Those who survive him the pestilence buries: Those refers to the children in verse 14. Him refers to their father, the wicked man in verse 13. Any children not killed by war and famine “will die from disease” (Good News Translation). The Hebrew says “those who survive him are buried by death.” Here “death” is personified as in Jeremiah 15.2; 18.21; 43.11; and so it is taken as the plague, that is, Revised Standard Version pestilence. The implication is that they will have no other burial—a tragic end. Good News Translation avoids the term pestilence in favor of the more common word “disease.” This line may also be rendered, for example, “The children of the wicked who survive will be killed by disease” or “The offspring of the wicked will die from disease.”

And their widows make no lamentation: the Hebrew has “his widows,” namely, the widows of the wicked man. The Septuagint has “their widows,” which refers to the widows of the surviving family members. Since the subject in line a is plural, it is best to take widows as belonging to those who survive. Translators must make certain that their widows is appropriate in combination with the term used for “offspring” or “survivors” in the previous line. Make no lamentation means, as in Good News Translation, “will not mourn their death.” This line is identical in wording with Psalm 78.64b.

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 .