For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure…’: this verse begins with the Hebrew word meaning “you have said” followed by direct speech, so that the impression given is of a quotation from Job. However, Job did not actually say these words. He has only claimed that he is innocent, not that his doctrine is pure. The word translated doctrine is the usual term for teaching found in Wisdom literature (see Prov 1.5, “learning”; 4.2, “precepts”). Some scholars suggest a change in the Hebrew text, to get “conduct.” This is probably unnecessary. Job has clearly rejected the traditional teaching or doctrine of his friends and has claimed to have as good knowledge as they have about such things. Good News Translation has avoided both the words doctrine and teaching and has translated “what you say.” New English Bible has “opinions” and New International Version “beliefs,” which are preferable to Good News Translation. Pure translates a different word than the one used in 4.17, “Can a man be pure before his maker?” Pure as a description of something abstract such as doctrine refers to its being “authentic, original, not mixed with false teachings,” and may sometimes be translated as being “all good” or “having nothing false in it.” The term is also used in 16.17, where it describes prayer. Other possible renderings: “You say that your views are the right ones,” “You claim that what you believe is the truth,” “You, Job, say ‘What I believe is the true teaching,’ ” or “You claim that your opinions are not mixed with false beliefs.”

I am clean in God’s eyes: this line is parallel with the previous line and completes the quotation. Job’s objection is that God considers him wicked and treats him as unclean. The word clean refers in Hebrew here to what shines. It is not applied to something physical but is used in the moral sense. The meaning is the same as “without reproach, guiltless, innocent.” In God’s eyes translates the Hebrew “in your eyes.” Some scholars change this to “in my eyes,” that is, “in Job’s own opinion.” However, Job has consistently argued that he is innocent in God’s eyes, and that God knows this to be true. Pope changes the text to get “You are clean in your own eyes.” It is best, however, to follow Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The line may also be expressed, for example, “I am innocent before God,” “I have done no wrong in God’s sight,” “In God’s eyes I have no guilt,” “God sees me as an innocent man,” or “God looks on me as having done no bad things.”

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 .