Now there was a day: this expression marks a transition, as in verse 6; see also 2.1. These words serve to shift the scene from heaven back to Job’s country. It is translated by Good News Translation as a nonspecific time clause, “One day when….” New English Bible takes it in the sense of a special day having arrived: “When the day came….” It serves as the time element in the new setting.
When his sons and daughters: as the scene opens, Job’s children are busy having still another banquet. The text says “his sons and his daughters.” Good News Translation and most modern translations replace the pronoun with “Job’s.” Whether or not we should do likewise in translation depends upon the way in which the focus may be shifted. In some languages it will be inappropriate to shift to Job’s name here. In others the use of the pronoun will be confusing, since the last person mentioned was Satan. Verse 13 is backgrounding for the scene and should be handled in a manner appropriate for such in a narrative tale. Its purpose is to say that everything was proceeding according to expectations.
Were eating and drinking wine follows the Hebrew elliptical pattern meaning “eating food and drinking wine.” New English Bible prefers “eating and drinking.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy avoids both eating and drinking and says “holding a banquet”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “celebrating.” In each case eating and drinking are implied. In some languages there are different words used for eating and drinking, depending on what the food and drink are. In languages in which “wine” is unknown and a borrowed word is not satisfactory, the local fermented drink would be the closest equivalent. Vocabulary or constructions that call attention to themselves should be avoided here, if undue emphasis will be drawn to the wrong part of the stage.
In their eldest brother’s house translates “in the house of their brother the firstborn.” Many languages have special terms for the firstborn son or daughter. In languages in which brother and sister terms differ according to whether the speaker is male or female, it is usually best to assume the male point of view. Good News Translation makes verse 13 a dependent clause with the main clause starting with verse 14. In English and many other languages, this serves the purpose of backgrounding verse 13. In some languages, however, background must be made more conspicuous, often by using several sentences; for example, “What I will say now was happening first. Job’s children were having a feast. They were feasting at the oldest brother’s house. While they were doing this….”
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 .