thereby cause the sea monster in line 8b to create chaos. Taking it to refer to the night, which Job has been cursing since verse 6, we may translate “Let the sorcerer curse the night of my conception.” In some areas cursing, or putting a spell on someone, is a rather elaborate procedure, involving the making of “medicine” and chanting rituals. The translator should use general terms for “sorcerer” and “curse” so that the focus of the poem is not drained away in specific secondary details. For this reason it may be better here to say “Let the ones curse that night who practice cursing things” or “… who know how to do such things.”
Who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan: skilled refers to those who are able, know how, are experienced. The word is used in 15.24 with the sense of prepared, or ready. Rouse up translates a word that is used in Isaiah 14.9, where it refers to awakening the ghosts of the dead. In our context Job calls on the ones knowing how to awaken, stir up, arouse this monster, to lend their skill in cursing the day of his birth. Leviathan is a name which means “coiled,” as in the shape of a coiled snake. In Psalm 104.26 the psalmist says that God formed Leviathan as a plaything for himself. In Isaiah 27.1 Leviathan is the sea monster that battles with Baal. It represents the forces of chaos overcome by God in Psalm 74.13-14; 89.10-11. In chapter 41 Leviathan seems to be described as a crocodile. However, in 3.8 the sense seems to be that of a mythological animal that lives in the sea, and which can be stirred up to cause destruction. In some languages Leviathan may be translated as “great sea snake” or “big animal that lives in the sea.” If possible the translator should qualify the animal as a “monster” or “dragon” so that it is not equated with a natural animal. In some languages such an animal is called “an animal people tell tales about” or “an animal people imagine.” It may be necessary to place this qualification in a footnote. In areas where the sea is unknown, we must sometimes say something like “big river snake,” unless, of course, such a phrase would be identified with the largest local river snake. Good News Translation “control Leviathan” may have to be recast to say, for example, “they who know how to make the great sea snake do what they want” or “… obey them.”
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 .