The description of God attacking Job in verses 12 and 13 is best looked at as a single unit.
I was at ease, and he broke me asunder: in Hebrew the two clauses are reversed, but in English the state of being at ease is better placed before the abrupt action. The word translated ease is better expressed by Good News Translation “living in peace.” Broke me asunder means “smashed to pieces,” in which the person thinks of himself as a breakable object like a clay pot. Another form of the same verb is used in Psalm 74.13 where God “breaks” the sea in order to make a way through it. In some languages it is not possible to speak of breaking a person as if he were a solid object, and so this line may have to be expressed, for example, “When I was happy God came and threw me about,” “… shook me badly,” or “I was living quietly when God suddenly crushed my body.”
He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces: the first clause is literally “he seized my nape” and means “he grabbed me, took me by the nape of the neck.” The nape of the neck refers to the back of the neck. Dashed me to pieces is a different verb than the one used in the previous line but means the same. “He grabbed me by the neck and threw me down.”
The next line goes naturally with verse 13a and is parallel with it. He sets me up as his target: the picture is that of an archer, one who shoots arrows with a bow, placing a target for practice. The word translated target is not the same as used in 7.20, but it has the same meaning. It is also found in 1 Samuel 20.20; Lamentations 3.12. This line may require some adjustments in translation; for example, “he uses me as a thing to hit when he practices shooting arrows,” “he practices on me by shooting arrows into me,” or “he makes me like a target and shoots me with arrows.” If bows and arrows are not known, another weapon may be used, provided that it can be used for target practice. However, a weapon such as a gun would be inappropriate.
His archers surround me: the word for archers is used in Jeremiah 50.29. It is unclear who these archers may be, other than Job’s enemies or the wicked from verse 11. The ancient versions translate “arrows” instead of archers, and many translators follow them. See Good News Translation “and shoots arrows at me….” If the translator follows Revised Standard Version, archers may be rendered, for example, “those who shoot arrows,” “the shooters,” or “the ones practicing.” Otherwise the translator may use “arrows,” as in Good News Translation, “and shoots arrows at me from every side.”
He slashes open my kidneys depicts the results of the arrow attack. Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew, but Good News Translation shifts to “pierce and wound me.” The verb translated slashes open is suitable for the action of a sword or knife, but not for an arrow, where “pierce” is more fitting. In some languages it may be better to make arrows the subject of “pierce”; for example, “His arrows go into my kidneys” or “He shoots me in the kidneys with his arrows.” And does not spare is an awkward rendering of the Hebrew, which means “and he has no pity, mercy, compassion.” He attacks without mercy. Good News Translation “even then he shows no pity” expresses it well.
He pours out my gall on the ground: Good News Translation takes this line to be the same as the previous line and therefore does not translate it. The word gall or “bile,” the secretion in the liver, is found only here. A closely similar word translated “bitter things” occurs in 13.26 and is translated “gall” in 20.14, 25. Verse 13 may be rendered, for example, “He shoots his arrows into my kidneys without any mercy and pours out the bile from my liver onto the ground.”
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 .