Another dies in bitterness of soul: Another translates “this one” as in verse 23a, but it refers to a different person or group of people and so must be contrasted with the person represented in verse 23a. If the translator has indicated something like “the first person” in verse 23a, verse 25 may begin “The second person” or “The other person.” Bitterness of soul is “bitterness of nefesh.” See 3.20; 7.11; 10.1 for discussion. Good News Translation, which translates “with bitter hearts,” transposes lines a and b. A person with bitterness of soul is “miserable, wretched, unhappy.” This line may be rendered, for example, “The other person dies after a bitter life,” “The second person lives an unhappy life and dies,” or “Other people live miserable lives and die.”

Never having tasted of good means “without ever having been happy.” In contrast to the first person, who died healthy, well fed, and content, this wretched person has always been miserable and dies unhappily. Many translations, like Good News Translation, will incorporate the sense of this line into the first line and need not repeat it.

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 .