Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth: in 12.7 Job said that the beasts and birds could teach the friends. Dhorme thinks it is too commonplace to say that God has given man more understanding than the beasts and the birds, and so translates “He instructs us by the beasts of the earth,” which the Hebrew construction also allows. Bible en français courant follows the latter interpretation and translates “who uses the wild animals to teach us,” and places the alternative rendering (as in Revised Standard Version) in a footnote. Either rendering would be accurate and characteristic of Elihu. Following the Dhorme model we may need to adjust this slightly to say, for example, “God uses the lives of wild animals to teach us” or “God teaches us more than he taught the wild animals.” The expressions of the earth and of the air will often be unnecessary in translation.

And makes us wiser than the birds of the air: Revised Standard Version translates this line so as to follow on from the previous line. It states the obvious and is one of the two ways this line can be translated. The other way is to say “and makes us wise by means of the birds” or “he uses the birds to makes us wise.” It is not clear what the animals and birds are supposed to teach, but the thought is probably that even the animals and birds in need cry out to God for help (see Psa 104.21; 147.9; Joel 1.20), and that people should follow their example. Good News Translation can be understood in the same way: “Even though God makes people wiser than animals and birds, people still fail to turn to him for help.”

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 .