What could I gain from the strength of their hands…?: Job implies that these men, presumably the fathers, were physically weak and unfit for work. Good News Translation shifts this to the second line. Even if they were strong enough to work, what good would it have done Job? Good News Translation says “too weak to do any work for me.”

Men whose vigor is gone: the meaning of this line is less clear. The word translated vigor is taken by some to mean “maturity.” A number of changes have been proposed. For example, Dhorme modifies the preposition to get “men whose vigor had wholly perished.” However, the sense of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation does not require any change in the text. Good News Translation “A bunch of worn out men” is more general and so is placed in the first line for reasons of English style. This verse may also be rendered, for example, “What good would I get out of people like that, all being worn out?” or “What use were they to me, since they were such weak men?”

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 .