Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food?: the point of this proverb is that the ear judges between what is true and false, good and bad, just as the mouth distinguishes between what tastes good and what tastes bad. Job appears to claim for himself the right to discern what is good and true from the false teachings of his friends. The proverb serves as a sarcastic climax to verses 7-10. The ear and the palate, although only parts of the body, serve for the whole person in this saying. Good News Translation has placed the emphasis upon enjoying rather than upon distinguishing. However, enjoying food and words is not what Job is saying here, therefore Good News Translation should not be followed. The same saying will be used by Elihu in 34.3, where Good News Translation gives a better translation. In languages where these respective parts cannot by themselves perform these functions, it may be necessary to adjust the proverb to say, for example, “When a person hears words spoken, does he not test them to decide which are true? Of course he does. It is the same as when he tastes food and finds some tastes good and some tastes bad.”

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 .