When the Almighty was yet with me: Almighty translates Shaddai, regularly translated “Almighty God” by Good News Translation. Good News Translation avoids the repetition of “when” clauses in reference to past time by using an independent clause: “Almighty God was with me then.” The idea is that God, who is no longer with Job, was still near him at that earlier time.

When my children were about me: children translates a word used in 1.19, where it is translated “young people” (Revised Standard Version). It may also have the meaning of “my servants,” which New English Bible prefers. However, most translations consulted take it to refer to Job’s own children. Languages differ greatly in the way they express the idea of having one’s children close by in the home. For example, “when my children sat about my fire,” “in the times when my children ate from my bowl,” or “when my children cultivated and planted with me.”

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 .