Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures is literally “All darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” Dhorme takes “hidden” to mean “reserved, destined for,” and translates “Thick darkness is reserved for him.” Bible en français courant follows this with “It is the night that is kept for his fate,” as does Moffatt, “Deep darkness is his doom.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests “All darkness is hidden as a thing reserved for him.” New English Bible follows the Septuagint, “Darkness unrelieved awaits him.” Good News Translation follows Revised Standard Version but attempts to give it a clearer meaning: “Everything he has saved is destroyed.” From the wider context it would appear that darkness here refers to death, but when applied to his possessions it is their destruction. This line may also be expressed, for example, “His possessions are destroyed” or “They take his wealth from him and destroy it.”
A fire not blown upon will devour him: this is a fire which has not been kindled by a person blowing on it to get it started. It is a negative way of saying “a divine fire” or “a fire sent by God,” as in Numbers 16.35; 26.10. Bible en français courant calls it “a supernatural fire.” A footnote in Bible en français courant clarifies that this is “a fire not lit by human hands,” and this is also the translation given by Good News Translation. The translator may keep the indirect association with God’s action by translating, for example, “A fire that was not started by a human being will burn him up” or “A fire that does not need to be kindled by someone will eat him.” An New Jerusalem Bible note has “thunderbolt.”
What is left in his tent will be consumed: what is left translates the word used in 18.19; 20.21, with the meaning “survivor,” and it is used in a similar sense here. Obviously they are not “survivors” after they have been consumed by the fire. They were the ones who “lived in his tent, his home,” the ones Good News Translation calls “all his family.”
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 .