If I look for Sheol as my house: Revised Standard Version begins verses 13-14 with If, and verse 15 is taken as a consequence stated in question form. Good News Translation, on the other hand, uses a disguised negative statement (“My only hope…”) in verse 13 and future statements in verse 14. Bible en français courant begins verse 13 with a question: “What am I still waiting for? A place for myself in the world of the dead.” This variety points out the range of different ways in which the same Hebrew construction can be translated. Look for translates a word meaning “hope for, expect, wait for,” and so Good News Translation has “My only hope is…,” and New Jerusalem Bible “All I want, in fact, is to dwell in Sheol.” Job expects Sheol, the place of the dead, to become his house (see 7.9). In many languages it will be better to avoid the repetitive use of “if” clauses in Revised Standard Version and translate verses 13 and 14 as statements. This line may also be rendered, for example, “The only thing I can look forward to is death,” “My only hope is to die and be buried,” or “I still wait to live in the world of the dead.”

If I spread my couch in darkness is a metaphor meaning to go to the place of the dead. The language used here concerning going to sleep is found also in Psalm 63.6; 132.3; 139.8. The word translated spread means “prop up or support” and refers to arranging the cushions on which one will lie down. Couch is the object for sleeping on, usually translated “bed.” In some languages the metaphor in line b must be adjusted to say, for example, “and I will sleep there in the dark,” “I will lie there in the dark,” or “I will always be there in the darkness.”

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 .