He does not keep the wicked alive is a reply to Job’s question in 21.7, “Why do the wicked live?” According to Elihu they do not remain alive. Revised Standard Version‘s wording of this line sounds as if God refuses to actively keep them alive by means of his divine power. Good News Translation is more satisfactory, as it reflects God in a more passive role of not allowing them to live; or we may translate, for example, “He does not allow wicked people to go on living.”

But gives the afflicted their right: but does not contrast the wicked with the poor or what God does with each. Line a is negative and line b is positive. Translators should employ the linking word that is suitable for this context. The afflicted refers to people who suffer at the hands of the wicked, as in chapter 21. There the ones who are suffering are the poor, and so line b is correctly rendered by Good News Translation as “and he always treats the poor with justice,” which means “treats the poor fairly.”

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 .