By his wind the heavens were made fair: his wind translates the Hebrew ruach “spirit, wind, breath.” Since this word is paralleled by hand in line b, it is best to take the meaning to be “breath.” However, in the context “wind” and “breath” are very similar. Were made fair translates a root meaning “sparkling, bright, pretty.” Dhorme takes this word to mean “sweep” and translates “His breath has swept the heavens.” This is followed by Bible en français courant and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. New Jerusalem Bible says “His breath has made the heavens luminous” (meaning “bright”), and Good News Translation “… made the sky clear.” This line may also be rendered, for example, “God blew and made the sky clear,” “God’s breath blew away the clouds from the sky,” or “God made the sky bright by blowing away the clouds with his breath.”

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent: this is no doubt a reference to the same event described in Isaiah 27.1: “In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and will slay the dragon that is in the sea.” This monster is mentioned in 3.8 (see there for comments) and again in 41.1. See also Psalm 74.14 and 104.26. Hand may be taken as part for the whole, representing God, or as a substitute for “sword.” Pierced depicts the action resulting from the use of the sword in God’s hand, and may more generally be rendered “killed or destroyed.” Fleeing in fleeing serpent is uncertain. It may have been a conventional adjective used by poets in speaking of this sea monster. Good News Translation prefers “escaping,” but “gliding,” “slippery,” or “wriggling” express its movements. The line may be expressed, for example, “with his hands he killed the slippery snake” or “with the sword in his hand he destroyed the wriggling snake.”

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 .