And has lived in desolate cities: it is hardly possible that Eliphaz is now thinking of Job. There are three main views taken by interpreters in regard to this verse. Some understand that the wicked person has destroyed these cities in order to occupy them. New Jerusalem Bible says “Towns he had destroyed.” Some understand all three lines of the verse to be a prediction of future events (New English Bible, New International Version). According to Rowley the reference is to ruined cities believed to be under a curse, as in Joshua 6.26; Isaiah 13.20; 34.13-17. In this understanding the wicked man who trusts in his prosperity is willing to risk the curse to live in such places. Good News Translation is closest to the first view with “That is the man who captured cities.” This is not likely, since the cities seem already to be in ruins. The viewpoint taken by Revised Standard Version seems to fit best with the overall context of challenging God by dependence upon a person’s own power. Desolate translates a verb meaning “hidden or effaced” and refers to cities that are in ruins. This notion can be expressed in translation by saying, for instance, “He defied God by living in cities that were in ruins” or “He challenged God’s might by living in these ruined cities.” Although this interpretation seems to fit the context best, it may be necessary to add a note; for example, “Such places were believed to be under a curse. See Joshua 6.26; Isaiah 13.20.”

In houses which no man should inhabit: this line refers to houses no longer occupied by their owners because they have fled, presumably out of fear for the wicked tyrant in their midst, or to the fact that these places were under a curse.

Which were destined to become heaps of ruins: destined translates the Hebrew “get ready, be ready,” and refers to the advanced stage of collapsing, and can be rendered “which were about to fall down.”

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 .