They drive away the ass of the fatherless: drive away can be misleading in English. The verb refers to taking away a flock or herd after it has been stolen. These animals are not just driven away to get rid of them, but rather taken away as stolen property, so Good News Translation “They take donkeys that belong to orphans.” The word ass, which has some unfavorable meanings in modern English, is replaced in Good News Translation and others by the more common word “donkey.” In Hebrew the word is singular, probably to emphasize the general poverty of the orphans. Good News Translation has made it plural since “orphans” is plural. This line may also be expressed, for example, “They steal the donkeys that belong to orphans” or “They take away the donkeys of the orphans.”

They take the widow’s ox for a pledge: ox, also singular, refers to a bull or a cow used for plowing or other farm work. For a discussion of pledge see comments on 22.6. The law forbade taking a widow’s garment as a pledge, that is, as security for a loan (Deut 24.17). To take away a widow’s ox was to leave her with no means for doing heavy work. In languages in which cattle are not known, or where cows are not used for labor, it may be possible to substitute another domestic animal. Where no animals are used in cultivation, it may be necessary to borrow a term from a major language and say, for example, “they lend money to a widow and keep her animal called ox until she repays them” or, if this is unsatisfactory, “they lend … and take her best animal….”

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 .