Verse 23 has three lines, but Good News Translation has merged the second and third lines. The figure of eating continues in this verse.
To fill his belly to the full: this line is omitted by the Septuagint and also by New Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible. The meaning of the line is not very clear. Dhorme understands it to carry the same thought as the preceding verses; that is, in the moment when the wicked man is filling his belly (taking from the poor), God will strike him down. So Dhorme translates “When he is occupied in filling his belly.” Good News Translation “Let him eat all he wants” interprets belly to refer to literal eating, and this is what most translators understand here.
The second line, God will send his fierce anger into him, is literally “He will send….” Nearly all interpreters agree that “he” refers to God, and so Good News Translation “God will punish him in fury and anger” is a good rendering. This line may also be rendered “God will be angry and make him suffer” or “God will angrily punish him.”
The third line, and rain it upon him as his food, is more problematical. The Revised Standard Version footnote says “in his flesh,” which is the Hebrew text. The expression “in his flesh” as used here is found elsewhere only in Zephaniah 1.17, where Revised Standard Version translates “flesh” and Good News Translation “dead bodies.” Food is obtained by reading a closely similar Hebrew word meaning “bread.” Although many changes have been proposed, that of Revised Standard Version involves the slightest change in the Hebrew and gives a satisfactory sense in the context. Good News Translation considers line c as saying the same thing as line b and so does not translate it again. This line may also be expressed “and God will cause his anger to come down on him as the food he eats,” or “God’s anger will pour down on him and be his food,” or “he will have God’s anger for his food.”
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 .