The house which he builds is like a spider’s web: as Revised Standard Version‘s note indicates, the Hebrew is “he builds his house like a moth”; but moths do not build houses, unless the poet has the cocoon in mind. The Septuagint has “as moths, as a spider,” and Syriac “as a spider,” which many translators follow, including Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. (See Good News Translation note.) Dhorme opposes the Septuagint and has “nest,” which New English Bible follows. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has kept “moth,” adding a note: “He believes he is building, but in fact is destroying.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports the Hebrew text but gives no reason or explanation of how it is to be understood. Spider’s web occurs in 8.14 in a similar context, where frailty is emphasized through this image. If “moth” is not suitable in making clear sense, the translator is forced to choose between what are two kinds of guesses. Spider’s web is a change based on a guess and confirmed by an ancient version, which probably made the same guess, whereas “nest” is a translation guess. In both cases the sense of “weakness, frailty” is involved. If “moth” is used, we may translate as does New International Version, “like a moth’s cocoon.” Bible en français courant has still another solution which avoids both spider and moth: “The house these people have built is fragile,” with a note added, “Like a moth’s or like a bird’s nest.” This is a happy compromise. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “fragile as a nest,” New Jerusalem Bible “All he has built himself is a spider’s web.” Whether the translator uses “moth,” “spider’s web,” or “nest,” it should be made clear that the image is used to show how impermanent and frail his efforts are.

Like a booth which a watchman makes: booth refers to a hut put together by using fragile materials, where a person stays to protect the harvest from birds and other intruders. (See Isa 1.8.) A literal translation such as Revised Standard Version may require some expansion to give adequate information. In the context, as in the previous line, this hut or shelter is temporary and fragile. Bible en français courant adds the adjective “shaky, rickety” to suggest its lack of firmness. In language areas in which such temporary shelters are not put up or are even unknown, we may sometimes translate “as a shack put in a garden to guard the crop” or “as a hut where a person stays to guard the field.”

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 .