He breaks me down on every side: the verb translated breaks me down means “demolish” and implies that Job has now switched to the image of a building. In 16.14 Job speaks of himself as a wall that is “broken down breach upon breach.” Good News Translation “He batters me from every side” is a good rendering. The line may also be rendered, for example, “He smashes me like one demolishes the walls of a house,” “He destroys me like someone destroying a building,” or “He ruins me completely.” And I am gone translates the Hebrew “and I go,” which emphasizes the extreme degree of being demolished or battered down. It does not mean that Job has departed from the scene or from life. In some languages it will be best to treat this expression as part of the first clause, as is done by means of the adverb “completely” in the example above.

And my hope has he pulled up like a tree: the image changes again, this time to a tree. Good News Translation represents the image without mentioning the tree. “He uproots my hope.” For discussion of hope see 4.6; 14.7, 19; 17.15. This line may be rendered, for example, “What I looked forward to he has pulled up like a tree” or “What I wanted most has been cut down as one cuts down a tree.”

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 .