Your maxims are proverbs of ashes: maxims translates a Hebrew term whose basic sense is “remember.” Here it refers to what is remembered by old people—their sayings, proverbs, and traditional wisdom from past ages. Job considers his friends’ proverbs to be of ashes. Like any burned material, they have been used up and reduced to a useless leftover state with no further value. They are lifeless like the remains of a burned out fire. Good News Translation describes the proverbs as “useless as ashes.” This line may be rendered, for example, “Your proverbs are like the ashes left over from a fire” or “What you say are old proverbs, like the old ashes from a burned out fire.”

Your defenses are defenses of clay: defenses translates a Hebrew word referring to the rounded ornamental knob on a shield. By extension it may also refer to the shield itself and also to the function of a shield, that is, “defense.” Here your defenses refers to the words of Job’s friends, what they say to Job. And, as in the previous line, Job considers them to be as fragile as clay. A shield made of clay would break in pieces at the first blow. Good News Translation translates defenses as “arguments” which crumble like “clay.” The line may be rendered, for example, “The words you use to defend yourselves are as weak as clay” or “Your arguments are no better than a shield made of clay.”

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 .