That path no bird of prey knows: here the poet may be using an exaggerated image to emphasize the remoteness of the mines. That path, however, may refer either to the path leading to the remote mine, or to wisdom. It is unlikely that the path leads here to wisdom, since the verses which follow speak of the work of the miners. Good News Translation says “the roads to the mines.” Bird of prey translates a generic term which Good News Translation prefers to render as “hawk,” since bird of prey is not common English. No bird … knows: strictly speaking, a bird does not need to know the road to find something. Good News Translation shifts to “does not see,” which is little different. This line may also be translated “No bird of prey knows the path to the mine.” There are many birds of prey such as the hawk, eagle, falcon, or vulture, and the translator may use the one best known to his readers. If no such birds are known, the translator may say, for example, “No bird that soars in the sky knows the path to the mine” or “Not even a soaring bird knows.”

And the falcon’s eye has not seen it: the word translated falcon is included in the list of birds not to be eaten (see Lev 11.13-19; Deut 14.11-20). Good News Translation and others translate “vulture,” as does the Septuagint. The exact identification of this bird is uncertain. Good News Translation “no vulture ever flies over them” does not represent the Hebrew text too well, although it is implied that the bird is in flight. In this verse line b is specific while line a is general, and it thus follows the Hebrew device for intensifying the second line. So the sense is “Not even the falcon’s eye has seen that path.” If the language has neither falcon nor other birds of prey, it may be possible to say, for example, “and not even the best-sighted bird has ever seen that path” or “and not even the bird with the best eyes (vision) has ever seen it.”

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 .